George Crumb Retrospective II

On Friday evening, October 2nd, 2009 a friend of mine and I attended the George Crumb Retrospective II concert at University of Memphis. This program featured music by the 21st century composer, George Crumb—a composer best known for his unusual use of traditional instruments. This concert featured Crumb’s application of extended musical techniques on the piano. These techniques included plucking the piano strings from under the lid and applying various “tools” to the piano keys and strings. There were three different pianists who each played three distinctly different pieces.
The first piece, Processional (1983), was my favorite, though I rather enjoyed the whole program. Processional did not employ any extended techniques and consequently sounded the most “normal” of the bunch. In fact the non-functional harmonies and soothing nature of the piece reminded me of music by impressionist composer Claude Debussy . The only “Crumb-ian” thing about the piece was the occasional cacophonous sound of “tone clusters” abruptly banged on the piano by holding down several keys at the same time. Expect the unexpected in works by George Crumb!
The rest of the program was fascinating and much more indicative of the George Crumb style I’m familiar with. The other two works performed were A Little Suite for Christmas, A.D. 1979 and Gnomic Variations (1981). The Christmas suite was cool and eclectic, incorporating original music and occasional quotations of other music by different composers. My only complaint is that it was hard to follow since all the movements flowed into each other. The Gnomic variations sounded like moon music because of the strange timbres elicited from the piano by means of a block applied to a cluster of keys and plucking the piano strings. Both of these pieces used extended techniques to achieve unique timbres, proving that the piano is a much more versatile instrument than most expect.
I really enjoyed this concert and highly encourage any interested in contemporary music to attend the next installment George Crumb Retrospective III on Friday October 16th, 2009 at 7:30 pm. It will be held in the Rudi E. Scheidt Music Building on the University of Memphis campus.

- Brigid Hannon