George Crumb (1929-2022)

VOX BALAENAE (VOICE OF THE WHALE) (1971)

for Three Masked Players

I. Vocalise (...for the beginning of time)

II. Variations on Sea-Time [Sea Theme]

III. Archeozoic [Var.1]

IV. Proterozoic [Var.2]

V. Paleozoic [Var.3]

VI. Mesozoic [Var.4]

VII. Cenozoic [Var.5]

VIII. Sea-Nocturne (...for the end of time)

— Intermission —

George Crumb (1929-2022)

BLACK ANGELS: THIRTEEN IMAGES FROM THE DARK LAND (1970)

I. Departure

1. Threnody I: Night of the Electric Insects

2. Sounds of Bones and Flutes

3. Lost Bells

4. Devil-music

5. Danse Macabre

II. Absence

6. Pavana Lachrymae

7. Threnody II: Black Angels!

8. Sarabanda de la Muerte Oscura

9. Lost Bells (Echo)

III. Return

10. God-music

11. Ancient Voices

12. Ancient Voices (Echo)

13. Threnody III: Night of the Electric Insects

Artists: Winston Choi, amplified piano; Timothy Christie, electric viola; Katri Ervamaa, electric cello; Norbert Lewandowski, electric cello; Jennifer Rhyne, electric flute; Maria Sampen, electric violin; MingHuan Xu, electric violin

George Crumb (1929-2022)

BLACK ANGELS: THIRTEEN IMAGES FROM THE DARK LAND (1970)

I. Departure

1. Threnody I: Night of the Electric Insects

2. Sounds of Bones and Flutes

3. Lost Bells

4. Devil-music

5. Danse Macabre

II. Absence

6. Pavana Lachrymae

7. Threnody II: Black Angels!

8. Sarabanda de la Muerte Oscura

9. Lost Bells (Echo)

III. Return

10. God-music

11. Ancient Voices

12. Ancient Voices (Echo)

13. Threnody III: Night of the Electric Insects

David Bowie sums it up pretty well, bejabbers and all. There is terror in this music. And yet, so too, there is sublime beauty. Framed in three sections— Departure, Absence, and Return — Black Angels explores ideas of superstition, fate, death, and redemption. Using an instrumental palette of extraordinary range from tam-tams to crystal glasses and an electric string quartet, Crumb conjures a world in which disparate times— ancient, present, and future— exist as one.

Artists: Timothy Christie, electric viola; Norbert Lewandowski, electric cello; Maria Sampen, electric violin; MingHuan Xu, electric violin

The table is set, and you are invited to the feast. Come hungry… for great music. Founder and Artistic Director, Timothy Christie, will be joined by Festival Artists Maria Sampen, Meta Weiss, and special guests, Third Coast Percussion for an evening of unparalleled variety.

Beethoven headlines the first half with his ingenious String Trio in G Major, Op. 9, No. 1. Among Beethoven’s many musical innovations is the ability to transform a persistent rhythm into a musical theme. Just think of the Fifth Symphony, side 1, track 1.

What better way to celebrate rhythmic innovation than to welcome Third Coast Percussion to the stage. Called “sonically spectacular” by the Chicago Tribune, Third Coast Percussion champions the awe-inspiring music of John Cage, Steve Reich, George Crumb, Arvo Pärt, Gérard Grisey, Philippe Manoury, Wolfgang Rihm, Louis Andriessen, Toru Takemitsu, and Tan Dun, among others. Their set on the 2015 January Festival Series will rock the rafters of the Gesa Power House Theatre, and change the way you see chamber music forever.