Liner Notes
Cat. No. NWCRL218
Release Date: 2010-07-01
Louise Toth, soprano; Paul Parmelee, piano and celesta; David Burge, percussion I; Thomas MacCluskey, percussion II; Hartt Chamber Players; Ralph Shapey, conductor
Night Music I was composed during the spring of 1963, when George Crumb was living in Boulder, Colorado. He recalls that he had started it as a purely instrumental composition, but that it only came into focus when he decided to include two verses by the modern Spanish poet, Federico Garcia Lorca. It is scored for soprano, piano-celesta, and percussion.
The sound-world of Night Music I is part of Crumb’s increasingly personal idiom. It makes use of a wide variety of sounds produced by direct manipulation of the strings of the piano. Perhaps the most hauntingly beautiful sound is that of a water-gong glissando, which is used as an eerie framework for “La Luna Asoma.” The effect must be heard to be appreciated. Perhaps it is just as well that it cannot be seen by listeners to this record; it is produced by lowering the vibrating gong slowly into (or raising it slowly out of) a tub of water, an operation that has moved live audiences to inappropriate giggles.
Robert Erickson's Chamber Concerto calls for an ensemble of seventeen players. It was first performed by the Wesleyan Chamber Ensemble in 1962. After a performance by the Hartt Chamber Players at a concert of the International Society for Contemporary Music the following year in New York, Alan Rich wrote in The New York Times that the music was “substantial and rewarding;” he described the music as taking its point of departure from Webern’s Op. 10 orchestra pieces, adding that Erickson “has proved, as few other proponents of the Webern style have, that this kind of music can be writ large and succeed.”
Night Music I was composed during the spring of 1963, when George Crumb was living in Boulder, Colorado. He recalls that he had started it as a purely instrumental composition, but that it only came into focus when he decided to include two verses by the modern Spanish poet, Federico Garcia Lorca. It is scored for soprano, piano-celesta, and percussion.
The sound-world of Night Music I is part of Crumb’s increasingly personal idiom. It makes use of a wide variety of sounds produced by direct manipulation of the strings of the piano. Perhaps the most hauntingly beautiful sound is that of a water-gong glissando, which is used as an eerie framework for “La Luna Asoma.” The effect must be heard to be appreciated. Perhaps it is just as well that it cannot be seen by listeners to this record; it is produced by lowering the vibrating gong slowly into (or raising it slowly out of) a tub of water, an operation that has moved live audiences to inappropriate giggles.
Robert Erickson's Chamber Concerto calls for an ensemble of seventeen players. It was first performed by the Wesleyan Chamber Ensemble in 1962. After a performance by the Hartt Chamber Players at a concert of the International Society for Contemporary Music the following year in New York, Alan Rich wrote in The New York Times that the music was “substantial and rewarding;” he described the music as taking its point of departure from Webern’s Op. 10 orchestra pieces, adding that Erickson “has proved, as few other proponents of the Webern style have, that this kind of music can be writ large and succeed.”
This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Full liner notes are accessible via the link above.
We have preserved the original CRI LP catalog number for this title, preceded by the prefix NWCRL, to distinguish previously unavailable back catalog titles from those later reissued by CRI on compact disc.
George Crumb: Night Music I/Robert Erickson: Chamber Concerto
| MP3/320 | $7.99 | |
| FLAC | $7.99 | |
| WAV | $7.99 | |
| CD-R | $7.99 |
A *.pdf of the notes may be accessed here free of charge.
Track Listing
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Night Music I: Notturno I - giocoso, estatico
George Crumb
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Night Music I: Notturno II - Piccola Serenata
George Crumb
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Night Music I: Notturno III - La Luna asoma
George Crumb
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Night Music I: Notturno IV - vivace molto ritmico
George Crumb
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Night Music I: Notturno V - Gacela de la Terrible Presencia
George Crumb
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Night Music I: Notturno VI - Barcarola
George Crumb
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Night Music I: Notturno VII - giocoso, estatico
George Crumb
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Chamber Concerto: I. -
Robert Erickson
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Chamber Concerto: II. -
Robert Erickson
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Chamber Concerto: III. -
Robert Erickson
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Chamber Concerto: IV. -
Robert Erickson
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