American Classics - George Crumb - Naxos: 8559290 - CD or download

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This disc will bring Crumb to a wider audience with two substantial works, one early and one late. Songs, Drones and Refrains of Death was completed in 1968 and has all the hallmarks of Crumb's... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Release Date: 29th May 2006
Catalogue No: 8559290
Label: Naxos
Series: American Classics
Length: 54 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

October 2006

Editor's Choice

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Crumb, G: Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death

Work length29:07

$12.00

$15.60

Nicholas Isherwood
Ensemble New Art
Fuat Kent

Refrain 1

Track length1:22

$1.00

$1.30

I. La Guitarra (the Guitar) / Death-Drone I

Track length4:20

$1.00

$1.30

Refrain 2

Track length0:51

$1.00

$1.30

II. Casida de las Palomas ocuras (Casida of the Dark Doves)

Track length4:14

$1.00

$1.30

Refrain 3

Track length1:05

$1.00

$1.30

Death-Drone II

Track length1:48

$1.00

$1.30

III. Cancion de Jinette, 1860 (Song of the Rider, 1860)

Track length1:56

$1.00

$1.30

Cadenza appassionata for 2 drummers

Track length1:31

$1.00

$1.30

Refrain 4

Track length1:04

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Casida del Herido por el agua (Casida of the Boy Wounded by the Water)

Track length2:08

$1.00

$1.30

Death-Drone III

Track length8:48

$2.00

$2.60

Crumb, G: Quest

Work length25:24

$10.00

$12.95

Ensemble New Art
Fuat Kent

Refrain 1

Track length0:55

$1.00

$1.30

I. Dark Paths

Track length5:06

$1.00

$1.30

II. Fugitive Sounds

Track length2:10

$1.00

$1.30

Refrain 2

Track length0:40

$1.00

$1.30

III. Forgotten Dirges

Track length4:21

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Fugitive Sounds

Track length1:05

$1.00

$1.30

Refrain 3

Track length1:03

$1.00

$1.30

V. Nocturnal

Track length10:04

$3.00

$3.85

Reviews
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Reviews

2010

This disc will bring Crumb to a wider audience with two substantial works, one early and one late. Songs, Drones and Refrains of Death was completed in 1968 and has all the hallmarks of Crumb's magical sound world. It's one of several pieces stemming from the poetry of Federico García Lorca. Nicholas Isherwood, after many live performances, is totally in command of this spooky territory and delivers his lines with great clarity (full texts of the four poems are available online). 'The Song of the Rider' is a spine-chilling counterpart to Schubert's Erlkönig – both scenarios end in death, a consistent presence throughout both in the poems and in the movements called 'Death-Drones'.
Written in 1994, Quest shows Crumb still finding unusual sonorities for his six players with prominent guitar. So we hear the Appalachian hammer dulcimer, the African talking drum, the Mexican rainstick, and sometimes the guitar and harp are interwoven. Crumb admits that he had some trouble in finding a final form for Quest: there is no programme but he pondered a couple of gloomy phrases from Dante and Lorca.
Alexander Swete plays electric guitar in Songs, Drones and acoustic guitar in Quest, which becomes a showpiece for him (it was written for David Starobin). It's now good to have both these works together, well recorded, with notes by the composer.

October 2006

Songs, Drones and Refrains of Death was completed in 1968 and has all the hallmarks of Crumb's magical sound world. It's one of the several pieces stemming from the poetry of Federico García Lorca. Nicholas Isherwood, after many live performances, is totally in command of this spooky territory and delivers his lines with great clarity... Written in 1994, Quest shows Crumb still finding unusual sonorities for his six players with prominent guitar.

American Classics - George Crumb

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