George Crumb, “Bad Dog” (2009)
Contents: 3 Early Songs; Fritzi; Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik; Sit Down Sister; Apparition; various background pieces accompanying interviews with the composer –
Performers: Tony Arnold, soprano/ David Starobin, guitar/ Robert Shannon, piano/ George Crumb, percussion/ George Crumb Ensemble
Produced by Becky Starobin
Studio: Bridge 9312 [Distr. by Albany]
Video: 4:3 color
Audio: DTS 5.1 surround or stereo; Dolby Digital surround or stereo
All Regions
Length: 66 minutes
Rating: ***1/2
I am a huge fan of George Crumb, considering him to be one of the great composers of the last century—and evidently into this one as well, though I think much of his latest music lacks that edge that so set afire many of us in the seventies. But it is always interesting, and there is no more creative talent working today that he.
This is why I liked this DVD, the 14th volume of Bridge’s wonderful George Crumb edition, but also felt that it could have been so much more than this. As a tribute it is obviously done with love and affection, but it could have been twice as long. The basic premise is a collage of Crumb’s life, with some basic biographical information, interviews with the composer that one wishes could have gone on longer (and supplemented with works of the composer in short snippets), interrupted by performances of his work recorded specifically for this DVD. David Starobin, guitarist extraordinaire, owner of Bridge Records, and Crumb friend and supporter, is the guiding light behind this.
I find it interesting that the first tribute DVD I have seen to Crumb is put on by a guitarist. When I first met the composer years ago around 1975 at the North Carolina School of the Arts, he was besieged by a group of young guitarists begging him—obnoxiously I thought—to write something for guitar. Well, Crumb’s native sonorities did seem well-suited to that that sort of treatment and I was a little surprised that he had not written for the instrument yet, but he promised to think about it, and the years show he made good on that promise. Some of that music is here on the video.
In fact, all of the performances here are excellent, and it is fun to watch the composer having a go at his own scores. The interviews are good but not probing enough, though it is entertaining to hear that folksy West Virginia draw and just imagine it in conversation with someone like Pierre Boulez, a champion of Crumb’s music, and about as far away in cosmopolitan Paris as you can get from Charleston. In fact that is one of the remarkable things about this composer, his universal appeal, providing delight to all who love the beauties and cosmic sonorities he created in his own innovative sound world. Just listen to a work like Apparition on this disc to see what I mean.
The video is affectionate but slightly amateur, as when pianist Robert Shannon has to play with a shadow across his face in Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik. But the sound is good and all involved in the performances are first rate artists, each already heavily committed on other volumes of the Bridge series. Crumb fans will have to have this, and others will find a sympathetic and moving introduction to this composer. But I do hope that Bridge will give us much, much more on a future video.
— Steven Ritter
