DESCRIPTION:
1. Proleptic 0:00
2. Six Têtes 1:55
3. Anyone's Anodyne 3:51
4. A Passing Nepenthe 4:49
5. Successive Subsumption 6:22
6. O Haupt 9:33
7. Analeptic 10:48

Chun-Chim David Leung, Violin
http://www.davidleungmusic.com/

Zuzanna Szewczyk-Kwon, Piano

From "Milton Babbitt: A Composers' Memorial"
The Open Space and Perspectives of New Music
http://the-open-space.org/babbitt/

From 1998-2002 I was a member of a small group known by others at Juilliard as "The Babbitt Students." Milton used to say that he was a composer who moonlighted as a music theorist, but this understates the impact on the music world of his vocation as a part-time professional professor. Though I did not know him socially (that is, outside of Monday lessons and the occasional concert), it was clear that even in the most casual situations anyone around him could not help but learn from him. His legendary fluency with language also left its mark: there is an entire lexicon of "Babbitt words and phrases" that his students know by heart, but that one never dared use in conversation or discussion for fear of appearing the poseur. The title of the composition and some of the movements are such "Babbitt words and phrases." Similarly, to the extent that he developed a curriculum for his compositional instruction, it centered around his reading of a slim canon of pieces -- mostly German -- each of which reflected and informed his "thinking in and about music" as he would have put it, in its own way. In this piece there are many references to Milton's canon, and to his compositions for violin and piano, "Sextets" and "The Joy Of More Sextets." I composed Call It What You Will in honor of Milton's teaching, his language, and the music he loved. I have thought of it as a gift to him -- a piece I hope he would enjoy.

I would like to extend my thanks to The Open Space and Perspectives Of New Music for the opportunity and honor; to Robert Morris and Benjamin Boretz who have each greatly influenced my music and promoted it generously; to David and Zuza for performing and recording the piece expertly on short notice; and to Paul Coleman for his tremendous assistance with recording, mixing, and mastering.