Milton Babbitt
Milton Babbitt (May 10, 1916 - January 29, 2011) was an American composer, musicologist, musical educator and mathematician. He mostly composed serial music and was a pioneer in the field of writing music for synthesizer.
In February 1958, Babbitt published an article in High Fidelity, titled Who Cares if You Listen? by the editors. It observes how serious advanced music is largely unknown among general audiences, who have their own, more popular lighters form of music. Performers are also seldom interested in this "advanced music" and thus concerts don't draw large audiences. He concludes if advanced music isn't supported, "the whistling repertory of the man in the street will be little affected... But music will cease to evolve, and, in that important sense, will cease to live." The article received quite some media attention, opening debates about the public perception of music.
In 1982, Babbitt received a Pulitzer Prize for his entire musical career.
Frank Zappa about Milton Babbitt
"There is one other guy whose stuff I like, with some reservations, and that's Milton Babbitt." - Frank Zappa, Zappa: The Composer Speaks, interviewed by Mark Roberts, Iconoclast, 15-22 March 1974. [1]
So, the public doesn't need composers. What about composers? Do they need a public? For example, [electronic music composer] Milton Babbitt, in an essay entitled "Who Cares If You Listen?," has advocated the virtual exclusion of the general public from modern music concerts. What is your opinion on that?
Frank Zappa: "That's unnecessary, they're already excluded; they don't go! Have you been to a modern music concert? Plenty of room, isn't there? Come on Milton, give yourself a break. I hope you're not going to spend money trying to exclude these people. What are you going to do, have it legislated in Congress like those assholes who wanted to make it a law that you couldn't put anything backwards, on a phonograph record?"
- Frank Zappa in Winter In Amerika, Steve Lyons & Batya Friedman, Option, January/February 1987.
