Hila Plitmann sings "Give Me Your Stars," on a poem of Sara Teasdale, composed by Bruce Babcock

Give Me Your Stars

Douglas Masek, alto saxophone, David Speltz, cello, Louise Thomas, piano

Irrational Exuberance

Time and Again is a piano sonata in four movements composed for my friend and colleague Anna Kislitsyna. The word Time in the title refers to the extraordinarily surreal pandemic year of 2020, and the word Again refers to my second opportunity to work with Anna. Anna and Ovidiu Marinescu recorded my sonata for cello and piano, Imagined/Remembered for Navona Records, and performed it at Carnegie Hall in 2018.

Having never composed music during a global pandemic before, the movement titles reflect the strangeness of what became our new normal.

First, an opening movement characterized by a feeling of disquietude, followed by an odd tarantella. A tarantella was thought to be a cure for tarantism, a psychological illness characterized by an extreme impulse to dance, prevalent in southern Italy from the 15th to the 17th century, and widely — but erroneously — believed at the time to have been caused by the bite of a tarantula.

The third movement provides a calm and reflective respite from the storm, followed by a frantic and fast fury away from — or towards — the unknown future.

— Bruce Babcock

4. Post - Haste

PIano Spectrums

Time and Again

3. Resolve

2. Tarantism

Piano Spectrums

1. Disquietude

"All Unto Me" is a tribute to Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, a longtime friend of All Saints Church in Pasadena, and was composed to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the church. Archbishop Tutu preached a sermon based on John 12:32 at All Saints on November 6, 2007, in which he said:
 
“Jesus did not say, ‘I, if I be lifted up, will draw some.’ Jesus said, ‘I, if I be lifted up, will draw all.’ All!  All!  All!  All!  Black, white, yellow, rich, poor, clever, not so clever, beautiful, not so beautiful.  It’s one of the most radical things!  All, all, all belong.  Gay, lesbian, so-called straight.  All!  All are meant to be held in this incredible embrace that will not let us go.”
 
This was the inspiration for this a cappella piece, though not the text. Tutu’s words inspired an emphasis on the word “all,” as well as a more inclusive meaning of the word “men” by adding the word “women.” One of the sopranos in the choir told me it was the first time in decades of singing in church in which she had the opportunity to sing the word “women.”
 
Archbishop Tutu was once again the guest preacher in our pulpit on February 20, 2011. All Unto Me was performed in his presence on that occasion.

All Unto Me

A 12-minute one-movement string quartet from the album QUADRANTS VOL. 3, recorded by the Colorado-based Altius Quartet at Grusin Hall, University of Colorado at Boulder. Commissioned by Dan Kepl for the 2005 Santa Barbara Chamber Music Festival. Premiered by the Rainer Quartet. Performed by the Los Angeles-based Armadillo Quartet as part of their 30th anniversary season in 2009.

The Present Moment

2023 Global Music Award Silver Medal Winner in Composition. Marcia Dickstein, harp, Angela Wiegand, flute, & David Walther, viola. One movement piece (8:22) for the original Debussy trio instrumentation of harp, flute & viola. Tonal, melodic.

SpringScape

"Unremittingly edgy, American composer Bruce Babcock’s Alternative Facts for Solo Piano captures, through pianistic devices of virtuosic clarity and torturous rhythmic schizophrenia, American angst since Donald Trump's surprising ascension to the presidency in 2016. Performed by Gloria Cheng, Babcock captures the nerve-shredding yin and yang of a democracy on the edge."       Daniel Kepl/Performing Arts Review

Alternative Facts was composed as a reaction to the 2016 presidential campaign, election, and subsequent inauguration of our current president. Ever since he announced his candidacy we have, as a nation, endured a profound attack on reality, not to mention democracy, diplomacy, civility, and honesty.

Written for my long-time friend and colleague, the brilliant pianist Gloria Cheng, it was recorded at the UCLA Herb Alpert School Of Music/ Ostin Music Center studio by Rich Breen. It is included on the Navona album THROUGH GLASS (NV6289).

Alternative Facts Bruce Babcock

Emmy-winning composer of music for film and television, and the concert hall

Bruce Babcock

Popular tracks