Crumb: Makrokosmos I (Twelve fantasy-pieces after the zodiac for amplified piano)

“This is a remarkable achievement. The recording quality is superb, as is the cover art. Fascinating listening. It is evident at all times that Mead knows exactly where he is going. Another triumph for Metier.” Colin Clarke – Music Web

“[Crumb has a] fertile imagination for all the timbres and effects that can be extracted from a piano - with the help of the odd paper clip or glass tumbler, of course. Mead manages them superbly.”The Guardian - Andrew Clements

The composer said "Music can be defined as a series of proportions in the service of a divine impulse". A philosophy which is shared by compsoers from Bach to Camilleri, Machaut to Tavener, and which is certainly the ethos of Divine Art Records!

While acknowledging the radical experiments of the 1960s and 1970s, Crumb's music became famous for its instantly recognisable style, integrity and sense of mysticism, and an ability not to alienate audiences.

One of the most well known composers of his generation, George Crumb has developed his very own piano style over the years – a sonic universe of limitless variety. One does not ‘just play’ Crumb, the performer is also required to whistle, sing, shout and whisper in numerous clearly defined ways. Ellen Ugelvik has studied the Makrokosmos in detail with Crumb himself, enabling her to investigate further the ideas and ideals behind various parameters in the score. The liner notes for the release are written by David Burge, who gave the world premiere of the Makrokosmos I.

“While composing Makrokosmos, I was aware of certain recurrent haunting images. At times quite vivid, at times vague and almost subliminal, these images seemed to coalesce around the following several ideas (given in no logical sequence, since there is none): the ‘magical properties’ of music; the problem of the origin of evil’ the ‘timelessness’ of time; a sense of the profound ironies of life so beautifully expressed in the music of Mozart and Mahler.” – George Crumb

Ellen Ugelvik makes her debut recording with the world’s first 5.1 surround sound recording of George Crumb’s Makrokosmos I & II. She was born in Bergen, and has studied with Einar Røttingen at the Grieg Academy in Bergen, Håkon Austbø at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and Steffen Schleiermacher at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Leipzig. She collaborates regularly with composers like George Crumb, Louis Andriessen, Rolf Wallin, Magne Hegdal, Knut Vaage, and Dai Fujikura, some of which have dedicated works to her.

The latest volume in BRIDGE'S award-winning survey of George Crumb complete works presents a new recording of a major Crumb cycle and the premiere of a new composition for two pianos. Makrokosmos I and II have come to be regarded as landmark compositions in the piano repertoire, requiring the pianist to display a virtuoso's control of both the keyboard and the inside of the piano. In addition, the performer is asked to whistle, speak, and sing, while simultaneously playing some of the most dramatic and fantasy-filled piano music of the late twentieth century.