The American composer Milton Babbitt (born 1916) is a leading figure among the most abstract and intellectual group of contemporary composers and a pioneer in the use of electronic synthesizers. Milton Babbitt was born in Philadelphia on May 10, 1916,...

American composer Milton Babbitt's profound contributions to music theory and to the genre of American music justify the awestruck feeling he evokes among his admirers and fellow musicians. He was the staunchest opponent of unsubstantiated verbose musical criticisms. He demanded concrete evidence for any...

The Collected Essays of Milton Babbitt Edited by Stephen Peles, with Stephen Dembski, Andrew Mead and Joseph Straus Princeton University Press Oxford University Press 517pp, hardback ISBN 0-691-08966-3 $39.50 At the age of almost 88, the American composer, teacher and musicologist Milton Babbitt...