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George Crumb: The unsentimental American
Crumb's American classics, by Orchestra 2001
Tom Purdom
The sixth volume of George Crumb’s American Song Book bears the title Voices from the Morning of the Earth and the first entry is, in fact, a song about the morning. But Crumb’s approach to “My Lord What a Beautiful Morning” is a bit deeper than a cheery expression of nice thoughts about a new day.
The song is a spiritual from the slave era with an apocalyptic text that refers to the second coming of Christ and, by inference, the end of slavery. In Crumb’s version, it acquires a new melody he wrote himself and an accompaniment that opens with heavy drumming that sounds like a march to destiny.
At 80, George Crumb is one of the most outlandish living American composers and one of the most accessible. He plays around with odd sounds and prepared pianos, but he reaches an appreciative audience because you know he always has a reason for the things he does.
The accompaniments in his American Songbook surround classic American songs with unpredictable effects that make highly personal comments on each song. The selections in the latest volume range from cowboy ballads like “I Ride an Old Paint” to a pair of modern anthems, “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” They’re arranged for soprano, baritone, percussion, and piano.
The contemporary composer’s favorite toy
As most of the regulars at new music concerts know, the percussion section is the contemporary composer’s favorite toy store. In addition to banging on various types of drums, percussionists play melody instruments like the glockenspiel and the marimba, color instruments such as bells and rattles, and oddities like a gong suspended in a tub filled with water. The instruments crowded onto the Perelman stage were manipulated by four musicians, in addition to the pianist.
“Blowin’ in the Wind” could have been treated ceremonially. Crumb gave it a sweet arrangement instead, with baritone Randall Scarlata singing very softly near the top of his range. “I Ride an Old Paint” was also sung straight, but it was saved from cliché by Scarlata’s voice and a backing that surrounded it with mystery. For “When the Saints Go Marching In,” the two vocalists spoke the words, revival meeting-style, with plenty of banging from the percussion. The familiar melody entered near the end, played on the glockenspiel.
“Dry Bones”— frequently called “Dem Bones”— is often treated as a comic song. Crumb accompanied it with dry sounds created by wooden instruments— including a ruler laid across the piano strings— and underlined the religious aspect with extra emphasis on the refrain, “Hear the Word of the Lord.”
The other songs in the collection received the same combination of inventiveness and individualism. Crumb is an American original working with popular American materials, but there’s no hint of sentimental Americana in his approach.
Waiting at an airport
The evening opened with the premiere of the opening scene of a new opera, Tides, by Ronald G. Vigue. Tides contains some nice writing for a small instrumental ensemble, and the instrumental and vocal music create an effective mood. The scene depicts a lone woman waiting at an airport as planes fly in and out like the tide— obviously the prelude to a dramatic development.
The other item on the program, Joseph Schwantner’s 1987 Distant Runes and Incantations, included driving rhythmic passages and touches such as a rippling, racing section near the end that teamed the flute and the glockenspiel with humming strings.
The Vigue and the Schwantner would have scored more points if they’d been played on different programs. One of Orchestra 2001’s greatest strengths is James Freeman’s willingness to program the whole spectrum of music composed during the last hundred years. This was one of the few times he’s scheduled two pieces, back to back, that employ similar styles and create similar moods.
George Crumb’s daughter Ann is a specialist in new music with a notably attractive voice, and she acquitted herself, as usual, with the insight of someone who understands the mind of the contemporary composer. Randall Scarlata demonstrated, once again, that he adds spark to everything he takes on.
The song is a spiritual from the slave era with an apocalyptic text that refers to the second coming of Christ and, by inference, the end of slavery. In Crumb’s version, it acquires a new melody he wrote himself and an accompaniment that opens with heavy drumming that sounds like a march to destiny.
At 80, George Crumb is one of the most outlandish living American composers and one of the most accessible. He plays around with odd sounds and prepared pianos, but he reaches an appreciative audience because you know he always has a reason for the things he does.
The accompaniments in his American Songbook surround classic American songs with unpredictable effects that make highly personal comments on each song. The selections in the latest volume range from cowboy ballads like “I Ride an Old Paint” to a pair of modern anthems, “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” They’re arranged for soprano, baritone, percussion, and piano.
The contemporary composer’s favorite toy
As most of the regulars at new music concerts know, the percussion section is the contemporary composer’s favorite toy store. In addition to banging on various types of drums, percussionists play melody instruments like the glockenspiel and the marimba, color instruments such as bells and rattles, and oddities like a gong suspended in a tub filled with water. The instruments crowded onto the Perelman stage were manipulated by four musicians, in addition to the pianist.
“Blowin’ in the Wind” could have been treated ceremonially. Crumb gave it a sweet arrangement instead, with baritone Randall Scarlata singing very softly near the top of his range. “I Ride an Old Paint” was also sung straight, but it was saved from cliché by Scarlata’s voice and a backing that surrounded it with mystery. For “When the Saints Go Marching In,” the two vocalists spoke the words, revival meeting-style, with plenty of banging from the percussion. The familiar melody entered near the end, played on the glockenspiel.
“Dry Bones”— frequently called “Dem Bones”— is often treated as a comic song. Crumb accompanied it with dry sounds created by wooden instruments— including a ruler laid across the piano strings— and underlined the religious aspect with extra emphasis on the refrain, “Hear the Word of the Lord.”
The other songs in the collection received the same combination of inventiveness and individualism. Crumb is an American original working with popular American materials, but there’s no hint of sentimental Americana in his approach.
Waiting at an airport
The evening opened with the premiere of the opening scene of a new opera, Tides, by Ronald G. Vigue. Tides contains some nice writing for a small instrumental ensemble, and the instrumental and vocal music create an effective mood. The scene depicts a lone woman waiting at an airport as planes fly in and out like the tide— obviously the prelude to a dramatic development.
The other item on the program, Joseph Schwantner’s 1987 Distant Runes and Incantations, included driving rhythmic passages and touches such as a rippling, racing section near the end that teamed the flute and the glockenspiel with humming strings.
The Vigue and the Schwantner would have scored more points if they’d been played on different programs. One of Orchestra 2001’s greatest strengths is James Freeman’s willingness to program the whole spectrum of music composed during the last hundred years. This was one of the few times he’s scheduled two pieces, back to back, that employ similar styles and create similar moods.
George Crumb’s daughter Ann is a specialist in new music with a notably attractive voice, and she acquitted herself, as usual, with the insight of someone who understands the mind of the contemporary composer. Randall Scarlata demonstrated, once again, that he adds spark to everything he takes on.
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