Customer Reviews

George Crumb 70th Birthday Album

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Ever since I read a review of the concert where George Crumb's Star Child was premiered I've been hoping that a recording would be forthcoming. In a sense, this is your typical Crumb work, with it's wild vocalise, it's unusual instrumental effects, it's mixture of tonal and atonal elements, and, most of all, it's aura of ritual and mystery. It also breaks new ground in it's scope (a large orchestra used sparingly) and layering of different musics. I particularly love the duet between the soprano and trombone ("Voices Crying in the Wilderness" indeed!) and the quietly estatic closing, with the strings soaring into their highest range. The guitar work shows a lighter and humorous side of Crumb's art and are a delight, as are the early songs (although there is only a hint of the composer's later style buried in them). Anyone interested in comtemporary music that is both innovative and deeply expressive should check into this disk.

What a perfect way to celebrate the 70th birthday of one of the twentieth century's great composers than with the release of "Star Child".The work starts with quiet string sounds similar to Charles Ives's "the Unanswered Question" and builds to an intense climax as in Crumb's own "Black Angels".The four conductors required for performing the piece make this an unlikely work to appear on standard orchestral programs.This CD is therefore an important documentation of a moving musical experience. Crumb's recent "Mundus Canis" is also heard and shows that the composer is still going strong after a brief creative slowing down in the '80s. This work features the composer performing on percussion with guitarist David Starobin. In addition to being an amusing musical portrait of Crumb's past family pets, the work features new explorations of guitar sounds similar to some of the earlier piano compositions of the '70s. This is a valuable addition to American classical recordings that for the most part contain Minimalist or serial related compositions

George Crumb's Star-Child is a very powerful music, to be ranked between
the best ever composed in the United States of America. Without favor, the Dies Irae can be matched in the same level with those composed by
Mozart or Verdi.

I purchased this CD after it received the 2001 Grammy for best contemporary composition. I have not been disappointed in the slightest. Crumb's music creates timbres in an amazing way, using new sounds to illuminate his music. Crumb's apocalyptic vision in Star-Child is both terrifying and beautiful at the same time. The Warsaw Philharmonic gives an excellent reading of a work that Berlioz had called "unrecordable."

His shorter works, Mundus Canis and Early Songs are intimate and humorous, without sacrificing their musical value. David Starobin and the composer play together on Mundus Canis, a tribute to Crumb's five dogs. This piece came from a commission for a dance by Starobin. The Early Songs are performed by George Crumb and his daughter Anne Crumb.

This is truly a definitive Crumb album and one that no lover of new music should be without.