Works for Piano, Volume 2

George Crumb - Works for Piano, Volume 2

performed by Jeffrey Jacob

Recorded January 20-21, 1988 at O'Laughlin Auditorium, Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana.

Released in 1991

Makrokosmos Volume II

In Volume II, Crumb employs the most elaborate array of inside-the-piano techniques of any of his piano compositions. In addition to strumming, muting, and plucking the strings, the pianist must chant, shout, whistle, whisper and apply glass tumblers and a sheet of paper to the keys.

Each of the twelve movements beats a fanciful and often remarkably specific title followed by highly descriptive performance directions: No. 1, Morning music (Genesis II); exuberantly, with primitive energy; No. 5, Ghost-Nocturne: for the Druids of Stonehenge (Night Spell II); dark, fantastic, subliminal; No. 11, Litany of the Galactic Bells, jubilant, metallic, incisive, echoing. Each movement is associated with a sign of the zodiac.

A Little Suite for Christmas: A.D. 1979

The Christmas Suite offers ample evidence of the extraordinary range of Crumb's compositional techniques. Compared to the extravagance of the Makrokosmos volumes, the Christmas Suite reminds us of the composer's five pieces for piano in its economy of means and pianistic restraint. Each of the seven movements bears the title of one of Giotto's Arena Chapel frescoes, but the musical material is distilled and the inside-the-piano techniques are limited to plucking, muting, and strumming the strings. The resulting textures are, for Crumb, remarkably thin. During the 1970's, then, the essence of Crumb's piano music shifted from the sonorous effects of the Makrokosmos volumes to the exquisite melodic and rhythmic refinements of the Christmas Suite.

Processional

Processional exists in two versions: one with a handful of plucking and muting effects and one without. Crumb has said that in composing Processional, he wanted to convince himself that he could write a piano composition without using "extended techniques," but decided to offer pianists the option of added color for a few individual pitches. Loosely based on the whole-tone scale, Processional presents an altogether different type of piano approach to musical structure. The basis of the piece is a series of repeated chords which very gradually move toward or away from major climaxes.

The mesmerizing effect of the chordal repitition is countered by the rising and falling dynamics. With Processional we are again reminded that the celebrated coloristic devices of Crumb's music are by no means the most important aspects of his compositions; that his harmonic writing, his melodic and rhythmic motives, and his exploration of structure participate equally in defining the character of some of the most striking, influential and beautiful piano music of the 20th century. (Jeffrey Jacob)Tracklisting:

1. Makrokosmos, Volume II {28:33}

2. A Little Suite for Christmas: A.D. 1979 {13:04}

3. Processional (original version) {9:39}

4. Processional (revised version) {9:20}

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