Sometime it takes several clock alarms to wake me up in the morning. So once I decided to set this as my alarm music, and then the next morning, I was startled out of the bed as soon as the first note started. Not at all was I able to fall asleep again. I was so terrified that it took me a minute to figure out what just happened. Though it served the purpose, never will I ever use that terrifyingly creepy music as my clock alarm again.
I'll never forget going to see this work live when I was about 12 or 13. It was the last piece of the program. After they finished, folks started to leave the hall. I just sat in my seat for a few minutes, absorbing what I had just saw. At some point, I realized everyone had left the concert hall, except for me. And George Crumb. Accompanied with 2 or 3 of his friends. Shocked that the man himself was here, I immediately went up to him and thanked him for composing such a brilliant and creative work. I remember asking him something along the lines of "How on earth do you compose this stuff?" He replied, "Oh, I just pick up my violin and play around making different kinds of sounds and just write down what I come up with." If only it was that simple for the rest of us. I'll always remember his big smile and friendly personality. He immediately seemed like such a genuine, friendly, and warm person, especially to me, a jittering nervous kid excited to meet one of his favorite modern composers (And if you're wondering, yes, I was a big music nerd back in middle school. Still am.). Many months too late, but RIP to one of the most creative and unique composers I have ever come across. Thanks for all the music.
Thank you for sharing this history. It is an incredible work, I think the same thing would have happened to me as it did to you. I am also a composer and today, writing a piece, I took a break to listen to Black Angels (in this RU-vid video) and while I was listening I asked myself, What was George Crumb's personality like? What would he have been like in person? Then I came across your comment, thanks for that.
Just because I think some of you will get a kick out of this: I had really bad untreated anxiety while I was getting my bachelors. I remember listening to this during music history and crying in class because it was so unsettling and I was so sleep deprived (coming up on the end of the semester, juries, finals, etc.) Not one of my finer moments.
I'm writing a paper in a music history class right now on comparing this piece to string quartets through the different eras of music. Which means I get to compare this piece to Haydn's joke quartet..... should be a fun time lol.
Haley, sorry you had that experience with this piece. I first heard this as a teen, and have always found great comfort whenever I listen to it- even to this day...
Can I just get something out of my chest? The first movement is not music. Is the sound of hell itself. The strings perfectly encapsulate the blood-curdling shrieks and giggles of a group of demons. And I love it.
it is my test to memorize to guess the composer and the name of the song...tomorrow...so im listening to crum amd cage"s songs at the middle of a crazy midnight....god help me...
I’m so sorry to hear of this amazing artists passing. As a young composer, just discovering the New World that music held for me, George Crumbs ’s music was a constant inspiration. I spent hours pouring over his circular scores, trying to suss out the meaning behind Gloria’s sounds coming from the old records that I was listening to. The Kronos Quartet‘s version of this piece is breathtaking. I had the privilege to see them perform it once, and it was a highlight of my musical education. Rest in peace, Maestro.
It is a masterpiece all of these pieces has an air of loneliness and something more sinister lurking in the atmosphere that gives way to something of a chase of sorts
I vividly remember discovering this aged 14/15, it opened the contemporary classical floodgates for me. There are not enough superlatives to describe how amazing it is!
I had the great pleasure of performing this in grad school with an excellent quartet. Playing and rehearsing this piece is just as transformative as listening, if not more... the construction of the score is absolutely astonishing. Thank you for sharing, and what a great performance here!!
Spots for myself 5:12 danse macabre, pavana lachrymae 10:12 sarabanda de la muerte oscura 12:35 God-music, ancient voices 18:35 sarabanda de la muerte oscura
I know someone was joking when they said "beats to study/relax to" but this, Verklärte Nacht by Schönberg and Pulse Demon by Merzbow are the only things that help me focus whenever I'm saving the semester. I let the music be incredibly unstable, chaotic, and anxious; this, in turn, allows me to stay calm and focused.
Holy shit I listened to this years ago for like 2 seconds several years ago for the meme but I’m listening to it for real now and hot damn it’s so good
I actually remember ten-year-old-me flipping through a CD collection called "Listen," skipping to the Night of Electric Insects because I though the title sounded cool, and INSTANTLY clicked away... Haven't heard it again until yesterday, and it still somehow managed to give me a huge nostalgia rush.
We love to hate this piece. That's what's meant to happen. We don't like exploring the "evil" music can accomplish, as seen with the viewcount. Like bad experiences make you appreciate good ones more, so does terrifying music make you appreciate pleasant music. It asks us, "what will you do when things are bad? when you feel terrible? when there's war? what do you make?" It's a necessary evil, to not just make melancholoy or mourning, but to evoke true terror and horror and confront it. Even though some may have control of their emotions, it doesn't affect what's really happening around you. Its reality. How long can you hold out denying it?
You can definitely tell this piece had inspiration from Krzysztof Penderecki (whose scary avant-garde music was used in the soundtrack for The Shining)
@@p.terodactyl6848 I think that Crumb's style is actually very distinct, and in fact he was born before Penderecki. The style used in this piece is present throughout his entire diverse oeuvre of works
My favorite parts are Pavana Lachrymae (6:11) and the first bit of Sarabanda de la Muerte Oscura (10:15). While the Amusical component of the composition is fascinating, I enjoy these moments of Music mixed within.
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Indeeed a masterwork - and a great one - which took me a lot of timr to ackowledge as such. Crumb is perghaps not in the straight line of modernity in muic ('but who knows? Our garndchildren will decide). Let us say that he is a splendid evergreening tree in the alleys.
I used to think metal was the most intense music. Then i heard this, Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz, and Peter Brötzmann, and learned how completely wrong i was.
Fantastic!!!! Is it chain structure? Although the ideas of the previous sections don't always carry on to the the beginning of the next. But such an amazing composition. The baroque sound of Pavana Lachrymae after the atonality is on of the most surprising changes. 😊
I implore everyone who sees this comment to not forget that this piece is explicitly referencing the horrors of the Vietnam War and the apocalyptic horrors the US perpetuated upon the people of Vietnam in pursuit of suppressing “communism.”
Cool beans, I liked doing this for a school project, but the amount of ads kept interrupting my work. I got hit with an ad so much when I try to skim through the video thx.
Much of this piece was heavily inspired by the war, and the other unrest going on through the 60's and early 70's. You can practically hear the helicopters in the threnodies.