George Crumb - Madrigals Books I-IV; Makrokosmos III

George CRUMB (1929-2022)

Madrigals, Books I-IV for soprano and instrumental ensemble

(Text: Federico Garcia Lorca), Books I-IV (1965-1969) *

Music For A Summer Evening (Makrokosmos III) for two

amplified pianos and percussion (1974)**

Double Bass [Musica Varia] – Robert Röjder *

Ensemble – Musica Varia*

Flute [Musica Varia] – Ulf Bergström*

Harp [Musica Varia] – Åsa Lännerholm*

Mezzo-soprano Vocals [Musica Varia] – Anne-Marie Mühle*

Percussion [Musica Varia] – Seppo Asikainen*

Percussion – Rainer Kuisma, Seppo Asikainen**

Piano – Barbro Dahlman, Ingrid Lindgren**

Recorded: 1983, Swedish Radio, Stockholm.

The American composer George Crumb studied in his own country and with Boris Blacher in Berlin. From 1965 he spent 30 years, until his retirement, teaching composition at the University of Pennsylvania. Allusive in style, he used a wide range of inventive sound resources, notably in his Ancient Voices of Children and in works such as Vox balaenae (‘The Voice of the Whale’), with its singing flautist and cello seagull imitations. His vocal music includes settings of Lorca, Whitman and Poe, among others.