CONVERSATION PIECE

- 360 from Perspectives of New Music Sounds and Words: Milton Babbitt at 60 Vol. 14/2 15/1 1976 CONVERSATION PIECE Elaine R. Barkin Sounds and words flow by; ideas have been simmering, stewing for days, months, years perhaps; scenarios for conversations may have been envisioned, prepared, reflected upon ahead of time (what of it ?); we on the other end hear (apparently) extemporaneous discourse, sparking, gurgling, gusty; the rhythms of short subphrases clearly articulated and partitioned within longer well formed superphrases; the unvoiced punctuation evident (as if Milton had uttered: ‘comma’, ‘dash’, ‘colon’, ‘semicolon’, ‘period’); a phenomenal dearth of pauses; rapid changes of inflection and facial expression; and we have been ensnared; we are among friends after all. Milton-talk is lustrous, a fireworks display dazzling us even if we are bewildered or skeptical, even if we disagree or disapprove. It may be that speaking is Milton’s hobby, a diversion that enables him to relax, to untense; a recreation composed of worlds of thought, action, leisure : of politics (musical, domestic, and foreign), sports (from a correspondence in re the 1977 Rosebowl game : “...how lucky for your idiot semi-quaver back that he was not pitted against a Texas A & M, which would have trounced both teams as a simultaneity”), Chinese food,* the best ice cream (in Jackson naturally, or was it Philadelphia?), and other Gourmet delicacies,** memorable (and not so memorable) performances, manners (Milton the Mississippian speaks fondly of childhood-recollected Southern elegance, grace, and politesse, and remarks that “[my] generation really did treat its elders with respect”), of who’s who and might be (and never really was). Not surprisingly, Milton’s music clues us in to the intensity, diversity, and speciality of the verbal flow: imagine the sound of Milton’s narrative as uninflected, slow, Hemingwayish instead of Faulknerian, inanimate, monotone: impossible. But then, the seemingly anomalous, homespun occasional talk might surprise us at first hearing, until we catch on — simpler surfaces and mundane aspect notwithstanding — to its subtle wit and fluidity, for even the frivolous and the trivial are pun embellished. And conversely, the music of Milton’s I love to listen to — its various extents and complexity notwithstanding — gets to me directly, leaving, as it passes by, a luminous comet-like trail. Still, there are times when Milton’s music seems unbearably and obstinately steadfast in its insistent preservation and continuance of itself; but that’s what it’s all about. And once tuned in, I am held fast. William Faulkner, in a letter to Malcolm Cowley, said, “I’m trying primarily to tell a story, in the most effective way I can think of, the most moving, the most exhaustive...I am telling the same story over and over, which is myself and the world...I’m trying to say it all in one sentence, between one Cap and one period...All I know to do is keep on trying in a new way.” Even if Milton were not to echo these sentiments in his own voice, his perseverance will further amaze, delight, provoke, and arouse us . Who could ask for anything more? * hot and spicy ** e.g., Matzo-ball soup May 1976 ...