Electric Insects and Whale Sounds: An Introduction to George Crumb
Mysterious, poetic, haunting – once heard, the music of George Crumb is impossible to forget. Ahead of our Voice of the Whale tour featuring the experimental composer’s titular masterpiece, we asked music director Rakhi Singh to let us in on his highly imaginative musical world…
Who is George Crumb?
George Crumb is an avant-garde composer from West Virginia, now in his 90s. By all accounts, he is a shy, modest and warmly eloquent person.
What’s so special about his music?
Described as atmospheric, mysterious and evocative, Crumb’s music seems more influenced by mystical poetry rather than science. He explores sound in a very imaginative way and takes us into realms that you wouldn’t expect from traditional instruments. There are no boundaries to the sounds he searches for – from ancient eastern instruments and medieval ghost-like melodies, to impressionistic colour (think Debussy) and swarming insects (think flying helicopters).
Oh, and his scores also look like works of art – see the main image.
How does he do this?
Meticulously, and with lots of paraphernalia! Performers of his music are challenged to explore their instruments with varying apparatus which creates new and original sounds.
For example, in Black Angels – his work for electric string quartet – players are required to play their instruments upside-down: with glass rods, thimbles, crystal glasses, gongs, maracas, and to shout and whisper. In Voice of the Whale, performers are asked to wear masks and perform under blue light.
Black Angels
Subtitled “Thirteen Images from the Dark Land” and written in 1970 during the Vietnam war, Black Angels is structured around the numbers 7 and 13 and fused with superstition. Here’s a clip of the (evocatively titled) opening two movements:
I. Night of the Electric Insects
II. Sounds of Bones and Flutes
The opening is intense and arresting – are the electric insects helicopters? In the second movement, listen out for the players using the wood of their bow and whispering.
In this next clip, you can see the players holding their instruments in an unconventional fashion whilst playing a quote of Schubert’s Death of the Maiden (from 1824).
The sound is eerie and veiled, which adds to the ghost-like feeling of the musical quote.
Voice of the Whale
Voice of the Whale was written as a trio for electric flute, cello and amplified piano. It’s said to be inspired by recordings Crumb heard of the hump-back whale. Some of the extended techniques include the flautist singing into her flute whilst playing, and the pianist playing the piano strings with paper clips, a glass rod and a chisel.
Take a look at this performance of Voice of the Whale by the brilliant musicians of Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris. It’s a striking choreographed production, transporting us deep under the sea.
If you’re hooked, I’ve included links to further reading below and be sure to check out my George Crumb-inspired playlist on Spotify – from his influences and some of my favourite Crumb movements, to the contemporary artists that followed him in creating interesting soundscapes.
Sit back and relax, this is night music.
Rakhi Singh