George Crumb Papers
Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/2012562132
General International Standard for Archival Description
Music Division Library of Congress Washington, D.C.
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Music Division, 2012
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
George Crumb Papers1956-2011 (bulk 1965-2003)
Crumb, George
Biographical History for: George Crumb Papers1956-2011 (bulk 1965-2003)
Biographical Note Date Event 1929, October 24 Born, Charleston, West Virginia, to musicians George Henry Crumb, Sr. and Vivian Crumb circa 1939 Began composing works "somewhat in the style of Mozart" 1944-1947 Attended Charleston High School 1948-1950 Studied piano and composition at Mason College of Music, Charleston, W. Va. 1949, May 21 Married Elizabeth May Brown 1950 Daughter Elizabeth Ann Crumb born 1951-1952 Studied composition with Eugene Weigel at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 1953-1959 Studied composition with Ross Lee Finney at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Finney emphasized meticulous notation, a characteristic evident in Crumb's works. At Michigan, he was introduced to and inspired by the poetry of Federico García Lorca, whose texts become the source for many future compositions 1955-1956 Studied composition with Boris Blacher at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik on a Fulbright grant 1959 Doctorate, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His dissertational submission, Variazioni, is not premiered until 1965 Taught piano and composition, University of Colorado, Boulder Met pianist David Burge and composed Five Pieces for Piano, a work that earned Crumb widespread praise 1962 Son David Reed Crumb born 1964-1965 Began residency at the Buffalo Center for the Creative and Performing Arts 1965 Moved to Media, Pennsylvania Son Peter Stanley Crumb born Premiere of Madrigals, Books I-II, commissioned by the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress 1965-1997 Professor, composition, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Penn. 1967 Composed Echoes of Time and the River 1968 Received Pulitzer Prize for Echoes of Time and the River 1969, July 16-24 Composed Night of the Four Moons, a work inspired by the Apollo 11 space flight 1969 Completed Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death, his first Lorca-inspired work that had been started in 1962 1970, Oct. 23 Premiere of Black Angels by the Stanley Quartet at the University of Michigan 1970, Oct. 31 Premiere of Ancient Voices of Children at the 14th Coolidge Festival of Chamber Music. The piece was commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation in the Library of Congress 1972, Mar. 17 First performance of Vox Balaenae by the New York Camerata at the Library of Congress. The work contained masked performers and other theatrical elements similar to Lux Aeterna, composed the previous year 1972-1979 Composed Makrokosmos, a cycle of four works for amplified piano 1977, May 5 New York Philharmonic premiere of Star-Child under Pierre Boulez 1978 PBS broadcast of Robert Mugge's film, George Crumb: Voice of the Whale 1984, June 7 New York Philharmonic premiere of tone-poem A Haunted Landscape under Arthur Wiesberg 1986 Apr. Served as the American representative at the Conference of the Union of Soviet Composers 1988, Jan. 17 Zeitgeist is premiered at the Charles Ives Festival in Duisburg, Germany 1997 Composed Mundis Canis, a work inspired by the personalities of the Crumb family dogs. 1998 Mundis Canis premiered by guitarist David Starobin and Crumb himself on percussion 2000 Star-Child, recorded for the first time on Bridge Records' Complete Crumb Edition, won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition 2002-2007 Composed the American Songbook, a cycle of six works for voice, percussion quartet, and amplified piano 2011, Apr. 28 Thomas Hampson performed selections from the American Songbook at the Library of Congress
Scope and Content Note The George Crumb Papers span the period 1956 to 2011, with the majority of the materials dating from 1965 to 2003. The collection consists of holograph manuscript scores and sketches, correspondence and business papers, and a series of meticulously assembled scrapbooks chronicling Crumb's distinguished career as a composer. The music materials represent works composed exclusively from 1959 to the present day, beginning with Crumb's Variazioni, his dissertational submission to the University of Michigan. They include inked score paste-ups for publication, pencil scores and sketches, drafts, annotated photo-reproductions, and several score transparencies. Crumb's final copy scores are inked with extraordinary precision and reflect the influence of his father's skills as a copyist and Ross Lee Finney's pedagogy. Most contain extensive patches of inked-over whiteout and pasted insertions. Notable scores include the Pulitzer Prize-winning Echoes of Time and the River, Ancient Voices of Children, Black Angels, Five Pieces for Piano, A Haunted Landscape, Lux Aeterna, Madrigals, Makrokosmos, Mundis Canis, Star-Child, and Vox Balaenae. Additionally, the collection includes several sketchbooks with materials to numerous compositions, currently identified only as volumes "A" through "C". A more comprehensive list of their contents will be available at a later time. Business papers consist chiefly of letters, telegrams, contracts, programs, and other documents from 1956 to 2011. Included is university and publisher correspondence, student inquiries, and letters from various colleagues and friends, such as David Burge. The scrapbooks comprise seven custom bound volumes of clippings, programs, photographs, interviews, posters, and other materials that detail Crumb's musical accomplishments from roughly 1963 to 2001. These are assembled with the same meticulous care as the composer's scores and include hundreds of performance reviews from both American and international newspapers.
series
Music, 1959-2003
Holograph manuscript scores and sketches, drafts, annotated scores, sketchbooks, and several transparencies. Final copy manuscripts contain inked-over whiteout and pasted insertions that may require special handling.
subseries
Instrumental
file
Black angels: Images I: thirteen images from the dark land: for electric string quartet, 1970
Holograph manuscript score paste-up
Sketches
Celestial mechanics: Makrokosmos IV: cosmic dances for amplified piano, four hands, 1979
Holograph manuscript score
Dream sequence: Images II: for violin, cello, piano, and percussion (and offstage "glass harmonica"), 1976
Easter dawning: for carillon, 1991
Sketches and drafts
Echoes of time and the river: Echoes II: four processionals for orchestra, 1967
Eine kleine Mitternachtmusik (A little midnight music): ruminations on a tune of Thelonius Monk: for amplified piano, 2001
Eleven echoes of autumn: Echoes I: for violin, alto flute, clarinet, and piano, 1965
Five pieces for piano, 1962
Four nocturnes: Night music II: for violin and piano, 1964
2 holograph manuscript score paste-ups
Printed holograph manuscript score transparency
Photocopied holograph manuscript score
Gnomic variations: for piano, 1981
A haunted landscape: for orchestra, 1984
An idyll for the misbegotten: amplified piano and percussion, 3 players, 1986
Images I see Black angels
Images II see Dream sequence
A little suite for Christmas: A.D. 1979: for piano, 1980
Makrokosmos I: twelve fantasy-pieces after the Zodiac: for amplified piano, 1972
Makrokosmos II: twelve fantasy-pieces after the Zodiac: for amplified piano, 1973
Makrokosmos III see Music for a summer evening
Makrokosmos IV see Celestial mechanics
Mundus canis (A dog's world): five humoresques for guitar and percussion (one player), 1997
Music for a summer evening: Makrokosmos III: for two amplified pianos and percussion (two players), 1974
Night music II see Four nocturnes
Otherworldly resonances: six tableaux for two amplified pianos, book II, 2002
Pastoral drone: for organ, 1982
Processional (piano), 1983
Quest: for guitar, soprano saxophone, harp, contrabass, and percussion (two players), 1990
Variazioni: for large orchestra, 1959
2 photocopied holograph manuscript score paste-ups
Vox balaenae (Voice of the whale): for three masked players: electric flute, electric cello, electric piano, 1971
Zeitgeist: six tableaux for two amplified pianos, book I, 1987
Vocal
American songbook, 2002-2007
Ancient voices of children: for soprano, boy soprano, oboe, mandolin, harp, electric piano (and toy piano), and percussion (three players), 1970
Apparition: elegiac songs and vocalises for soprano and amplified piano (on texts from Walt Whitman's "When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd"), 1979
Federico's little songs for children: for soprano, flute (also piccolo, alto flute, and bass flute), and harp, 1986
A journey beyond time: American songbook II: songs of despair and hope: a cycle of Afro-American spirituals for voice, percussion quartet, and amplified piano, 2003
Lux aeterna: for five masked musicians (soprano, bass flute (and soprano recorder), sitar, and two percussionists), 1971
Madrigals (soprano, various instruments), 1965-1969
Performance instructions paste-up
2 holograph manuscript scores
Night music I: for soprano, piano (and celesta), and percussion (two players), 1963
Night of the four moons: for alto, alto flute (doubling piccolo), banjo, electric cello, and percussion (one player), 1969
The river of life: American songbook I: songs of joy and sorrow: a cycle of hymns, spirituals, and revival tunes for voice, percussion quartet, and amplified piano, 2003
The sleeper: for mezzo-soprano and piano, 1984
Songs, drones, and refrains of death: a cycle of poems by Federico García Lorca: for baritone, electric guitar, electric contrabass, electric piano (and electric harpsichord), and percussion (two players), 1968
Star-child: a parable for soprano, antiphonal children's voices, male speaking choir (and bell ringers), and large orchestra, 1977
Unto the hills: American songbook III: songs of sadness, yearning, and innocence: a cycle of Appalachian folk songs for voice, percussion quartet, and amplified piano, 2002
Sketchbooks
Sketchbook "A", undated
Sketchbook "B", undated
Sketchbook "C", undated
Business Papers, 1956-2011
Letters, telegrams, contracts, programs, royalty statements, itineraries, and other documents. Correspondence from publishers (mostly C.F. Peters), collegiate staff, and students is heavily represented. Also included are letters from various colleagues and friends, such as David Burge.
1967-1969 March
1969 April-1971
1974-1976 March
1976 April-1978 June
1978 July-1980 September
1980 October-1983 June
1983 July-1985 June
1985 July-1987
1991-1995 March
1995 April-1998 June
1998 July-2001 March
2001 April-2004 September
2004-October 2007
2008-2010 June
2010 July-2011 April
Scrapbooks, 1963-2001
Meticulously assembled volumes of clippings, programs, photographs, and other materials.
Volume I: 1963-1973
Volume II: 1973-1978
Volume III: 1978-1984
Volume IV: 1984-1989
Volume V: 1989-1997
Volume VI: 1997-2000
Volume VII: 2000-2001