Crumb a comfort in times of war

This concert stood out for a rare performance of a work by the one of the more significant 20th century composers – American George Crumb.

Crumb, who celebrated his 75th birthday last year, has been an influential composer with his innovative use of different sonorities from conventional instrument, and nowhere was that more vividly displayed than in his 1970 work for amplified string quartet, Black Angels.

This came at a time of intense creativity for Crumb, and it surrealistic quality, highlighted by the use of a range of other instruments including tam-tams and tuned wine classes, struck a chord with audiences of its time.

For this was the time of assassination – Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy – and, above all, the Vietnam War.

Indeed, Crumb describes Black Angels as being composed in tempore belli – in time of war. To audiences of 2005 it might seem a little contrived, but there is no denying Crumb’s extraordinary ear, from the amplified shrieking of the strings, to the delicate, almost inaudible, use of the timed wine glasses, and the other-worldly vocalising of the players into their miked strings.

Today, one might thinks on Tan Dun as the inheritor of this tradition. The work is scrupulously notated by Crumb, which might explain the similarity between those recorded performances I have heard and this live experience. The audience treated what was clearly a dedicated performance with polite enthusiasm.

Black Angels was flanked by quartets by Haydn and Brahms. Both were decently done.