Julliard Orch Concert Celebrates Milton Babbitt's Centennial

This week the Julliard Orch has been performing varied programs at Alice Tulley honoring the centennial of Amer composer Milton Babbitt (1916-2011.)  Tickets were available free of charge through Julliard's box office or online; a millenial bargain.  The program on Fri night (Prog VI) was conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky with guest pianist Connor Hanick playing Babbitt's Piano Concerto #2 (1988.)  The only composition of Babbitts which was played at the end.  Program VI began with a section of Johanne Brahm's (1883-1897) piano pieces from 11 Chorale Preludes which are rarely performed.  This was a brief, beautiful & rich overture for the evening.  Arnold Schoenberg's (1874-1951) 5 Pieces for Orch Op 16 (1909/1949) followed.  Schoenberg's innovative atonal construction was very influential on Babbitt from the time he was a young student.  Schoenberg was 28 when he composed this work which marked a turning.  Igor Stravinsky's (1882-1971) Variations (Aldous Huxley in Memoriam 1963-64) was performed after and prior to Babbitt's Piano Concerto.  Stravinsky was not a proponent of Schoenberg's "12-tone" method initially but in later years, following Stravinsky's death, he appropriated the 12-tone method.  Pianist Conor Hanick, an alumn of Julliard & Northwestern has performed with Alan Gilbert & the NYPhilh & with conductor James Levine.  The chronologically orchestrated performance provided a noticeable progression & relationships between the compositions spanning over 100 years.  The audience at Alice Tulley were treated to a captivating evening of evolving classical music.