![]() The cello is tuned scordatura, and the piece requires the use of a grand piano as the techniques required would not be possible on an upright model. Although supported by grants from the National Endowment. Vox Balaenae (1971) is scored for electric flute, electric cello and amplified piano and is an archetypal Crumb experience. It is highly suggested that whenever possible the performance be done under blue lighting. This 1976 documentary on American avant-garde composer George Crumb was his first film on American music and it is arguably his worst. In addition to instrumentation techniques, performers are asked to wear half black masks. Movements and instrumentation techniques Although the piece has eight movements, these are grouped into three structurally similar parts: the first two movements "(.for the beginning of time)", five variations named after geologic time periods, and the last movement "(.for the end of time)". In 1971, Crumb drew on these sounds as the inspiration.". ![]() "Late in the 1960s, George Crumb heard a tape recording prepared by a marine scientist of the sounds emitted by the humpback whale. Background Īs the name of the piece indicates, Vox Balaenae was inspired by whale songs. It was composed for performance by the New York Camerata in 1971. ![]() The opening is intense and arresting – are the electric insects helicopters? In the second movement, listen out for the players using the wood of their bow and whispering.Vox Balaenae ( Voice of the Whale), is a work for electric flute, electric cello and amplified piano by the American avant-garde composer George Crumb. Here’s a clip of the (evocatively titled) opening two movements: Subtitled “Thirteen Images from the Dark Land” and written in 1970 during the Vietnam war, Black Angels is structured around the numbers 7 and 13 and fused with superstition. In Voice of the Whale, performers are asked to wear masks and perform under blue light. Meticulously, and with lots of paraphernalia! Performers of his music are challenged to explore their instruments with varying apparatus which creates new and original sounds.įor example, in Black Angels – his work for electric string quartet – players are required to play their instruments upside-down: with glass rods, thimbles, crystal glasses, gongs, maracas, and to shout and whisper. Oh, and his scores also look like works of art – see the main image. There are no boundaries to the sounds he searches for – from ancient eastern instruments and medieval ghost-like melodies, to impressionistic colour (think Debussy) and swarming insects (think flying helicopters). He explores sound in a very imaginative way and takes us into realms that you wouldn’t expect from traditional instruments. What’s so special about his music?ĭescribed as atmospheric, mysterious and evocative, Crumb’s music seems more influenced by mystical poetry rather than science. ![]() By all accounts, he is a shy, modest and warmly eloquent person. George Crumb is an avant-garde composer from West Virginia, now in his 90s. ![]() Ahead of our Voice of the Whale tour featuring the experimental composer’s titular masterpiece, we asked music director Rakhi Singh to let us in on his highly imaginative musical world… Who is George Crumb? Mysterious, poetic, haunting – once heard, the music of George Crumb is impossible to forget. ![]()
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