Works By George Crumb

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
These are fine performances by the University of Pennsylvania Chamber Players of a somewhat tedious collection of works by the American experimental composer George Crumb. The Vox Balaenae is a suite based on songs of the humpback whale: the musicians are instructed in the score to perform in a "serene, pure, transfigured" manner. OK. The Madrigals continues the composer's lifelong exploration of the expressive potentials in extended instrumental techniques. "Dark and disquieting" they may be, as the liner notes intone; but they're also for listeners with a fair amount of patience. --Joshua Cody

Works By George Crumb, Music, Fred Sherry, George Crumb, Richard Wernick, James Freeman, University of Pennsylvania Chamber Players, Bonnie Insull, Zizi Mueller, Jan de Gaetani, Benjamin Herman, Gordon Gottlieb, Joel Thome, Matthew Hopkins, Stephen Paysen, James Gemmell, Chamber, Chamber Music & Recitals, Classical, Classical Music, Quartet for Mixed Instruments without Keyboard, Solo Voice(s) and Small Ensemble, Trio for Keyboard and Two String Instruments, Vocal
Works By George Crumb
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Compelling recording by masters of the genre
  • Wonderful Whales
  • Missing the point!
 Works By George Crumb

Manufacturer: New World Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:
  1. Complete Crumb Edition, Vol. 6 - Echoes of Time and the River, Gnomic Variations, Four Nocturnes, Lux Aeterna
  2. Complete Crumb Edition, Volume 5: Easter Dawning, Celestial Mechanics, A Haunted Landscape, Processional
  3. Crumb: Ancient Voices Of Children
  4. Complete Crumb Edition 9; Ancient Voices of Children, Madrigals Books I-IV, Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik
  5. Makrokosmos

ASIN: B0000030DZ
Release Date: 1992-12-08

Tracks:

  1. An Idyll for the Misbegotten
  2. Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale): Vocaliste (...for the beginning of time)
  3. Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale): Variations on Sea-Time: Sea Theme
  4. Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale): Variations on Sea-Time: Archeozoic (Var. I)
  5. Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale): Variations on Sea-Time: Proterozoic (Var. II)
  6. Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale): Variations on Sea-Time: Paleozoic (Var. III)
  7. Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale): Variations on Sea-Time: Mesozoic (Var. IV)
  8. Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale): Variations on Sea-Time: Cenozoic (Var. V)
  9. Variations on Sea-Time: Sea-Nocturne (...for the end of time)
  10. Madrigals: Book I: I
  11. Madrigals: Book I: II
  12. Madrigals: Book I: III
  13. Madrigals: Book II: I
  14. Madrigals: Book II: II
  15. Madrigals: Book II: III
  16. Madrigals: Book III: I
  17. Madrigals: Book III: II
  18. Madrigals: Book III: III
  19. Madrigals: Book IV: I
  20. Madrigals: Book IV: II
  21. Madrigals: Book IV: III

Amazon.com

These are fine performances by the University of Pennsylvania Chamber Players of a somewhat tedious collection of works by the American experimental composer George Crumb. The Vox Balaenae is a suite based on songs of the humpback whale: the musicians are instructed in the score to perform in a "serene, pure, transfigured" manner. OK. The Madrigals continues the composer's lifelong exploration of the expressive potentials in extended instrumental techniques. "Dark and disquieting" they may be, as the liner notes intone; but they're also for listeners with a fair amount of patience. --Joshua Cody

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Compelling recording by masters of the genre.......2007-05-21

Purchased the recording to study it for our own performance - the works are hypnotic and masterfully recorded by performers who are comfortable with the extended techniques. The liner notes provide loots of interesting and pertinent information.

5 out of 5 stars Wonderful Whales.......2002-06-16

Vox Balaenae was, along with Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children, amoung my favorite 20th century works as a child. Far from tedious, I find this work to be captivating, albeit difficult to penetrate at times as is most of Crumb's work. The piece begins with an extended flute vocalise requiring the flautist to sing into the instrument. The result has an uncanny resemblence to the songs of the Hyumpbacked Whale. The piece then continues with a mysterious set of variations depicting the earth's geological periods, climaxing with the emergence of human beings. The final section of the work is haunting and luminious, as the tonality settles into a beautiful B major which fades off into the distance.

The Crumb Madrigals are interesting works as well, though I have not yet warmed to them as I have to other Crumb works. Jan DeGaetani is marvelous as is usual in this work.

5 out of 5 stars Missing the point!.......1999-03-26

The Amazon.com review above misses the point of Crumb's musical aesthetic. Crumb's music is meditatve and spritual. The stage presentation is occasionally elaborate and ritualistic, intended for dramatic effect. Unfortunately, this doesn't translate well onto CD. Your reviewer should attempt to catch a live performance of Crumb's music to get the fuller picture.

Music Review:

  1. Alwyn: Lyra Angelica; Pastoral Fantasia; Tragic Interlude; Lyra Angelica
  2. Arcadia
  3. Bach: The Six Suites
  4. Barber: Adagio; Symphony No. 1; The School for Scandal; Essays
  5. Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 24 "À Thérèse" & 29 "Hammerklavier"
  6. Beethoven: Sonatas for piano No29; Sonatas for piano No3
  7. Beethoven: String Quartet, Op. 127; Piano Sonata, Op. 101
  8. Bellini - I Capuleti e i Montecchi / Kasarova · Mei · Vargas · Chiummo · Alberghini · R. Abbado [Box set]
  9. Bernstein Century: Holst: Planets; Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance
  10. Best of Kiri Te Kanawa / Mozart, Wagner, Puccini, Schumann, Legrand

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