# Crumb, George (1929-2022)



## science

I'm very surprised that there isn't a George Crumb thread already!

One of my favorite works of all time is his Black Angels, which I first heard on one of Kronos Quartet's most popular recordings:

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It has been recorded by several other ensembles as well, so even if you don't like Kronos....

(In case you already like this, then maybe you want to check out Ge Gan-ru's "Fall of Baghdad" string quartet.)

I've also enjoyed Crumb's _Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death_ on Naxos, though it wasn't nearly as life-altering for me personally:

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There is a lot more out there. One thing that is interesting about Crumb's work is that his scores are visually arresting, works of art visually as well as musically. Here is one example of many:

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## deprofundis

*George Crumb black angels*

I have to says mikrocosmos and black angels is pretty good, cryptic music for catacombs, all i can says was these recording were sutch an eye opener...i really like the gong sections.

Did Crumb ad disciples(student), and if i like Crumb's black angels what other composer should i try out next?,because has far has i know people here know there classical.

Thanks :tiphat:


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Try "Ancient Voices of Children" as well from Crumb. 

Brian Ferneyhough is another great composer, an exponent of experimental acoustic soundworlds.


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## ptr

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Try "Ancient Voices of Children" as well from Crumb.


Was my introduction to Crumb 30 years ago, still rates very high with me when I need to have a tranquil moment!

/ptr


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## Hmmbug

I enjoy Makrokosmos and Vox Balaenae.


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## sjorstakovitsj

If you enjoy *Ancient voices of children*, you should also give his *Madrigals* a listen. It's scored for soprano and chamber ensemble


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## Xenakiboy

Only thing I have to say at this point from hearing Black Angeks, Star-Child and Makrokosmos book three is:      It's so good!!!


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## Xenakiboy

The scores are like:    too, like when I first saw the scores to Stockhausen's Klavierstück, where you know it's all there for a purpose that is slightly beyond he comprehension of standard notation because of it's complexity!


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## Xenakiboy

The Makrokosmos cycle from what I've heard is mind-blowing!!!!! I'm having one of those moments!!     :tiphat:


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## Xenakiboy

Anyone seen his scores? I picked up some today and they're scary (in a good way)


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## millionrainbows

This is excellent, with his Variations:

also, the definitive "Madrigals" is on here:


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## Medtnaculus

Not sure what happened but his music suddenly clicked for me. Very much in love with his output at the moment.


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## starthrower

Hmmbug said:


> I enjoy Makrokosmos and Vox Balaenae.


Just listened to these pieces on the Black Box CD I found at the library. Fantastic!


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## starthrower




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## Dirge

George CRUMB: Sonata for solo cello (1955)
:: Franz Helmerson [BIS '77]

Pre-Crumb Crumb. This is a highly-wrought ten-minute Bartók-influenced work of mid-20th-century modernism (but not avant-gardism) that is informed by a healthy respect for tradition. Helmerson gives a clean, dark, ultra-tense, freakishly high-strung and hyper account of it that is rife with hair-trigger responses to even the subtlest shifts and inflections. Helmerson takes a long time to traverse the Fantasia first movement, treating it as scary "night music." The theme of the theme & variations movement might have been an impression in Enescu's _Impressions d'enfance_, while the thoughtfully conceived and slightly creepy variations that follow are rather Ginastera_esque_, making me think of the variations movements of String Quartet No. 2 (written a few years after Crumb's Sonata). The vigorous Toccata final movement is uncommonly varied and dramatic by toccata standards, and it's brief enough to have you wishing for it to last longer rather than, as with most toccatas, praying for it to end. Helmerson's is far and away the best performance of this terse little Sonata that I've heard.


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## millionrainbows

I'm listening to Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death.


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## flamencosketches

Can you describe it? Is it as ominous and brooding as the title suggests?  

I’ve never heard any of his music. He was something of an American serialist, no? Or more so the experimental school of Cage, Feldman etc?


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## millionrainbows

flamencosketches said:


> Can you describe it? Is it as ominous and brooding as the title suggests?
> 
> I've never heard any of his music. He was something of an American serialist, no? Or more so the experimental school of Cage, Feldman etc?


He started out as more-or-less serial (Variazioni) but I think of him as being interested in pure sound itself, using amplified pianos and unorthodox methods of getting unusual sounds from traditional instruments. Much of it is dark, quiet, evocative "night music," using poetic or mystical themes. It's definitely "event" music, where time stands still and sound events are presented. He's not indeterminate, but is like Cage in his pursuit of new sounds. 
WIK: After initially being influenced by Anton Webern, Crumb became interested in exploring unusual timbres. He often asks for instruments to be played in unusual ways and several of his pieces, although written for standard chamber music ensembles, such as Black Angels (string quartet) or Ancient Voices of Children (mixed ensemble), call for electronic amplification. Crumb defines music as "a system of proportions in the service of spiritual impulse."...He is known as an explorer of unusual timbres, alternative forms of notation, and extended instrumental and vocal techniques, which obtained his innovative techniques in the use of vivid sonorities. Examples include seagull effect for the cello (e.g. Vox Balaenae), metallic vibrato for the piano (e.g. Five Pieces for Piano), and using a mallet to play the strings of a double bass (e.g. Madrigals, Book I), among numerous others.


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## flamencosketches

The sound on this recordings of the Madrigal is freaking immaculate. This is how I wish all recordings of High Modernist music should sound. If you have any information on when this was recorded, and by whom, I would be very curious to know. 

As for the music, I like it. Almost Webernian, but more spaced out, and less serial. I'm enjoying it much more than I expected to.


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## millionrainbows

This particular recording of the Madrigals, with Jan DeGaetani, was first released in 1970 as a set of LPs on DG, called The Acoustic Research Contemporary Music Project, and was advertised in Stereo Review magazine. You sent $5.99 and got 6 LPs back in the mail. What a deal, on pristine Deutsche Grammofon vinyl, the highest quality!

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/index.php?/topic/2243-the-ar-contemporary-music-project/

This is where I first heard Babbitt's Philomel, Roger Sessions' Piano Sonata in memoriam to JFK, Donald Martino, and more.
Some of this has made its way onto CD, mostly on New World records, as pictured in my previous post. I'm pretty sure I still have my vinyl copies of these.





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## flamencosketches

Damn! Score. The perks of being born in an earlier time, before inflation screwed everything up, not least the music industry. Then again, we now have Youtube, and you can listen to the complete works of any composer from Du Fay to Dallapiccola, for free, with a few clicks of the proverbial button. But vinyl is a whole lot cooler than Youtube.


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## starthrower

I recommend Vol 6 on the Bridge label. Its a great disc! If you want to learn a bit about Crumb and his music, watch the clip I uploaded on the first page.


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## millionrainbows

flamencosketches said:


> Damn! Score. The perks of being born in an earlier time, before inflation screwed everything up, not least the music industry. Then again, we now have Youtube, and you can listen to the complete works of any composer from Du Fay to Dallapiccola, for free, with a few clicks of the proverbial button. But vinyl is a whole lot cooler than Youtube.


Even back then, it was a bargain. Records cost $3.67 in 1970; I was a sophomore in high school. Of course, classical music was not popular even back then, so a lot of Stockhausen on DG showed up in cut-out bins in K-Mart for $1.99. That was a lot of bang for the buck.


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## flamencosketches

Makes you wonder how many kids' lives were changed by one fateful trip to Kmart with their mothers, who unsuspectingly bought them a Stockhausen LP for pocket change...


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## Flutter

millionrainbows said:


> Even back then, it was a bargain. Records cost $3.67 in 1970; I was a sophomore in high school. Of course, classical music was not popular even back then, so a lot of Stockhausen on DG showed up in cut-out bins in K-Mart for $1.99. That was a lot of bang for the buck.


Woah, what a story. I love that!! :kiss: Thanks for sharing.


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## tortkis

Crumb: Metamorphoses, Books I & II (2015-2020) - Marcantonio Barone, piano (Bridge)








This is amazing. The use of inside piano and long reverberation creates ghostly effects. Barone's playing is clear and mystic. Each piece has a title after visual art work such as Klee's The Goldfish.


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## Mandryka

tortkis said:


> Crumb: Metamorphoses, Books I & II (2015-2020) - Marcantonio Barone, piano (Bridge)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is amazing. The use of inside piano and long reverberation creates ghostly effects. Barone's playing is clear and mystic. Each piece has a title after visual art work such as Klee's The Goldfish.


Yes I'm inclined to agree, I need to give it some more time really but I agree it's impressive.


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## SanAntone

My only question is, was he related to R. Crumb?


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## tortkis

R.I.P. George Crumb.
"Grammy and Pulitzer award winning composer George Crumb (1929-2022) passed away on February 6, 2022, at age 92, at his Media, PA home. His wife Elizabeth and sons David and Peter were at his side. Dr. Crumb was preceded in death by his daughter Ann Crumb." Bridge Records, Inc.

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1490413313116844033


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## starthrower

Sorry to hear this news. I had hoped the old man would continue for a few more years composing his unique music.


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## fluteman

tortkis said:


> R.I.P. George Crumb.
> "Grammy and Pulitzer award winning composer George Crumb (1929-2022) passed away on February 6, 2022, at age 92, at his Media, PA home. His wife Elizabeth and sons David and Peter were at his side. Dr. Crumb was preceded in death by his daughter Ann Crumb." Bridge Records, Inc.
> 
> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1490413313116844033


Sorry to hear that. He was one of the greatest 20th century composers, imo.


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## deafmix3

https://www.mixcloud.com/deafmix3/22122-rip-george-crumb-1929-2022/


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