Crumb - Makrokosmos III and IV

From Bartok's Mikrokosmos to George Crumb's Makrokosmos is another intriguing step. I got to know Crumb via his orchestral masterpiece A Haunted Landscape many years ago. I have also a few Naxos CDs with chamber works, the Kronos Quartet's recording of Black Angels, and his complete output for piano. The latter is an intriguing release on 3 CDs issued by an obscure label (Audiophile) and played by an equally elusive Slovenian pianist Bojan Gorisek. The recording and artistic merits of the set are, however, first rate. And this is no mean feat given the extraordinary demands imposed on the artist who has to master the inside of the piano as well as the keyboard.

Crumb's music is difficult to categorise.  I don't quite know anything like it. Maybe a composer like Alexander Knaifel explores similar soundscapes? Thematic development, melody, rhythm and tempo play subordinate roles in this kind of music. It's all about exploring the most exotic sonorous textures and harmonic spaces. Despite these limitations Crumb is able to sustain an interesting (at times outrageous) musical process over longer stretches of time. Despite its often ritualistic character there's nothing particularly new agey or minimalist about it. I find the music refreshingly vigorous and, despite the exoticism, unostentatious. Crumb himself points to Bartok, Debussy, Mahler and Ives as his most influential predecessors. There's a rather funny interview with the remarkably youthful composer here.

Makrokosmos III (Music for a Summer Evening) is, in fact, a chamber work for two pianos and added percussion. Makrokosmos IV (Celestial Mechanics - Cosmic Dances for amplified piano four hands). It is, however, a stretch to link these works back to Bartok's didactic catalogue of piano works.