Milton Babbitt is one of the most pioneered and important figures in American music. He has changed the way many composers view music and brought it to a contemporary light. Babbitt challenged the idea that music should be geared towards the composer's idea of music rather than pleasing the general public. When Babbitt wrote this article it was around the time of of the Cold War many composers especially in the Soviet Union were restricted from playing particular music. Composers like Sergei Prokofiev for instance was not welcomed back into the Soviet Union because his music was considered to be the “bourgeois elite.” Also pianist
Dmitri Shostakovich whose music was considered too provocative for the Soviet authorities so he attempted to appease
Dmitri Shostakovich whose music was considered too provocative for the Soviet authorities so he attempted to appease