Babbitt's favorite 6 twentieth century compositions

Continue on our discussions about Milton Babbitt: It is lamentable that some of his pioneering works in total serialism (like Composition for four instruments, Composition for twelve instruments) have never been commercially recorded. One can, however, get a sense of what Babbitt likes to have in his "music plate": He chose his favorite 6 of the 20th Century compositions in a library-of-congress video hosted by Eugene Istomin. Here is the list:

1. Arnold Schoenberg: 4th string quartet

2. Anton Webern: Concerto for 9 instruments

3. Alban Berg: Lyric suites

4. Igor Stravinsky: Movements (for piano and orchestra)

5. Roger Sessions: Violin Concerto

6. Elliott Carter: Variations (for orchestra)

The links to specific recordings are chosen ad libitum, although they are all very good renditions. (In the case of Sessions's Violin Concerto, it's basically the only recording in the red-book CD format.)