Black Angels

George Crumb (1929) composes out of a post-modernist desire to bring together as much diversity as possible in his work. He says 'I think it's possible to connect with every moment in the past and with every culture…In one way or another, it's all modern and relevant.'

His music ranges from diverse quotations and sophisticated sound exercises to an extremely theatrical approach to performance. The sound of the American composer is recognisable: sparse textures and subtle timbres, with a mystical, nostalgic undertone, in which suspicions of forgotten worlds and lost memories resonate. 

Crumb is the focus composer at this year's Holland Festival, with three concerts and a symposium to him. In Black Angels, three top Dutch ensembles will be providing a cross-section of his oeuvre. The Ragazze Quartet will be performing Black Angels (Images I), still one of Crumb's most gripping works to date. He wrote the work for electric string quartet in 1970, at the low point of the Vietnam War. This is dark music, as evidenced by the subtitle 13 Images from the Dark Land and the 'Threnodies' and 'Devil-music' which make up the score. Howling strings, haunting whispering sounds and distorted quotations (Schubert's Death and the Maiden) come together in a sinister sound ritual  Crumb has his musicians wear masks, whistle, sing, recite numbers and play a variety of percussion instruments. 33⅓, a video collective from Zwolle, is responsible for adding contemporary visuals. 

In 1976 and 1985, Crumb added two compositions to the Image series, which he'd started with Black Angels. In Dream Sequence (Images II), the threatening atmosphere of Black Angels finds a counterpart in a meditative gliding flight in the zone between sleeping and waking. In An Idyll for the Misbegotten (Images III), dream-like melodies float above gently ruffling percussion. ‘To be heard from afar, over a lake, on a moonlit evening in August’, Crumb noted in the score. Although originally written for flute and percussion, two instruments Crumb believes to be close to nature, the version for horn will be performed here. At first, Crumb was sceptical when his pupil Robert Patterson rearranged the work for horn. But after hearing it, he was convinced of the sensitivity of the horn's timbre and suitability for the piece. Crumb has once again confirmed that he approves of the horn version for this concert. It will be performed by Christine Chapman, horn player from the Ensemble Musikfabrik and ambassador of the Save the Horn campaign. 

Between 2000 and 2010, Crumb worked on an extensive vocal cycle. His American Songbook comprises seven parts, each of which can be divided into a collection of songs and amplified piano and percussion quartet pieces. Soprano Claron McFadden will be performing a selection from the second book in the series. In A Journey Beyond Time - Songs of Despair and Hope, Crumb focuses on American hymns, spirituals and folk songs, with well-known melodies such as Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho and Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.