![]() ![]() I had not heard of George or his music until I arrived in DC having earned a BM in composition from SMU! It was the treat of a life time to know him and hear music my 4 years in DC. All contemporary music was mechanical, serial like, with little beauty or emotion. Music of this type was uncommon in those days. I think to see my reaction to the closing beautiful Debussy like music. At the end Crumb turned around and looked at me (the hall was not full) sitting several rows back. My praise to performers of this work with the difficult scordatura, and other unusual requirements for performance. Of course I only know this after hearing the piece many times and in several different venues. The performance was exact, but did not really set the evocative mood needed. The Library of Congress recital hall is not a modern venue. I had just moved to DC to serve with the USAF Band and had contacted Crumb for some private study…the opening vocalize was not performed effectively then or on the initial recording which made the piece difficult to understand…The performers seemed a bit awkward with the “mood” aspect being NY musicians. 1949, Dallas, TX) also attended the premiere of this work and recalled his experience as such:Ĭrumb was extremely popular in DC and praised highly by music critic Paul Hume. By citing Indian flute music, bamboo flutes, and human sounds, one could easily blame the reviewer for the missed connection between the title and the acoustically approximated whale song in the flute “Vocalise.” Poor execution of the demanding extended techniques, however, may have actually been to blame. This statement would imply a lack of understanding of Crumb’s intent for these flute effects to mimic the singing of the humpback whale, hence the programatic title Voice of the Whale. Paula Hatcher may have been singing into the instrument at times. She states that “the flute vocalise resembles Indian flute music for bamboo flute in its evocatively human sounds. The most revealing excerpt from Reinthaler’s review, however, is her attempted descriptions of the timbral effects and extended techniques used in this work. Joan Reinthaler reviewed this concert for the Washington Post and claimed, “There are very few pieces of new music to which I would be willing to commit myself without reservation… but I heard one last night.” Despite the lack of conventional tonality as a guide, it appears that the perceived formal structure of the work was clear to at least this particular reviewer based on her description of the work as being in three parts with variations labeled for geological ages. Though these other works the comprised the remainder of the program traversed a wide variety of styles ranging from the German classical tradition to French impressionism and Czech nationalism, they were all written in conventional notation that did not require techniques and timbres beyond the standard expectation for the three instrumentalists. Other works on the March 17th program included Trio for flute, violincello, and piano by Bohuslav Martinů, Trio in F Major by Joseph Haydn, Sonatine (arranged by the New York Camerata) by Maurice Ravel, and Adagio, Variations, and Rondo on “Schöne Minka,” Op. All graduates of the Manhattan School of Music, the trio had been hailed for their “sensitive polished chamber music playing.” By the time of the 1972 Library of Congress concert, Paula Hatcher had replaced Jayn Rosenfeld as the flutist of the ensemble. Due to this critical emphasis on describing the unique sonic experience of this work, comments regarding the theatrical aspects of the performance seem merely tangental that they simply served to enhance the musical experience.įlutist Jayn Rosenfeld, cellist Charles Forbes, and pianist Glenn Jacobsen formed the New York Camerata in 1963. Varying accounts of the first performance from music critics and audiences members demonstrates the unfamiliarity with extended techniques and the resulting need to develop a vocabulary for discussing subsequent performances. ![]() The New York Camerata premiered Vox Balaenae on Maat the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. In the reception history of this work, the decade following the premiere was largely marked by attempts to decipher Crumb’s timbral effects and intentions.
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