Dictionary of Music - Birding America

BB 1 One of the musical tones (see PITCH NAMES),the seventh note in the scale of C major. The scalesbeginning on the tone B are known as B major andB minor. A composition based on one of thesescales is said to be in the key of B major or the keyof B minor, the key signatures (see KEY SIGNATURE)for these keys being five sharps and two sharps,respectively. The note one half tone below B iscalled B-flat or A-sharp (see ENHARMONIC for anexplanation); the note one half tone above B iscalled B-sharp or C. For the location of these noteson the piano, see KEYBOARD. 2 An abbreviation forBASS in choral music. Thus S A T B in a scorestands for the soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices.3 In the analysis of compositions that have morethan one section, the letter B stands for the secondsection (A standing for the first, C for the third,etc.). A common form for simple songs and shortinstrumental pieces is analyzed as A B A, whichmeans that the form consists of three sections, thethird of which is identical with the first. 4 In German,the letter B stands for B-flat, B natural beingdesignated by H.Babbitt (bab′it), Milton, 1916– . An Americancomposer who became known for his use of mathematicsin composing music and became very influentialas a theorist and teacher. Babbitt studied atNew York and Princeton universities, and he becamea professor of both music and mathematics. In hisearly compositions he often used series of twelve,not only for the pitches (see SERIAL MUSIC), but alsofor rhythm (twelve basic rhythmic values in atheme) and for instrumentation (twelve instrumentsused in succession). In the 1950s he began to writeELECTRONIC MUSIC, using the SYNTHESIZER and theCOMPUTER. In 1961 he became one of the directorsof the Columbia-Princeton Center for ElectronicMusic. He is considered one of the few composerswho produced outstanding compositions with theearly RCA Synthesizer. His compositions includeEnsembles for Synthesizer (1962–64), Philomel(1963) for soprano and tape, Reflections (1974–75)for piano and tape, Images (1979) for saxophone andtape, Ars Combinatoria (1981) for orchestra, andString Quartet no. 5 (1982) in one movement. Laterworks are Transfigured Notes, a set of continuousvariations for string orchestra (1986; first performed1991); Whirled Series (1987), a jazzy workout foralto saxophone and piano; Clarinet Quintet (1996);Piano Quartet (1996); Second Piano Concerto(1998).baby grand The smallest size of grand piano (seePIANO, def. 2), usually about five feet long.B-A-C-H The German names for the notes B♭-A-C-B♮. Johann Sebastian Bach used this sequenceas the subject in the last, unfinished fugue ofhis Art of the Fugue. Later composers, among19