The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: UW festival will honor American composer George Crumb at 85. It runs from this Friday through Monday and features master classes as well as the acclaimed violinist Miranda Cuckson and the new music groups Nunc and Due East.
2 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
The acclaimed prize-winning composer Laura Schwendinger, who teaches composition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, has sent the following announcement to The Ear:
Pulitzer Prize-winner George Crumb (below, b. 1929) is one of America’s foremost composers and one of the most influential and innovative composers of the latter half of the 20th Century.
UW-Madison composer and professor Laura Schwendinger, who is the Artistic Director of the UW-Madison Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, designed the 2015 CRUMB FESTIVAL – to take place from this Friday, March 20, through Monday, March 23, at the UW-Madison School of Music — to celebrate his 85th birthday.
“We wish to celebrate this unique and singular voice,” says Schwendinger. She describes Crumb’s influence in this way: “He is one of the most important, and influential composers of our time. He simply makes us listen to sound in a new way, and there are very few composers who can do that.”
The Festival will feature four concerts and nine works by Crumb.
Here is a schedule of events by each day.
FRIDAY
On Friday, March 20, at 8 p.m. in Music Hall, “Lakeshore Rush,” which features three all-star UW alumni, will be performing Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale).
SATURDAY
On Saturday, March 21, at 7:30 p.m. and also in the Music Hall, the UW Contemporary Chamber Ensemble (below top) will be presenting a concert featuring the Pro Arte String Quartet’s Parry Karp (below bottom) in Crumb’s Solo Cello Sonata and saxophonist Steve Carmichaelin’s Quest.
UW graduate student, conductor Kyle Knox will be conducting University of Southern California professor Donald Crockett’s “Whistling in the Dark” and Les Thimmig will be leading his saxophone quartet in a work by University of California-Davis professor Laurie San Martin, in her Miniatures for Saxophone quartet; a work by University of California-Berkeley Music Department Chair Cindy Cox will round out the program.
Schwendinger adds “none of these works could have been composed without Crumb’s influence, yet are distinctive examples of their composers’ individual styles.”
SUNDAY
On Sunday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, Nunc (below top, Latin for “now”), a New York-based music ensemble will perform, headed by the star violinist Miranda Cuckson (below middle), called “superb,” “deeply satisfying,” and “prodigiously talented” by the New York Times.
The program includes Eleven Echoes of Autumn, and the Four Nocturnes for violin and piano as well as works by Augusta Read-Thomas, Sebastian Currier, and Laura Schwendinger’s The Violinists in My Life, a work for which the third movement is dedicated to Cuckson. Schwendinger (below bottom) adds that “this work of hers, is much influenced by the drama of the Crumb’s Solo Cello Sonata.”
MONDAY
Finally, on Monday, March 23, at 8 p.m. in Morphy Hall, Due East (below), the flute and percussion duo of Erin Lesser and Greg Byer, lauded as “superb” (New York Times) and “brilliant” (New York Concert Review), will be joined by NYC-based harpist, Jacqui Kerrod, vocalist Amanda deBoer and bassist Mark Buchner, will be performing George Crumb’s colorful and enticing Madrigals (1-4) in a stunning multi-media presentation, which presents a “triptych video montage” that becomes a “magical and powerful environment,” along with works written for them by the Chicago Composers Consortium and also inspired by the works of Crumb.
The consortium has been a staple of Chicago’s New Music scene for 25 years now and has counted as part of its membership some of Chicago’s best-known composers.
In addition to the four concert offerings, Miranda Cuckson, Blair McMillen, Erin Lesser and Greg Beyer will all be offering master classes, and Nunc will be reading works by student composers as part of a composer workshop.
Schwendinger says “the festival is a fantastic opportunity for the next generation of composers to be exposed to Crumb and learn from the performers who play his music.”
Susan C. Cook (below), music historian and director of the UW-Madison School of Music, is currently teaching a course focusing on George Crumb. An expert in contemporary and American music of all kinds, Cook singles out Crumb as central to her own desire to study modern music.
“As an undergraduate at Beloit College, I first heard Crumb’s ‘Ancient Voices of Children,’ then less than a decade old, in a music theory course,” Cook says. “It simply grabbed hold of me, and I knew I wanted to understand how it came to be and share it with others.”
All events are open to the public.
Nunc and Due East are ticketed events. Visit the Events Calendar at www.music.wisc.edu for more information.
Here are some online resources, including YouTube videos:
Crumb Quest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dpy3_BVBIA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XJ0cJJLrRQ
Crumb: Vox Balanae
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uU_5cg9dG8
Crumb: Eleven Echoes of Autumn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYVw4BcRAgU
Links to other works on the concerts:
Donald Crockett Whistling in the Dark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKuymSYeHqk
“Violinists in My Life” with violinist Eleanor Bartsch and pianist Thomas Kasdorf performing with the UW Contemporary Chamber Ensemble in Mills Hall in 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNUc6-hJJV4
Sebastian Currier, Verge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7PDj8AS_cg
Featured performers in other works:
Due East
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6LzjnyRijQ
Miranda Cuckson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chs6LxlOU78
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X4t-DIU2m0
Tags: ancient, anicent, Arts, Augusta Read Thomas, Cello, Chamber music, Chicago metropolitan area, children, Classical music, contemporary music, Davis, Due East, flute, George Crumb, Jacob Stockinger, Laura Schwendinger, Miranda Cuckson, Music, New Music, New York City, New York Times, Nunc, percussion, Saxophone, Sebastian Currier, The New York Times, University of California, University of California-Berkeley, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Violin, voice, voices, whale, Wisconsin, YouTube
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: Gift guide or gift or both? Critics for The New York Times name their top classical recordings of 2018, and so does National Public Radio (NPR)
Leave a Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
Today is “Panic Saturday” — another, newer theme day on the commerce-driven Holiday Consumer Calendar that goes along with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber-Monday and Giving Tuesday.
In past years, by this time many media outlets would publish the list of the top classical recordings of the past year. And The Ear has offered them as holiday shopping guides with links to the lists.
They seem to be running late this year, probably too late for many shoppers.
But recently the team of critics for The New York Times named their Top 25 classical recordings of 2018 that run from the 15th century to today (sample album covers are below).
This time, the website didn’t just reproduce something that first appeared in the printed edition. And something more than small snippets or excerpts are offered.
This time, the newspaper took full advantage of the electronic possibility of the web and used streaming to add hours of sound samples — some as long as 40 minutes – so you can see what you think of the recordings before you buy them. (Be sure to look at reader reactions and comments.)
It is a new and innovative way to do a Top 25 list – very appealing or entertaining as well as informative. Even if you don’t use it to buy anything for others or yourself, it can provide many minutes of listening pleasure. You can think of it as a gift guide or a gift or both.
Of course, there are also the usual short and very readable, to-the-point narratives or explanations about why the recording stands out and what makes it great music, a great performance or a great interpretation.
So there is a lot to listen to and help you make up your mind. The Ear has enjoyed it and found it helpful, and hopes you do too, whether you agree or disagree with the choice:
Here is a link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/arts/music/best-classical-music-tracks-2018.html
Since this is the last weekend for holiday shopping before Christmas, here is the previous list – notice the duplications in the two lists — posted here, which was of the nominations for the upcoming 2019 Grammy Awards:
https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2018/12/08/classical-music-here-are-the-just-announced-grammy-nominations-for-2019-they-can-serve-as-a-great-holiday-gift-guide/
And here is the Top 10 list, which was chosen by the always discerning Tom Huizenga (below) — who explains the reasons for his choices — and which also offers generous sound samples, from National Public Radio (NPR) and its Deceptive Cadence blog. Also look for duplications:
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/18/677776208/npr-musics-best-classical-albums-of-2018
What recordings would you suggest?
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Like this:
Tags: #AlbumCover, #AnthonyTommasini, #BaroqueMusic, #BenjaminBritten, #BerlinPhilharmonic, #BlackFriday, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #ChamberMusic, #ChamberMusician, #ChoralMusic, #DeceptiveCadence, #DmitriShostakovich, #DoctorAtomic, #ElectricGuitar, #EroicaSymphony, #FranzLiszt, #FredericChopin, #GivingTuesday, #GrammyAwards, #GrammyNominations, #GustavMahler, #HenryPurcell, #HilaryHahn, #HolidaySeason, #HolidayShopping, #IgorLevit, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnAdams, #JohnnyGandelsman, #JoshuaBatone, #KarlheinzStockhausen, #LeifOveAndsnes, #LeonardBernstein, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MedievalMusic, #MiddleAges, #MirandaCuckson, #MusicalInterpretation, #MusicCritic, #MusicReview, #NationalPublicRadio, #NewMusic, #NewYorkTimes, #NicolePopora, #OlivierMessiaen, #OperaMusic, #PanicSaturday, #PhilipGlass, #RichardWagner, #RobertSchumann, #SimonRattle, #SmallBusinessSaturday, #SoloViolin, #SoundSamples, #StileAntico, #TheKnights, #TomHuizenga, #Top10, #Top25, #VikingurOlafsson, #ViolinMusic, #ZacharyWoolfe, album cover, Arts, Bach, Ballade, Baroque, Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, Berlin Philharmonic, Black Friday, blog, Blog post, blog posting, calendar, Cello, century, Chamber music, choice, Chopin, choral music, Classical music, comment, Compact Disc, composer, concerto, conductor, consumer, Cyber-Monday, Deceptive Cadence, Doctor Atomic, Dufay, Early music, electric guitar, entertaining, explain, explanation, Franz Schubert, give, Giving Tuesday, Grammy Award, Grammy nomination, great, Hilary Hahn, Holiday, holiday season, Iceland, Icelandic, Igor Levit, informative, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johhny Gandelsman, John Adams, Joshua Barone, Karlheinz Stockhausen, late, Leif Ove Andsnes, Leonard Bernstein, life, Liszt, living, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mahler, media, Medieval, Middle Ages, Miranda Cuckson, Mozart, Music, music critic, narrative, National Public Radio, New Music, New York City, New York Times, Newspaper, Nicole Popora, nocturne, NPR, Olivier Messiaen, opera, Orchestra, Panic Saturday, partita, Philip Glass, Pianist, Piano, pleasure, Purcell, reaction, read, reader, receive, recording, Robert Schumann, sampling, shoppers, Shopping, short, Shostakovich, Simon Rattle, Small Business Saturday, Sonata, Stile Antico, stream, streaming, symphony, The Knights, today, Tom Huizenga, Top 10, Top 25, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vikingur Olafsson, Viola, Violin, violinist, vocal music, Wagner, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, year, YouTube, Zachary Woolfe