Star-Child
George Crumb
About this work:
A Parable for Soprano, Antiphonal Children's Voices, Male Speaking Choir, Bell Ringers, and Large Orchestra.
1. Introduction
2. Vox Clamans in Deserto
3. Ascensus Potestatum Tenebrarum
4. Musica Apocalyptica
5. Seven Trumpets of the Apocalypse
6. Adventus Puerorum Luminis
7. Hymnus pro Novo Tempore
Star-Child, completed in March, 1977, was commissioned by the Ford Foundation and written for Irene Gubrud, soprano, and Pierre Boulez and the New York Philharmonic. The score bears a dedication to my two sons, David and Peter.
Four conductors are required for Star-Child, two primary and two secondary. Conductor I conducts all the vocal passages and also all of the winds and six of the percussionists until the concluding portion of the work. Conductor II conducts all the strings and two of the percussionists throughout. During the “Hymn for the New Age” the winds divide into smaller groupings, and at this point Conductor III directs the brass instruments and three percussionists while Conductor IV leads the clarinets, flutes, and vibraphone.
Star-Child is continuous, despite sectional divisions. The germinal idea, “Music of the Spheres” (strings, pianissimo), moves throughout the work in a circular and therefore static manner, a kind of background music over which the human drama is enacted. This idea consists of a continuum of chords build upon the interval of a perfect fifth. Over these slow-moving strains of “suspended” music I have superimposed (in the manner of Charles Ives!) a sequence of boldly contrasting musics. The necessity for four conductors arose from the fact that each music has its own tempo and metrics (metrics tend to be odd-numbered: the opening string music is in 11/4 time, the entire Apocalyptical in 5/16, and there are other sections based on sevens and threes). The four conductors do not synchronize and therefore all sense of vertical alignment between them is erased. I had even imagined that the “visual counterpoint” of the four-fold conducting would produce a choreography of its own.
Star-Child’s eight percussionsists play a wide range of instruments. Some of the more characteristic are: iron chains, flexatones, pot lids (struck with metal beaters), sizzle cymbals, a metal thunder sheet, log drums, and a wind machine. Some of the more usual instruments are required in pairs, e.g., vibraphones, sets of timpani, bass drums, and tubular bells. Since the percussion instruments are arranged in a semi-circular fashion around the orchestra, their multicolored timbres and textures totally impregnate the orchestral fabric.
(excerpted notes by George Crumb; used by permission)
The track posted is the fourth section Musica Apocalyptica from the Bridge Records recording George Crumb 70th Birthday Album.
Year composed: 1977
Duration: 00:36:00
Ensemble type: Orchestra:Orchestra with Soloist(s)
Instrumentation: 4 Flute, 4 Oboe, 4 Clarinet, 4 Bassoon, 6 Horn in F, 7 Trumpet, 4 Trombone,1 Trombone soloist(s), 1 Tuba, 8 Percussion (General), 1 Organ, 1 Strings (General), ,3 Violin soloist(s), ,1 Soprano soloist(s)
Instrumentation notes: This piece requires four conductors for a performance. Also includes male speaking choir, antiphonal children's choir, and two bell ringers.