Crumb: Songs, Drones And Refrains Of Death

Sanford Sylvan (Performer), George Crumb (Composer), Aleck Karis (Performer), Jan de Gaetani (Performer), Speculum Musicae (Orchestra), Gilbert Kalish (Performer), Lambert Orkis (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Sanford Sylvan, Aleck Karis, Jan de Gaetani, Gilbert Kalish, Lambert Orkis
• Orchestra: Speculum Musicae
• Composer: George Crumb
• Audio CD (June 1, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Bridge
• ASIN: B000003GIM
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #403,403 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Crumb enthusiasts, November 18, 2006

By 

Michael Suh - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crumb: Songs, Drones And Refrains Of Death (Audio CD)

The three works on this disc are somewhat "typical" Crumb. "Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death" is not Crumb's greatest work, even if it has his signature gestures -- a combination of speaking and singing during songs, shouting from the percussion players, among other techniques. It's a little contrived and more than a little dated (it's unmistakably 1960s avant-garde), but it's not a bad work. The recording's vocal performance by both the ensemble and the soloist sounds very muddled, which is unfortunate.

The Suite for Christmas has never been my favorite work. Crumb's other works for piano, such as the Makrokosmos books, are so much better it makes this work really look kind of anomalously amateur, even though I'm sure it's extremely hard to play. Orkis makes the most of this work, it's as good as I've ever heard it.

Apparition is by far the best work on this disc. It focuses on death just like the Songs and Drones, but Apparition also has some of the most delicate music found in any of Crumb's works. And the singing is sharp and clear, even with the transparent textures of the music. It uses Walt Whitman's Death Carol as its text and really captures the mysticism, light, and darkness that surrounds death that Whitman conveys in his poem.

Overall, it's a good disc. It's definitely a great disc for people who like Crumb, but I know I wouldn't have explored much more of his music if this were my introduction.