Top 28 Quotes & Sayings by George Crumb

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American composer George Crumb.

Last updated on September 17, 2024.

George Henry Crumb Jr. was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical language which "range[s] in mood from peaceful to nightmarish". Crumb's compositions are known for pushing the limits of technical prowess by way of frequent use of extended techniques. The unusual timbres he employs evoke a surrealist atmosphere which portray emotions of considerable intensity with vast and sometimes haunting soundscapes. His few large-scale works include Echoes of Time and the River (1967), which won the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for Music, and Star-Child (1977), which won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition; however, his output consists of mostly music for chamber ensembles or solo instrumentalists. Among his best known compositions are Black Angels (1970), a striking commentary on the Vietnam War for electric string quartet; Ancient Voices of Children (1970) for a mixed chamber ensemble; and Vox Balaenae (1971), a musical evocation of the humpback whale, for electric flute, electric cello, and amplified piano.

American - Composer | Born: October 24, 1929

Source: Wikipedia

I have observed, too, that the people of the many countries that I have visited are showing an ever increasing interest in the classical and traditional music of their own cultures.

George Crumb

One very important aspect of our contemporary musical culture - some might say the supremely important aspect - is its extension in the historical and geographical senses to a degree unknown in the past.

George Crumb

It is easy to write unthinking music.

George Crumb

If we look at music history closely, it is not difficult to isolate certain elements of great potency which were to nourish the art of music for decades, if not centuries.

George Crumb

In a broader sense, the rhythms of nature, large and small - the sounds of wind and water, the sounds of birds and insects - must inevitably find their analogues in music.

George Crumb

The retrospective glance is a relatively easy gesture for us to make.

George Crumb

Most of my influences are turn-of-the-century.

George Crumb

I think we're in a very low point of music right now.

George Crumb

I pick up the New York Times or Time and it's talking about the latest rock group, which I'm sure is exciting to some people, but it neglects a huge area of music.

George Crumb

As interesting as that music can occasionally be, I don't think it really replaces the other.

George Crumb

Perhaps of all the most basic elements of music, rhythm most directly affects our central nervous system.

George Crumb

Although technical discussions are interesting to composers, I suspect that the truly magical and spiritual powers of music arise from deeper levels of our psyche.

George Crumb

I am certain that most composers today would consider today's music to be rich, not to say confusing, in its enormous diversity of styles, technical procedures, and systems of esthetics.

George Crumb

I frequently hear our present period described as uncertain, confused, chaotic.

George Crumb

I must confess, my Spanish is not so good - except I read a little, so I started with the English but then determined that it would have to be in Spanish.

George Crumb

Writing seems to be more difficult as you move through the years.

George Crumb

The development of new instrumental and vocal idioms has been one of the remarkable phenomena of recent music.

George Crumb

Nonetheless, I sense that it will be the task of the future to somehow synthesize the sheer diversity of our present resources into a more organic and well-ordered procedure.

George Crumb

Unquestionably, our contemporary world of music is far richer, in a sense, than earlier periods, due to the historical and geographical extensions of culture to which I have referred.

George Crumb

The future will be the child of the past and the present, even if a rebellious child.

George Crumb

This is not a happy time for this kind of music in this country.

George Crumb

Perhaps many of the perplexing problems of the new music could be put into a new light if we were to reintroduce the ancient idea of music being a reflection of nature.

George Crumb

Perhaps two million years ago the creatures of a planet in some remote galaxy faced a musical crisis similar to that which we earthly composers face today.

George Crumb

I am optimistic about the future of music.

George Crumb

The advent of electronically synthesized sound after World War II has unquestionably had enormous influence on music in general.

George Crumb

The rhythms of nature - the sounds of wind and water, the sounds of birds and insects - must inevitably find their analogues in music.

George Crumb

I believe that music surpasses even language in its power to mirror the innermost recesses of the human soul

George Crumb

Music might be defined as a system of proportions in the service of a spiritual impulse

George Crumb