Vol. 9 in Bridge's comprehensive collection of
George Crumb's works features a true masterpiece, Ancient Voices of Children (1970), important early efforts in the Madrigals, Books I-IV (1965, 1969), and a contemporary piano work, Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik (2001), based on
Thelonious Monk's jazz standard, 'Round Midnight.
Crumb's highly influential work may be described as nocturnal and mystical, and virtually all of his works since the 1960s have been marked by fragile sonorities in echoic ambient spaces, ghostly quotations, and programmatic allusions to mythology and the occult. Sometimes
Crumb's amalgamation of eerie sonic effects and esoteric symbols can seem too much like self-parody, and his music sometimes lapses into silliness through over-reliance on such tricks. But Ancient Voices of Children has its own rare magic, partly because
Crumb's trademark sounds fit so well with the delicate poetry of
Federico García Lorca, but also because the piece is deeply emotional and heartbreaking, rather than cleverly designed around arcane schematics. The legendary performance by
Jan de Gaetani on Nonesuch is still recommended as a first choice, but
Tony Arnold's spot-on version with an ad hoc group of musicians conducted by David Colson is almost as brilliant. Bridge's exceptional digital recording is superior to Nonesuch's analog, so that may make this recording more appealing to listeners who require the cleanest sound.