MacKay - An Analysis in Musical Time in Selected Works of George Crumb

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AN ANALYSIS OF MUSICAL TIME IN SELECTED WORKS
BY GEORGE CRUMB
A th e s is subm it ted to the G raduat e Fac ult y
of Mc Gi ll U n ive rsity
in p a rtia l fulfil lm en t of the re qui rement s
for the degree of Master of Arts
by
JOHN Mac KAY

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Thesis su p e rv iso r: Paul V. Pedersen

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Fac ulty o f Mu bic >
McGi ll U n iv e rs ity _ Augus t 1979
M on treal, Q ueb ec
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'{C) John MacKay August 1979
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author gratefully acknowledges the co-operation
o f C.F. P ete rs C orporation a nd Bel win M ill s P ub lishing -.
Corporat ion f o r th e ir permissi on to re prod uce the various
excer pts referre d to i n t h is st udy. A spe cial not e of
■thanks is owed to George C rumb fo r h is p e rs o n a l commun
ication offering both the encouragement of his interest
in th is th e sis as w el l a s val uabl e advice in t he selection
of co mpos itions for de tai led a n a ly sis ..
( V
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c ABSTRACT
The approach taken in th is study of m usical time ,
is based on the differences between various contemporary
con ceptions o f m usical f orm a nd the d is tin c tio n made in*
cu rrent th e o re tic a l w rit ings bet we en ob jective an d
sub jective m usi cal experience. A discu ssion of t he
b a s i c e le m e n ts o f Ge orge Cru m b's m u s ic a l la n g u ag e e x p lo re s
h is inte g ratio n of tonal an d t imbral m ateria ls a nd discusses
a n umber of im po rtan t influe nc es on h is music fr om both

f ' ■ b
tra d itio n a l and av an t"gard e-styles. As fou nd in the an alysis
o f se lec ted wor ks ("No pi en sa m en la ll u v ia .. ." , Madri gal s
( Bk. I , Echoes o f Time and th e R ive r, Dream Seq uen ce/ lux
' ' >•
A et em a , and Music f o r a summer Ev enin g) mu ch o,f th e u nique
e ff e c t of Cru mb' s mus ic can .be understood in te rms of his
control of t he c la rity of fo rma l pa tt ern ing and his struc turing
o f long r ange rhythmic devel opment. ' The conclud ing d isc u ssio n
com par es and c o n tra st s Crumb 's musi c w ith th a t o f tw o o the r

con tem po rary Am erican com posers. • „"r'
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ABREGE
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t
C ette §tu de de temps m usical
de pa rt pr emid re ment , la differen

pre nd comme p o in t
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ce c on sidera ble q ui ex iste
r
en tre les d iv er se a' conc eptions contemporaines de la forme
\ *
m usical e, e t en de ux iem e temps , la d is tin c tio n en tre les
^ I *
experiences su b jec tive s e t ob jec tive s de j :a mu siqu e qui
e s t observSe gener, el ement chez le s th e o ric le n s du vi ngt ifcme ,
sife cl e. Un ap erg u des 6l 6m$nt s fonda roe ntavi x de la lang ue
m usical e d e G eo rge Crumb p o rte sur 1 'in te g ra tio n de div ers

f
m at eri aux de to n a lite e t d e ti mbre ej t met an re li e f un
nofnbre d'influences sur sa musique <qui viennent des styles
{ e t tra d itio n e ls e t av ant-gard es. .Comme i l e st de mon tre da ns
les a nalyse s des ouevres c h a ra c te ris tiq u e s ("Mo pi ens am en
la ll u v i a .. ." , M adri gals Bk. 1, Ech oe s of T ime an d the

•A r%J - K
R iv er , Dream*Seq uence , Lux A ete rn a, e t Music fo r a Summer
y Eveni ng) un eN gr an de p a rtie d4 l 'e f f e t es the tiqu e de la mus iqu e
1 de George Crumb p e u t s 'e xp l i qu e r p a r s a mani&re de c on t r ol e r

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la c la rite du de ssein forme 1 e t par sa fa con d e stru c tu re r 1*

r - ■ ■ '
succession des l ongues du ree s. En tem nina nt, la mu siq ue
de Geo rge Crumb e s t m ^se eh pa ra ll& le avec c e lle de de ux
^ a u tre s com positeur s Araer ic ai ns a c tu e ls.
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O TABLE OF CON
TENTS
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................ ii J
ABSTRACT........................................... iii
ABREGE .................................................. .‘ ............. iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
............................ V
LIST OF EXAMPLES............................. ..vi
LIST OF TABLES .................................................... v ii
CHAPTER I : In tro d u c tio n and P re lim in ar y
C onsiderat ions in t he A nalysi s

of Musical Time ................... 1
Int roducti on .. .. 1
( Preliminary Considera/tions
in the A nalysis o f M usical ^
Time ......................................... 3
CHAPTER I I : Cru m b's M us ica l Language .. 14
CHAPTER I I I : A n a ly sis of S e le c te d Wo^k s, 63
CHAPTER IV: S ummary and P e rs p e c tiv e . . . . 121
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................... 137
ISCOGRAPHY............................................................ 140
LIST OF SCORES ............................................ 141
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LIST OF EXAMPLES'"
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EXAMPLE I : "No’ p ie n sa n en l a l l u v i a , y se han

dormido.* (They do n o t t h in k o f th e
ra in , and they' ve fallen a sle e p ).. 33
EXAMPLE I I : C lo sin g Episod e o f 'Fro ze n T im e '.. 77
EXAMPLE I I I : F lu te C irc le M usic'and C los ing

E pis od e o f 'Remembrance o f <T ime'.. 78
EXAMPLE IV: The C la ri n e t and F lu te P ro c es s

io n a l of ’Remembrance of T im e ' 83
EXAMPLE V: Ope ni ng Echo Complex fro m 'L a s t

Echoes of Time* ...................................... v 86
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v ii
c LIST OF TABLES
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TABLE 1: Formal O u tlin e of 'C an cio n
de Jin e te ' ........................................ 22
* TABLE I I : O utli ne of P rin cip al Passages
of ' Echo es of T ime and the

River1 ; ...................... 69
, TABLE I I I : Lux A e te rn a - Long Range
Patterning of Phrasing and

J Duration .................................... 105
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TABLE IV: S tr u c tu ra l O ut line o f Mus ic

p i *
for a Summer Evening .............. Ill

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TABLE V: S ch em ati c Diagram o f th e
Durational Patterning in the
Introduction to 'Music for a
Starry Night' ............................. 111}.
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CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTIONAND PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS
j ^ IN THE ANALYSIS OF MUS'lCAL TIME
INTRODUCTION
In disc us sing re ce n t deve lopment s in cont empora ry a r t
musi c, m any th e o ris ts and co mpo se rs ha ve focu ssed a tten tio n
on t he in flu en ce o f Nnew and changing co nc ep tion s of m usical
ti m e. The un prec ede nted v olume**f>f w ritin g on th is su b je c t
ove r the las t t went y five o r th irty ye ars is ind icative
of both the considerable preoccupation with musical time
dem onstrat ed by many c ompo se rs and t he g en era l sig n ifica n c e

of this perspective in the understanding of contemporary
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music. A number o f th e o ris ts (Gi s&l e B re le t, Suz an ne K.

* ' N
La nge r, L eonard Meyer, Euge ne Narmour , a nd Jon ath on Krame r
to name a few) in ^studying music in term s o f form an d
te mporal experi ence hav e offered imp ortant i n sig h ts in-
s ty lis tic an d e sth etic an alysis. S im il arl y, c omp os er s, i n
adapti ng d iffe re n t concepti ons and fo rmal treatm ents of musi cal
ti m e, hav e arrived a t new and in te re stin g experiences fo r

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contemporary audiences.
The^ musi c o f Georg e Cr umb, f o r a number o f rea so ns - i,ts
un i%i e e sth e tic e ffe c t, it s notable publ ic success a nd also
t he relat ively ^ little theo reti cal consi der at i on i t h as
re cei ved to t h is p o int, pr ovi des a ve ry f itti n g sub ject f or
o
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m
_(_J H an an alysis of m usi cal ti m e. The p rinc ipa l o b jec t of th is
* st udy w ill the refo re be to prese nt a geh eral discussion
of Cr umb' s sty le an d to look in d e ta il a t a f ew wor ks in

wh itih c e rta in conce pti ons an d t reatm ents o f m usical t ime
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' were of ârticular concern to the composer.
As a ba ck gr ou nd for th is study, t&is intro du cto ry c hap ter

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w ill be give n to a r evie w o f ce rta in fund amenta l concept s
concerning musi gal ex pe rienc e. The se w ill be discu ssed i n
re la tio n to the b asic element s of for mal ana lysis as a n
appr oach to the de scrip tion of rece nt cont empor ar y mus ic.
* Th e s ec ond chapter w ill c o n sis t of a n account of Cr umb 's
* m usi cal l anguage an d s ome o f'th e maj or influ en ce s on h is

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s ty le , w it h an e mph as is on those features wh ich re fle c t his
g en era l concepti on an d treatm en t of m usical ti m e. This
is fo llowed in chap ter three b y a rela tiv e ly d eta iled
a n a ly si s o f Cr umb' s Echo es of T ime and the R ive r, an d more
g en er al o b se rv atio ns on some oth er wor ks re comme nded by the

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com po ser wh ich illu s tr a te inte res ting fea tures o f fo rmal
org an ization an d te mporal experi ence in h is music . In the | ;

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fin a l ch ap ter, a ge nera l summary an d con clusions w ill be ^
I made regarding Cru mb' s st y le an d these w ill be re la te d to
1 r e c e n t developm ents i n t h e m usic o f some ot he r co n tem p o rary

f
Amer ican compos er s. In a d d itio n , some co n sid era tion w ill
| be gi ven here to the role wh ich the an aly sis of m usi cal
j O ^td m e can p la y i n t h e t h e o r e t i c a l d e s c r i p t i o n o f m u sic .
PRELIMINARY CO
NSIDERATIONSIN THE ANALY
SIS OF MUSICAL TIME
aIn the st udy of m usica^ ti me,- i t is possi ble- , to p o stu late
two very general and apparently fundamental aspects of

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musical awar ene ss - the ob jec tive , unq uesti oning accept ance
of eve nts as they occur in ti m e, and the su bjec tive an tic-
ipa tion o f fu ture e v en ts. » Ah, important formu lat ion o f th is
d u ality o f m usi cal exp erience ha s be en expressed by Igor
Stravinsky in his Poetics of Music and'is largely based
on the philosophy of Pierre Souvtchinsky.

"Mr. Souvtchinsky thus presents us with
two kin ds of m usic: one whi ch ev olve s
p a r a l l e l to th e p r o c e s s o f o n t o l o g ic a l
ti me, embr ac ing and p en etra ting i t , inducing
in the mind of the listener a feeling of
eu ph oria and, so. to spea k, of dyn ami c cal m.
' The second kind run s ahead o f, or co un ter
to th is pr oces s. I t is no t. self-con tained
in eac h momentary .t onal u n it. I t dis lo ca tes
the centers o f attra c tio n an d grav it y and
sets i ts e lf up in the unstable, an d t his
fac t makes i t p artic u larly adaptable t o
the translation of the composer's emotive
impulses. A ll mus ic in w hich the w ill to
expression is.dominant belongs to the
second type."
A fu rth e r elabo ration o f th is vi ew of m usical t ime ha s b ee n 1
made by G eorge Rochberg in h is a rt ic le " T h e New Iniage o f

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■ Music" w he re he dis cusses th e differen ce in the e sth etic
na ture o f wha t he t erms the 't em poral i mage1 o f mu sic
(musical experience based upon the subjective anticipation,
of events) and the 's p a ti a i image ’ of musi c (musical expe rience

§> based larg ely upon a more p as siv e, ob jectiv e acceptance of events )
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1. Ig o r S trav insk y, Poeticsy of'M usic ( Cambridge M ass.,

Harv ar d U niv ersity Pre ss, 1947) p .31.
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if "Mus ic dom inated by the tem po ral ima ge

an d m usi c' dom inat ed b y t he sp a tia l ima ge re 
flect completely opposite attitudes and
st anc es towa rd re a lity . . .t he for mer te nds
toward the
dividua l w subjective
hil e the utterance
la tte r ofleans
the to
in war d a n
o bjec ti ve p ro jec tion in wh ich the com poser 's
* en erg ies are focu ssed be yo nd him self an d
th§ ly rica l flow of.his inner personal
sta te s. Su bjecti ve m an. .. vi ew s ex ist enc e
as c hange , him self a nd h isto ry a t the cen
tr e of a pro ce ss of be co mi ng ., , For h im l if e
r is an exp erience no m atter what the n atu te
of i ts co nten t, in wh ich nothing st an ds
s t i l l , not hi ng las ts a nd the f uture bec tons.
Howe ver , wh en man se iz e s on th e p re se n t mo
ment of his experience as the only real time,
he sp a tialize s h is exist enc e, tha t is h e
f i ll s his percep ti on wit h ob jects w hi ch take
on solidity and completeness - a state of
p e rm a n e n c e.. H is w o rld i s no lo n g e r one o f
ti me an d pha nge alone ; i t is a worl d of spa ce
in w hi ch ti m e an d ch an ge >ar e mod es of m otion.
In the new m usic, ti m e as d u ra tio n beco mes a
dimensi on o f m usical spa ce. The new s p a tia l
( ima ge of musi c seeks to p ro je c t the per mane nce
' of the worl d as co smos , as the e te rn a l p res en t.
I t is an imag ej Of musi c whi ch as p ire s to Being,
^ not Becom ing."
- Jh e ^ e ^ se n tia l diffete n.e e bet ween the sense of "b ec omi jig" in
R oc hb erg's■ 't em poral i mage' an d th a t of "bei ng" a sso ciated
•witî t he s p a tia l image can be rel a te d in m ore- p re c ise the o re-
tic a l ter ms to the ex ten t t o w hich pe rceiva ble an d p red ictab le
p a t t e r n i n g i s in v o lv e d i n th e m u s ic a l fo rm . P u t v e ry s im p ly ,
the subjecti ve inte rp reta tion and anticipa ti o n of eve nt s i 3
c h a ra c te ristic of t he experience of mus ic in whi ch there is
p e r c e p t i b l e fo rm o f p a t t e r n i n g b e in g m a n ip u la te d by th e
co mpo ser . Jn these sty le s, the musi cal future is of in ter e st

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2. George Rochberg, "The New Image of Music," Perspectives
o Of Ue w, Music-, I l l (F a ll, 1963) >P. 9 - 1 0 .
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to the liste n e r be cau se i t is p a rtia lly impli ed i n the incom

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p l e t e p a t t e r n s o f th e p r e s e n t moment, and i s t h e r e f o r e p a r t i a l l y
p r e d ic ta b le . An u n q u e s tio n in g , o b j e c t i v e a c c e p ta n c e , o r as
Strav insky has de scribe d i t , a sense of 'dyn ami c calm' can be
observed in music which presents a minimum of apparent inten
tion al organ ization. In su ch musi c, i t i s t he e ndur in g q u ality
of th e pre sen t moment whi ch is th e c en tre of m usical in te re s t.
The musical future in this case is either too highly predictable
or too highly un pred ictable to en ga ge the l is te n e r in an y s ense
of subjective anticipation.
This general perspective on musical experience and musical
form is particularly useful in the description of much of the
s ty li s ti c dev el opme nt whi ch ha s taken place in western a rt mu sic
duri ng this cen tur y. *In the tra d ition a l tonal style s o f t he
eig h tee nth and nin etee nth c en tu rie s whi ch wou ld be the p ri me
ex amp le of t he 't em poral i mage ' o f musi c, the li s te n e r's recog
nition, either conscious or unconscious, of an abundance of

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for m al p atte rn in g in m el ody , ha rmo ny , rhyt hm, te x tu re , dyna mic s
e tc. is a princ ipal aspect of the es the tic experi ence. Any
3. The h is to ric a l o rig in of the f unda menta l idi oms and

p a t t e r n s i n t r a d i t i o n a l s t y l e s i s o f t e n v ery com ple x, b u t
u ltim ate ly to b e f ou nd in m usic's a sso cia tion Wit h e le ments of
re a l lif e experi ence, i .e ., the da nc e, ritu a l ce remoni es ,
ly ri c a l, dramat ic euid n arra tive forms an d eve n lite ra ry
p ro g ra m s. The v e ry g e n e r a l c o n c e p ti o n o f m u sic a l e x p e rie n c e
as a t yp e of ima ge or' m etaphor' o f rea l l if e e ^ e rie n c e is
fo und in Ba sil de S ^linco urt,' s a rt ic le 'Musi c and D urati on' an d
is fu rth e r developed by Sus ann e Langer in F ee ling and Form.
As w ill b e see n sh o rtly , m uch of the d iv e rs ity of twe ntieth
century music can be related to the emergance and acceptance
; c > of d iffe re n t conc eptual mode ls fo r m usi cal f or m, b u t since
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^ ; sens e of 'bec oming ' or 'go al d ire c tio n 1 in th is mus ic
de pe nd s upon the lis te n e r's in te re s t i n the compl et ion of
! the se el ements o f for mal p a tter n in g . Wi th the ev en tual

d isinteg ration o f t he fo rmal p red icta b ilit y wh ich cha racter
ized the tona l la nguage of the nin etee nth cen tury, the gen eral
ch arac ter of musi cal time be cam e less in trin sic a lly
goal o rien ted . Vari ous fo rms of obse rvab le co n tinu ity wer e
nevertheless'derived in the non-tonal style!*through reference
an d asso cia tion with d iff e re n t ex tra-m usica l fo rms . Such
would be the case in Schoenberg's atonal music dramas as it has
b een t r a d i t i o n a l l y w ith so ng and o p e r a t i c fo rm s. S i m i la r ly ,

the n e o -c la ss ic ist relia n ce on academ ical ly d efi ned ^fcyjms
an d the em er ge an ce of a sp a tia l, a rc h itec tu ra l concepti on of
^ for m in th e music o f Webern and Varese can be reg ard ed as
imp ortant com posit ional fr ame wor ks for the ex plo ration of
new ton al resourced. In ter ms of m usical ti m e, the re fo re ,
much of t he mus ica l in te re st in trad ition a l tonal s tyle s
can be understood as the creation of plausible discontinuities
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w ithin es tab lish ed idi oms and p a tte rn s, a v iew held by many
th e o rists wi th an aly tical pers pspect ives as diffe re n t as t hose
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o f Schenker an d Leonar d Mey er. Co nve rsely, much of the in te r e s t
th is re la te s to Lan ge r an d de S e linc o u rt's no ti on s (wh ich deal

[* p r i ma r il y w ith t r adi t i onal form s) i n o n ly t h6 m ost g e n e r a l
wa y, th e ir work w ill not be br ought d ire c tly into th is
discussion.
> 4. W ithout going i n t o any de t ai l on th e d if f e r e n c e s ^ a n d

I r "j sim ila ritie s be twee n these two pe rspe ctives, th eilig e n er a l
;, ' vi
in ewth of
e ir msele
usical
ctionti meof asteraminol
m anipulated
ogy suc hcoasn tinu ity ker'
Schen is sexp'prolon
ressed ga tion'
I
)
in twentieth century styles would appear to be in the creation
of a convinci ng co ntin uity using musi cal m ate rial fo r whi ch no
p r e v io u s ly w e ll e s t a b l i s h e d m u s ic a l p a t t e r n i n g h as e x i s t e d .
Of the extra-musical models or constructs previously
ment ione d, the sp a tial-a rc h itec tu ra l c oncept ion of form 'intro
duced in the music of Webern and Varese has received widespread
« at t ent i on and el ab or a t i on among modern t heor i st s a nd com posers.
Wi th t he e li m inati on of an y observable reference to tra d itio n a l
har monic dire c tio n in th e ir m usi c, both Webern an d Vares e
cu lti v ate d d iffer e n t el emen ts of 'sp a tia l' pa tt ern ing; Webern
with his predilection for geometric symmetries in pitch and
ti m e, an d Var es e with his rep rese nta ti on of sh iftin g sonic mas ses
of harmo ny an d tim bre .^ This more ' v is u a lly ' in sp ire d
con ception of for m was fu rth e r develope d in the musi c of
Ian n is Xena ki s (M eta sta sis) whe re .-the re is a high ly so p h isti c a te d
tran sla tion of t he s ta tic sp a tial di me ns i'on s of phy si cal
o b jec ts (height, leng th a nd dept h) into the sonic dimens io ns
of p itch a nd time. S im il arly, a type of grap hic, sp a tia l
or 'in ter ru p tio n ' or Meyer ' succ essive dev iati on ' or 'the law
i of g.oo d c on tinu atio n 1(t he l a tt e r ter m bo rr owe d f rom G es talt
psycholo gy) .
5. Al tho ug h i t is necess ary in th is discussi on t o pass

b r i e f l y o v er th e p r i n c i p a l f e a t u r e o f i n d i v i d u a l s t y l e s ,
a p a rticu larly valuabl e r eference fo r this aspect of Varese' s
music can be found in his own description of the way in which
he conceived Integrales in"Le Poeme Electronique Le Corbusier,"
Les Ca h ie rs F o rc es Vj yr e s , p g . 1 92. - - - - - - - -
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model of musical form emerged in the music of both Ligetti**
(Atmospheres, Volumina)and Stockhausen (Gruppen)where
se ria lize d ti m bral a nd tex tura l c harac ters (ea ch hav ing
a more or less s ta tic , d irec tion les s for mal organization)
are ju x tap o se d m uch like the colou rs a nd surfaces of
abstract painting.
—^
The se la te r wo rks of Xenakis, Stock haus en an d L ig e tti,
in whi ch there i s a consci ous tra n sla tio n o f sp a tia l im ag es
into musical form, are characterized by an absence of any
suggestion of movement or direction, basic elements of
exp erience whi ch we re s t i l l p res en t to a degree in tf ee rhy th mic
g e st u re s of We bern an d Va rese , and which were among the
p r i n c i p a l f e a t u r e s o f th e more t r a d i t i o n a l s t y l e s .
As Roc hb erg has po inted ou t concerning th e 's p a ti a l'
image of musi c, the ce n tral in te re s t in the musi cal ^

experi ence is not i n the fu lfillm en t of long rang e goa ls,
b u t i n t h e more i n s ta n ta n e o u s p e rc e p tio n o f i s o l a t e d fo rm s
betw een w hic h t h e r e may be a g r e a t e r o r l e s s e r d e gre e o f
co ntinu ity. The difference in degr ees of inte rn al pa tterning
betw een s t y l e s w hich a r e e s s e n t i a l l y 's p a t i a l ' in t h e i r
co nc ep tion cam be observ ed in compari ng th e abo ve wor ks i?of
6. Again , a valua ble ac co un t' of thi s ca n be fou nd in the

com pose r's own words. See L ig e tt i' s "Met amor pho ses of
^ j Mv^sical Form" in d ie R eih e, volu me VII pg . 15.
%
^! X enakis and Lige t t i wi th w orks of Boulez ( St r uct ur es I e t I I )
i an d Cage (4 '22 "). L ig e tti an d Xenakis p res en t is o la te d
*— p a s s a g e s w hic h hav e an o b s e rv a b le y ^ e H n a l c o h e re n c e e i t h e r in
tex ture , ti m bre, gesture or a rtic u la tio n , bu t no observable
log ic i n t he succession o f/the se passages. The more a n tite le -
o lo g ica l wor ks of Bou lez lan d Cag e, e ith e r by the im po sit ion
of .very coittgTejcâ nd^ a r ti tr a r y de term inan ts o f for m (a s i n
Boul ez) < /r 'by the con scious ne ga tion of in te n tio n a l coherence
(as iiy th e case of m uch of C ag e's mus ic) no pe rce iv ab le
cohere nce or pa ttern in g emer ge s in the mu sic a t a ll . Form in
SC the se \l a tt e r style s has onl y the mos t su p erf icia l lon g ran ge ,
unity which is understood as a duration oi arb it raril y or
fo rtu iti o u sly related events . I t is inte res ting t o not#*
Le on ar d M eye r's observati on o n t he se ns e of s ta tic , d irec tion 
less time of this music.
"If only unique particulars, not the causal

connections between them are real, then no event
p re sum es o r im p lie s th e e x i s te n c e o f any o t h e r
event. If ev en ts.ar e w ithout im pli cati on , it
makes no difference in whaf temporal arrangement
theyto are
is a ll expe
in tenri enced
ts a ndorpur de scrib
pose s wedit .houtThed irected
world
time . More ove r, eve n though the ex isten ce of
ca u sa tion b e ad m itt ed , h uman ti me is w ithou t
d irec tion w hen a tten tion is foc uss e^ ex clusively
on t he ,uni quenes s of p a rtic u la rs ."
# r
The general situ a tio n in cont empor ar y mus ic is th a t
the re e x ists a wi de d iv er sity in co ncepti ons of musical f orm
/ % 7. Leon ard Mey er, Music, the A rts and Id e a s, (Chicago:

‘ ' * U n iv e rs ity of Chicago P re ss , 196*)), p. 164.
J
10
and in the way in which continuity and discontinuity can be
und erstood b y to d ay 's au die nc es. As Jonathon Kram er has observe d
in a recent article, the different conceptions of time and

exper ience in today's mu sic often re fle c t sig n ifican t so cial and
c u ltura l a ttitu d e s . ■
yr
"I hav e w ritten els ew here about th e cor

re la tion be twe en di sconti nuous lif e sty les and
co nt emp or ar y a rt . .Si nc e w ri ti ng th at a rti c le ,
I ha ve found i t increasingly d iff ic u lt to exper 
ience musi cal co ntin uity com fort ably. The re is
so met hi ng a r ti f ic ia l, so met hi ng otherw orldl y,
about the idea that one musical event can actually
p r o g r e s s t o a n o th e r . Even l i s t e n i n g t o th e m ost
innocently linear tonal music involves some sense
of co ntrad iction . The c o n flict is no t in the
music; the conflict is between how the music
uses ti me an d how a cont emporar y lis te n e r un derstand s
tim e. Rece nt musi c th a t d ea ls w ith ti m e in new
ways ha s s ought t o solve th is c o n flic t an d i n so
doing i t has St ru ck^ £- "n er ve ce ntre in our c u ltur e.
I re fe r to a n titeleo lo g u ca l mu sic! (e .g ., some wo rks
of John Cage) , whi ch p res en t s ta ti c , en dless No ws:
to pro ce ss p iece s (e .g /, some wor ks of Steve Re ich )
that move inexorably^xhrough wellAdefined gradual
cha nge s (Is th is a de sperate att em pt to recap ture
c o n tin u ity ? ) and to moment fo rm p iec es (e .g ., some
works of Karlheinz Stockhausen) in which the music
co nsists of a success ion of se lf cont ai ned section s that
do no t re la te to ea ch othe r in a ny fun ction ally
im p lic a tiv e mann er. Howeve r, c ompose rs o f moment
form
th a t pieces
w ould have
be a not
fic given
tio n ,upbeca
continuity
use i mentirely;
plicati on is
s t i l l possibl e and- the dis com for t of co ntinuity
Can be used p o sit iv e ly . But im p licatio n is now
localized because it has become but one possibility
w it hin a largd.un iverse; co ntinu it y is no longer
p a r t o f m u sic a l s y n ta x , b u t r a t h e r i t i s an o p t i o n a l
p ro c e d u re .' I t m ust b e c r e a t e d o r d e n ie d anew in
each p iec e, and thus i t is the m ate rial a nd no t t *
e l anguage of the m usic." 8
8 . ^ Jo na tho n Kra mer, "Moment Form in T w en tieth Ce ntury M usic,"

M usical Q ^ k fte rly , (LXIV) (1 97 8), p . 178-179.
(
11
Kra mer 's r ema rks ar e a n in tere stin g re fle ctio n o f t he
influenc e wh ich the 's p a ti a l' ima ge of mus ic has ha d in the
gend ral liste n in g ha b its of cont empora ry audiences. At the
same time, however, Kramer points to the interesting possix^
b i l i t y w hic h e x i s t s in conte m pora ry m u sic , o f c r e a t i n g i s o l a t e d

* “
c o n tinu ities w it hin wh at he vi ew s as the globa ll y s ta tic
trea tm en t of m usical ti m e whi ch has pervaded contemporar y
musi c. This la tte r observation w ill be of fu rthe r rel evan ce

/
in t he study of Cr umb 's p a rtic u la r treatm en t of m usi cal t ime .
Gi ve n th e sty lis tic d iv e rs ity . wh ich has em erge d in the rec en t
Vavani garde , the an aly sis of m usical t ime an d e sth e tic
experience within indiviflual styles has an important place in
the discussion of contemporary music, as it has generally
among the various perspectives in contemporary music the.ary
Like mos t c u rre n t pe rsp ec tive s in musi c theory , howeve r, the
analysis of musical time must be pursued within well defined
lim ita tio n s. U lt im ately, an y ty pe of observable for mal
p a t t e r n i n g o r i m p li c a tio n o f p a t t e r n i n g many be r e l e v a n t
to a n ind iv id u a l' s exper ie nce of a wo rk si nce th is w ill pr ovide
a ba sis for t he sub jecti ve an ticipa tion of even ts . Ca ref ul
co nside ration m us t be giv en to lim it t he discussion of p atte rn 
ing t o f ir s tly , thos e el ements wh ich are perce ptua ll y within
the gras p of a liste n e r in a no rmal listen in g s itu a tio n , an d
secondl y, those el ements w hi ch are rele v an t to th e, ge n era lly
acc ept ed s ty lis tic under st andi ng of the mus ic.
()
12
c.
„ k Th is c an b e c ar r i ed out wit hi n a t radit i on al hier arch
ic a l a ppr oa ch to an alysis, focus si ng atten tion on d iffere n t
'le v e ls ' of me an ing and stru ctu re fr om the sh o rtest sig n i
fic a n t ges ture to t he el ements of long range u n ity. An
account of the basic aspects of formal organization or
'm usical language' w ill b e t| iken as a b as is for the an aly sis
of music al t ime since th is is the sour ce of p atterning and
p r e d i c t a b i l i t y in a s t y l e . A lt hough i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g to
uncover various hidden structural devices which reflect the
^cletail of a composer' s conce pti on of for m, th e ce n tra l o b jec t

of th is st udy w ill b e the n ature of the co mmu ni cat ed e ffe c t
o f a‘st y le as i t re su lts from the elements of m usi cal l anguage
an d ba sic facto rs of musi cal exp eri ence . The tra d itio n a l
fea tures of st rueturalydeîgn w ill there fore b e discuss ed,
wher ever po ssible in te rms of the ir percei ved ef fe c t a nd the
natur e of th e ir signifi can ce w it hin the h ierarc hic al form a nd
w it hin the p a rticu lar logic of co ntinuity of a wo rk.
To these end s, th is study w ill dra w up on the approaches

to s ty li s ti c an d fo rmal an aly sis deve loped i n the w ork of
Leo nard Me yer (Emot ion and Me aning in M usic, Music, t h e A rts
.^ an d Idea s) , Jan L a Rue (G uideli nes fo r Sty le A nalysis) an d
Eugene Nar mou r (Beyond Sch enkerism ) . La R ue's wor k d e lin e a te s
fundamenta l param eters o f perceiv ed form in m usi c, as w ell as
b a s i c common Id io m s w hic h a re fo und i n r e s p e c t t o th e s e
p a ra m e te rs i n a w id e v a r i e t y o f s t y l e s and p e r i o d s . A lt h o u gh
o l it tl e sp ec ific ref erence w ill be made to L a Rue' s 'G uide li ne s'
13
V
h is g eneral app roac h to d eta iled an alysis w ill be st rong ly
reflected in t h is st udy. In addit ion to t he s ty lis tic and
structural elements of the more detailed analysis, certain

find ing s in the p ercep tion of rhy thm and du ration (more spe ci
fi c a lly some o f those wh ich Paul F ra iss e has presen ted in
Th e Psyc hol ogy of Time) w ill be re fe rre d to in o rde r to o bjec 
ti f y c e rta in clai m s made in the cou rs e of the study r egarding
p a tte rn p r e d ic ta b ility , L eonard M e y e r's w r i tin g s (an im p o rta n t
ex tensio n of whi ch is fo und in Eu gene Na rmour 's Im plica tion-
R ealization m qd el for an alysis) w ill receiv e m ore sp ec ific
reference since they relate directly to the description of
esthetic experience derived from the recognition and expectation
of for mal pa tt ernin g in bot h tra d ition a l a nd avant-gar de sty le s.
14
CHAPTER I I : CRUMB'S MUSICAL LANGUAGE
Much of the response which Crumb's music has enjoyed

over the la s t fifte e n years ca n be a ttrib u ted to his uni qu e
and convincing combination of typical elements of the avant-
gar de with very f unda ment al a nd tra d itio n a l element s of
m usica l. pa tterning a nd e ffe c t. In gen eral te rms, Cr um b' s
style integ rates ver y co lo ristic and often rich ly connot at ive
sonic (ton al an d ti m bral) imager y with a for mal el egance
which is readily apparent in the use Of various terms of
re p e tition an d ly ric a l dramat ic gestu re. As w ill be se en in
the following discussion, the unique quality of musical time
^ in Cr um b' s sty le ca n be rela ted to bot h the iso late d eff ec ts

<**
of these basic elements and their role in the'type of larger
meaning which Crumb creates over a whole composition.
11 I t is intere sting to rela te the in iti a l dev elop me nt of
Crumb' s s ty le to an o fte n c ite d r emar k whi ch Schoenbe rg made
concer ning his own i^ irs t attem pts to e sta b lish fo rmal c oher ence
in h is mu sic in the abs en ce of any tra d itio n a l func ti ona l
harmonic organization.
"A l i t t l e whil e la te r, I dis covered how to

construct longer forms by following a text or
< poem. The d i f f e r e n c e i n s i z e and sh ape o f i t s
; p a rts and the chan ge in c h a ra c te r and mood wer e
m irrored in the sha pe an d siz e of the co mpo si 
tio n , in i ts dy na mi cs an d temp o figu ratio n and
accen tuati on , inst rum entat ioh an d orc he strati on .
\ Thus the pa rts we re d iffere n tiate d as cle arly
\ as they ha d for m erl y bee n by the ton al an d str u c tu ra l
(. ( fu n ctio n s o f har mony."
i
i? *
t *
t,
%
15
t
s
/ .
{ ■ In hi s di s cu s s i on o f Sc h o e n b e rg 's .mu s ic , C h a rle s Rosen n o te s
a very essential connection between the formation of Schoen-

i
b e r g 's a to n a l s t y l e and th e p r e v a l e n t e s t h e t ic - i d e a l s e x p re s s e d
• , 4r j _
in the po etry of $ral£le, H eym, and to an e x ten t m S tefan
10
Geo rge . An an alysis of Cr um b's sty le po ints t o 'a ,sim il ar
development and growth’of mdsical language from Crumb's associ
ation of his music with the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca.
The f ormative influen ce o f Lo rcaî s p la in ly evide nt in the

■»
)
stru c tu ra l se nse th at in the sev eral Lor ca se tting s th at C rumb
^ has ma de , the te x t serves as a pri mary ele ment of lin e ar
o rg an iza tion . 11 On a mo re funda mental c re a tiv e le v e l, howe ve r.
Crumb has also re fle c te d in h is mus ic im po rtant asp ects of the
/ form, an d st y le o f Lor ca , 's p o etry .
Lo rca' s qene ral ap pr oa ch was decidedly a n ti-in te lle c tu a l.
Ref us inq t o^ be re str ic te d to symb oli st , u ltr a is t or su rre a list
do gm as, he partook fr e e ly 1of a ll of these influen ces in a

-•v
p o e tr y which i s o p e n ly l y r i c a l and, in i t s fo r m a l s i m p l i c i t y
often sugges ti ve of trad ition a l popul ar sty les.
9 Arnold Schoenberg, S tyle and Ide a , (Ne w,Yo rk, Ph iloso ph ica l
Library) 106
10 C h arle s Rosen, A rnold Schoen berg (New York, V ikin g, 1975) p . 14
11 In more or le ss ch ron olog ical ord er, Crumb' s Lorc a se ttin g s

incl ude the f ollowing ; Night Mu sic I , M adri gal s Bk. I, I I , I I I
IV, SOng s, Drones and R efra ins of D ea th, N ight~of the Four
Moons, ana An cient Voices of C hildren!
r>
:/
16
( The p rinciple con tent of Lorca' s poetr y re fle c ts his sp iritu a l
^ communion w it h his imme di at e n atu ral an d soc ial env ironme nt
(p re -fa sc ist S pain, es p ec ially Andalusi a an d Gr an ada ) > It's

widely ranging emotional intensity is focussed on fundamental
p s y c h ic e le m e n ts o f l i f e u s u a lly i n a p r i m i t i v e r u s t i c s e t t i n g .
Perhaps the best description of Lorca's influence on Crumb's
musi c can be found in Crumb's own wor ds i n h is no tes fo r th e
recording of Ancient Voices of Children.
"Ift Ancient Voice s of Ch ildren, as in m y-e arlier

Lo rca s e ttin g s, I h ave soug ht m usical i mag es th a t
enhance and reinforce the powerful, yet strangely
haunti ng i mage ry of L orca's po etry . I fee l tha t the
es se n tial me an ing of th is poetry is conc er ned wit h the
mo st pri mary thing s: li f e , death, love , the s mel l of
, the e a rth , the so unds of the e ar th an d sea .. Th ese
' "ur-g on cep ts" are em bedded in a langua ge whic h is
p r i m i t i v e an d s tj^ rk , b u t which i s c a p a b le o f i n f i n i t e l y
subtle nuance."
) ' Much of the g en era l atmospher e of L o rca 's po etry is immed iat ely
com patibl e w ith th e m ate ria l with whi ch C rumb was work ing in
the f ir s t pieces of his n ew sty le (Fi ve Pieces fo r P iano ,
Elev en Echoes of Aut umn , Fo ur N octurn es and Nig ht Mu sic I . Th e

rich an d e the rea l rso n o ritie s, the su dd en expr ess’ ion istic, .
s
out br eak of dra m at ic t ension , the isola ted ly ric a l figure s, and
12 George Crumb,vVoxce s o f C h ild re n , (New York, Nons uch

Records , 197 1, H- 71 25 5) ” no tes on reco rd cov er.
; ('
17
(j si m pli sti c rep etit ion s a ll have sign if ican t p ara ll els in Lorca 's
p o e tr y . In a d d i t i o n , much o f t h e L orc an gypsy w o rld i s evoked
(espec ial ly i n the l y ric a l setti ng s) in purel y m usi cal ,

. conn otat ive ter m s: for ex amp le, t he sugg esti on of tra d itio n a l
folk ins tr um ents (guitar , or g u itar imm it at iOns, flu te an d
drumming) the imm it ati on of tr a d itio n a l Spanis h m usi cal sty ld s
^ (the bo lero " Dance ofo the Earth" of A ncient Voices of C hild ren ,
* i
•
>
the fl am en go lik e 'cadenza ap pa ssion ate* of Son gs , Dr one s
and Refrains of Death) and the immitation of the Andal-usian
*" 'can to jondo' (a w il dly emotional v o ca liza tion an d lament whi ch
is very common in the r u sti c Spani sh fo lk tr a d itio n )in a
number of vocal works .
Of the very general features of Crumb's style mentioned
^ a t t h e o p en in g o f t hi s c h a p te r , b o th t h e h i g h ly e v o c a tiv e s o n ic
image ry , land the use of tr a d itio n a l elements of for mal

• ’ > '
p a t t e r n i n g c a n be r e l a t e d e x p l i c i t l y t o key e le m e n ts o f L o r c a 's
. p oe tic st y le . L orc a's ric h y e t mo ving image ry has received. »

; * * .
; much, a tt .enti on from c ri tic s for its refere nc e to a v arie ty of
sym bolic ar ch ety p e s. Howard T. Y dung has give n a v alu ab le

I
de scription o f th is aspec t o f L orca's verse wh ich is str on g-
reflected in Crumb's music.
1 <4 ' . ' "One need thi nk Only of t he roll of drum s,

| . the blare of tr um pets , or the w ail of a sir en - ,
| to re a liz e th a t the response to su ch sou nd s is j
I u n iv ers al. Lorca, in fa c t, seems to hav e ad umbr at ed
| the Jungian idea of the archetype, - th a t hid den ]
| - ■■ '
i ■(-). : ' ;
18
form or image sleeping in the blood,that

is quickl y release d b y ce rtain ob jects, So un ds ,
or wor ks o f - a r t. L orca, of coureg knew no thing
of Jung, bu t he was w ell aware, as h is d e sc rip 
ti on of the w ail ing d og s r ev ea ls, th at th ere
are te rr o rs whic h da te be yo nd the bod y, an d th a t
the re a re su b jec tiv e ly known f or ms whi ch a rt ,
since it s o rig in s, has c om mu ni cat ed by in tu itio n ,
or as h e pu t i t mo re p o e tic a lly , by me ans of the
'm ir ror of the s ta r s '. In his poetry, He trie d
to evoke such images as much as possible. His
lec ture o n the du'ende li s ts a series o f ob jects
th a t'to him u ltim ate ly suggest ed dea th, and whether
or n ot ea ch on e connote s a sim ilar fe elin g for
eve ry reader, the im plication is , as Jung de clared,
th a t these fo rms c a ll fo rth from theûnc onscious a
rea ctio n th a t is shared b y man ki nd .
Prominent arch etyp al i mage s in L orc a's poe tr y includ e "water"
(am bivalentl y sign ifying a fe ar of death from dr owni ng or
the li f e 'givin g force of the oc ean ), the w ind (s ymbol ic of
$ s p ir itu a l pre sence ) the moon (tra d itio n a lly a godde ss of
lu s t a nd d ea th), the v ague impres si ons of ce rtain colours
lik e green an d or an ge (plan t lif e , decay, and fire ) as w ell
as the n a tur a l p o lariz a tion of lig h t a nd darkn ess. Cr umb ’s4*
vocabulary of sonic archetypes includes an equally great variety
o f spunds , so me of wh ich are e a sily id e n tifia b le as sugg esti ng
th e wi nd or a ny of the ext re me ly ric a l g estures (s cr eami ng
or whispering? and others which have more vague associations

« <
b u t w hic h a re n e o n th e le s s f o r c e f u l i n t h e i r e f f e c t , l i k e , a c u te
hi gh reg ister att acks (s t ruck of plucked) , siren li k e g li ssan di
in the s trin g s, the muffl ed roar of the low re g iste r pi ano
13 . Howard T. Young, The V ic to rio u s Ex press io n . (Madi son,

( ") U n ive rsity of W is conil ]t rTre ss7™l964r7-F ^—
r
19
str in g s (ac tivate d b y the p al m of th e hand), a ny o f the
delicate bell or gong sounds or instances of timbres sustained
as dron es. The e sth etic e ff e c t of Cr umb 's us e of th is
m a te ria l is such as H oward T . Yo ung has d escribe d o f th e

t
symboli c arche type s in L o rca 's po etry . Th ese sounds an d
gestures create a d irec t an d in tu itiv e re sp ons e in the li ste n e r
by v i r t u e o f v e ry s tro n g and more o r l e s s u n i v e r s a l a s s o c i 
a tio n s. As iso late d ev en ts, they ha ve sub jective mean ings
in a nd of b f them selves which a re imm ediatel y memor abl e and
distinctive.
j
In addition to the strong archetypal elements of
Cr ui pb 's image ry , much of the e ff e c t of his m ateria l is f e lt
in its ver y d istinc tive connotat ive si gnifi cance for west er n
au dien ces. This would include the rich varie ty of ti m bral

*
and tonal colorations such as the various evocations of
ru stic Spa ni sh sty les men tion ed ea rlie r, other ex otic ■
ev oc atio ns lik e the use of gong so unds ', Chine se ^(temple blo ck s,
the '.mbi ra, lujon, s ita r, jew 's harp, banjo, w histli ng as
\
w ell as t he use of qu otation fr om ton al a nd mo dal st y le s.
11 -s *
‘The se el ements w hich i nvolve m ore s ty lis tic a lly an d c u ltu ra lly
lear ned assoc iat ions c on tr ibute to the s en se of the a tric
an d sy mbol ic interac ti on 'w hich is often im plicit in Cr um b's
integ ration of dis parate m aterials.
( 1
with permission of the copyright owner. Furth er reproduction prohibited without permission.
20
A fu rthe r import ant s ty li s ti c p a ra lle l b et we en Grumb
and Lor ca ca rrbe ê en in th e ir in teg ration of the archetyp al
and co nn otative e ffe c ts of th e ir imag es in to a lar g e r -form
and m eaning. The po etic framewo rk w ithin whi ch Lorca pres en ted
h is imager y v aried in the course of h is wor k fr om the-sim ple
re p e titiv e , song -l ike style s to the mo re va gu e and t enuous
p a t t e r n i n g s 'f t f h i s u l t r a i s t o r s u r r e a l i s t in f lu e n c e d p o e tr y .
Even in h is tr eatm ent of the mo re a b str a c t an d s pontaneou sl y
organi zed sty les , there re mai ns a con si st ency of po etic an d
the m atic lo g ic which was o fte n aba ndo ned b y the m ore dogm ati c
a rti s ts of this time. /

"Lorca certainly utilized the surrealist
man ne r^ f ir s t in h is odes ar ound 1 926, and c e rta in
o f the G ypsy B alla d s, such as th e "Somnam buli st ic
B alla d ". We mus t no te th a t Lor ca dec lared th a t
he never quite surrendered to the unconscious
* an d ev en his su rr e a lis t p oems ha ve a 'po e tic
log ic In ac tua l fa c t,.wsj .nce by d e fin itio n
the unconscious remains înac cessible to the
con scious mi nd , no cfne can u ti li z e the uncon
sci ous d e libe ra tely , but t he poe ts ha ve bee n
able to work with the symbols of the unconscious.
What Lorca means by 'p o e tic lo g ic ' seems to be
th a t whe rea s some s u rr e a lis ts tende d t o u tte r
mass ivelly
g en era incoherence
ha ve a them, hatic
is s devel
u rr e aopment.
lis t poems
The
outstanding featu re of h is s u rre a list p oems
i s th a t th ey se em t o have c ome fr om a dr eam
state."
One of the central features in much of Lorca's poetry
is th e co mbi na tiof T of a c lea r and elega n t fo rmal pa ttern in g

o
with the symbolic depiction of a spontaneous psychic awareness.
14. C a rl Cob b, F ed eric o G arc ia Lo rca (New Yor k, Twa yne ,

( 1967) , p. 43.
f
As w ill be discussed la te r in mo re d e ta il, Cr um b's mu sic
dem onstr ates a compa ra bl e va rie ty of p attern ing from si mple
quasi traditional repetitive forms to the more dream-like
st rea m o f con sciou sne ss’ passages w he re,desp ite the gen eral
rhy th mic free do m and s pontane it y* there is s t i l l a p erc ep tible
the mati c and g es tura l o rgan ization. / In t er ms of the ir o rga ni
zation of esthetic effect, both Lorca’s poetry and Crumb's
music present a balancing of the subtle spontaneous insight
with a sense of long range form and patterning.
Th is gen eral para lleli sm in sty le ca n be fou nd in

v irtu a lly any of Cr um b's se ttin g s of Lo rca tex ts, but t he
\
"Canci on de J rfnete" (Song of th e R ide r) from Songs, D rones
and R efrains of De ath is p a rtic u la rly wor th taking as an
exam ple, (see the sche m atic summary ta b le 1 , page 22-2 3 an d
tra n la tio n o«f the t e x t, page- 24)-. W it hout goi ng in to any g re a t

d e ta il, i t can be seen th at the Lor ca poem co n sists of a
very s imple ju x ta p o sit io n and sequenci ng o f i ma ges and“
exp ressi ons. A ce rtain 'st ream of cons ci c( usn es s1 e ffe c t is
created in the disc on ti nu ity in the successi on of i deas
(sh ifting from the questi ons to the li t t l e hors e t o spont aneous
visions of the violence associated with the death of the rider)
an d a lso in the ima ge ry i ts e l t in the mi xi ng of t he fea ture s
of the horse an d rid e r wit h t ho se of the n ight ("I n the black
moon b led the m ountai nside" , "The nig h t spurs i ts blac k flan ks
p i e r c i n g w it h s t a r s . " ) Crumb's s e t t i n g c a p tu r e s much o f th e
1
TABLE I: FORMAL OUTLINE OF

'CANC
ION DE JI
NETE*
"En la luna negra

de los bandoleros,
cantan las espeulas .1
drumming pattern stacatto chords arpeggiation

(tambourine, lujon) (electric harpsi- (hpschd.)
chord)
"... las duras espuelas

del bandido inmovil
que perdito la riend as."
drumming pattern stacatto chords arpeggiation

(crotales j tarn ta in s, (hpschd.) (hpschd.)
pno. lêbs s tr in g s ,
c.b.)
drumming pattern Inc isive hi gh re gi ste r arpeggiat ion glissando

(timbales) guitar figure (hpsc hdl) (gu itar
hpschd.)
"La noche espolea

sus negros ijares
clavandose estrellas."
drumming p at ter ns in ci si v e gu ita r glissando

(c ro ta le s, tom toms figur e (guitar, hpschd.)
tambourine, cb. lujon)
"y e l cuerno " "largo"
Cb. tremolo gl iss an d o j "iDonde .lle v as tu ji n e te mue rto?"
Abbreviations: hpschd.  harps ich ord glsp.  glockenspiel

ch.  cont raba ss vbph .  vibraphone
pno.  pi ano guit.  guitar
"Caballito negro
i Donde llev a s tu jin e te
muerto?"
gli ssa ndo rep etitive inte n va lllc

(hspc hd. vbph .) pa ttern s
(hpschd., cb., guitar)
"Caballito frio
|Que perfume de fl o r de
/
cuchillo!"
„ glissando repetitive intervallic

(guitar glsp.) patterns (hpschd., cb., guitar)
"En la lun a negra sangraba "Caballito negro. ’‘Sonde

el costado de Sierra Morena." illevas tu jinete muerto?"
( drumming, g u ita r gli ss an do repetitive intervallic

figu res , hpschd. (hpschd., g ls p .) patterns (cb. hps chd .
chords guit.)
"Caballito frio
| Que perfume de f lo r de cu ch ill o !" , ",‘un g ri to !"
| En la lun a neg ra,
[ re p et iti v e 'Cadenza ap pass ionata ' clim ac tic chor d
\' I n te r v a ll ic „
patterns
' (two drummers)
i
r
! ahort "de la hoguera." ^ "c ab allit o negro."

| repetitive
[ pattern
O
*
SONG OF THE RIDER, 1860
In th e b la c k moori,
of the highwaymen
the spurs sing.
L ittle bl ack hor se.
Whither with your dead rider?
... The hard spurs

of the m oti onless ban dit
who lo s t his re in s.
L ittl e col d hors e.
What a scent of the flower
of a kniffe!
In the black moon

b le d th e m o u n ta in sid e
of ittl
L S iee rra Mohors
bl ack rena. e.
W hit her w ith your de ad rid e r?
/ ' ' „
The night spurs

its black fl anks *
p i e r c i n g w ith s t a r s .
L ittl e col d hors e.
What a scent of the flower
of a knife*. .
* \
\
In th e b lac k mooft,
a sh riek ! an d th e lo ng
^ hor n of the bonfir e..
L ittle bla ck hors e.
Whither with your dead rider?
Translation by
^Stepljan Spender and
J. L . G il i
t ' ■
( ) ,
25
^ my stery and s ub j ac en t v io le n c e of the poem, i n a v e ry st r ai ght
forward word painting which can be heard in a driving rhythmic
p u ls a tio n ( t h e drumming p a t t e r n s im m ita tiv e o f th e h o r s e 's

<r
gallop) developing through a wide spectrum of percussive
tim b res . S im ilarly obvi ous im m it ations are m ade by the
b a r i t o n e o f t h e h o r s e s n e ig h in g an d t h e 's c r e a m ' ( l i n e 122 o f
the te x t). One p articu larly striking e ffe ct i n t h is pi ec e
which can be directly related to the imagery of the text is
a recu rrent high and incisive attack in the g uitar s uggest ive
of the 'pierc ing k n ife' i ma ge. The 'p ier c in g ' fi gu re a rises
sim ilarly in th e subsequent son g, ta s s id a of the B oy Woun de db y

the^ Water* in a ss o c iatio n w ith "his h e a rt pie rce d thr ough by
the da rk th ru st of w ater ." Ag ain, in th is p iece, the re flec tion
^ of L orca's imager y 4-s f e lt q u ite d ire c tly in bot h a type o f\
m usi cal ' w ate r' im age (a sl owly o sc illa tin g legato fi gure) w ii ch
p e rv a d e s th e o p e n in g t e x t u r e , and iq. th e e v o c a tio n o f th e
'wind' and 'n o c tu rn a l mu rmu rs' of t h e te x t in whisper ed spe ech
and whispered melody.

i ' .
q
In addition to the ionic elaboration of Lorca's imagery,
there is a no ti ce ab le refle ctio n o f the cy clic fo rm o f"Ca nc ion
de Jin e te "in th e ac co mpan yi ng and in c id e n ta l musi c. The long

*
| ran ge periods defined in the tex t by the re p e tition of ke y .
| phrases and imag es is also se en in Crum b' s,re -ite ra tio n of

s *
i m usic al m ate ria ls. The sense of a rep ea ting m ed it ative rh yt hm
( Tj whi ch seems to co n trol the appear ance of the va ri ou s p oe tic
i
26
and music al i mages , also crea tes an othe r i mp ort ant eff e c t in
th is pas sa ge in the i mme di at e p re d ic ta b ility wh ich arise s
w ithin the r epe ated m aterial .. Sub tl e c hange s in the te x t

(t a ttl e bl ack hors e' be com ing 'L itt le cold h o rse .1' and
de via tion s in Cr umb' s musical i ma ges (ap pa ren t m ostl y i n
ch an ge s o f i nstrum entation or i n the inc lusio n of add iti on al
effects ) crea te in tere st i n de tail of the materi al as the l arg er
rhy thm un fold s. One fu rth er asp ect of the de via tion i n the
recu rren t m ateria ls of t h is pass age is the gradua l dr amati c
and d ynami c development whi ch r eac hes a climax in th e 'cade nz a
ap pa sion ata' and the chor d a t ",'un g rit o !" an d whi ch dies away •
in a series of iso late d pi aniss imo phrases and ge stures.
Thi s p a rtic u la r el ement of Cru mb' s mus ic w ill be discu ssed
la te r in more d e ta il.
In addition to the influence of Lorca's poetry, an
impo rt ant musi cal pr ecedent for the 'stream of con sciousness'
element o f Cr umb' s sty le can be s een i n the mus ic o f Charles
Iv e s. R os alie P erry , in C harles Iv es and the Ame rican Mind^5

relates the stream of consciousness style in Ives to the
infl uence of the Am erican tr an sce nd en t#list lit e ra ry trad ition
(Thoreejtr; Eme rson and Whitman) and the a n a ly tic in te r e s t in
the subc onsciou s and memory whi ch g rew o u t of th e w ritin g s

.49
of Fr eud, W illiam Jame s and Carl J ung. Sh e q ite s th e follow ing
( )
15. See pages 4 0 - 55 in p a rti c u la r.
27
xas,' the to p ica l 'str ea m of con scious ness' id ioms of Ives:
th e use of tun es or e ffe c ts fo r wh ich lis te n e rs would, have
specific associations or memories, the contrast between

m etr ic a nd non-m etr ic r hyt hmi c orga niza tion, rh eto rica l
devi ces signifying diffe ren t psychologi cal sta te s, the

simultaneous representation of diverse elements in a continu
ou s co mp lex of sound, as the u se of t h e a tr ic or pr ogr ammat ic
suggestions as part of the general conception and form of
a work.
V irtu ally a ll of these general feat u^te is are t o be fou nd
in Cru mb' s m usic. As alre ad y men ti oned,

£he use of qu o tatio n
\ „
and m ateria ls whi ch ha ve c lea rly u nderstood co nn otatic^s
is an important part of the sense of symbolic psychological
rep rese ntation in Cr um b's musi c. S im ilarl y the co ntra st of
metric and nonmetric rhythmic organizations and superpositions
of a d iv e rs ity of m aterial in a ty pe of 'monta ge' can be
interpreted in Crumb's music as in Ives' as representations
of d iffer en t ps ychologi cal state s of a ware nes s. Thi s i s agai n
qu ite stra igh tfo rw ard . In Cr um b's m usic, f o r \jexamp le,
d iffe re n t em oti onal ch arac ters (like 'm echani co' or 'with a
sense of destiny') which can only be represented in metric
no tati on a re o ften juxt apposed wit h ty p ic a lly nonmet ri c
ch ara cters . ( i.e . spo nt ane ous outpouri ngs of frenzied

emotion or the slow and floating dream like evocations
whe re on e ev en t se ems t o fl ow fr e e ly one in to the ne xt) .
28
The' c o n tra st in Crumb's mu sic of passage s of a si mple
succession of events with those which consist of a complex
of super imposed ev en ts may also have a ' stream of c on scio us

ne ss' sign ifican ce as rep rese nta tions of si mple line ar a nd
expa nded, complex sense s of awareness . A d d ition ally , in
much of Cr umb 's m usic, the re is an un de rlying d ram atizatio n

\
in the interaction of the performers and the succession of
various psycho logical a nd emotional s ta te s . This eme rge s
ov ertly in spo ke n fragm ents, a nd in the in te g ra tio n of si mple
th e a tric ge stures into the w o rk .^ Ni gh t of Four Moons (fo r
a lto , a lto flu te , banjo, 'ce llo an d percussion) and Anci ent
Voi ces of Ch ildren are tw o good exa mpl es of th is la tt e r
fea ture. In ea ch case, a mo de st th e a tric ge sture oc curs at
the end of the work, but acquires interesting symbolic meaning
from previously, implied musical dramatic relationship between
p la y e rs o f th e e n sem b le . In A n c ie n t V o ic es o f C h ild re n , th e
sopr ano o n stage is join ed by th e boy soprano w ho fi n a lly
eme rges from his p o sitio n ba ckstag e, su g ge stive o f a moth er
bein g jo in e d by h e r c h i l d . In N ig h t o f Four Moons a l l p la y e r s
except the 'cello exit one by one, striking as they leave,
an antique cymbal which is identical in pitch to a high note
16. The example of an underlying theatricization in Ives'

musi c t o whi ch Perry dr aws pa rtic u la r atte n tio n is th e
Second Stri ng Q ua rtet, but a n i n ter es ting con ti nua ti on o f this
s ty li s ti c element of Am erican compositi on whi ch bridg es the
gap between Ive s and Crumb and h is c on tem po rarie s can be
( see n in the mus ic of E llio t C arter and in p a rticu lar his
Second String Q ua rtet.
( *
su staine d by the 'c e llo . The dep arted pla y ers then play
a type o f M ahleri an lu llab y e (' M usica Humana1) whi ch a lte rn a te s
w it h the 'c e ll o 's e e rie modal glissan do me lody- ( 'Musica

y
Mu ndana') . Crumbs own d e sc rip tio n of th e ending of N ight ,
of Four Moons is worth noting.
"The epilogue of the song (Through the

sky goes the moon/ holding a child by the
ha nd ") wa s concei ved as a sim u ltan eity of
two m u sic s: "Musica Mundana" '("Music o f the
Sp he res") and "Musi ca Huma naV- f*Musi c of
Mankind") per for med o ffsta g e by the sin g er ,
alto fl u te , vi brap hone an d ban jo. The o ff
stage music is to emerge and fade like a
d ista n t radio sign al. The F# to n a lity of‘
the the
of "Musi ca Humana"
preceeding andessionals
proc the th re
e a tr ic ge stu
c a lls there
concludingâges of Haydn's "Farewell"
Symphony? v
A
( I t sh oul d be stre sse d , ho we ve r, th a t\th e 'str eam of
consciou sness' id iom d oe s not domi na te the sign ifican ce of
Cr umb 's musi c. I t is ra re th a t anything m ore\t han an
is o la te d programmatic mean ing is to b e found in Cr umb' s
mu sic in re latio n to e ith e r t he th e a tric g esture s or tT
succ ession of d if fe re n t episodes within a wor k. As w ill b e''
se en la te r in more d e ta il, one o f t he ce n tral fea tures o f
Crumb's style is his combination of these elements of 'stream
of consci ousness' wit h the imp li cati on o f ab stra c t,
formal organization.
The integ ration of a great div ers ity of m ateri al wit hin
/ \ 17 . Geo rge Qrumb, ffiig ht o f Fo ur Moons (New, Y ork , Colum bia

' 1974 , M -3 273 9) , no tes on record co ve r.
•
3
0
on e f orm can also be unders tood as a ge nera l s ty li s ti c
tendency in the devel opment of western a rt music. In
commenting on a remark made to him by Grpsvenor Cooper,
Leonard Meyer notes the significance of the communication'
o f a type of a b stra c t/'all-e m b ra cin g or 1monu men tal ’
s ty lis ti c image i n w est ern mu sic.
" As my co lle ag u e Grosveno r Cooper h as 4

p o in te d o u t , on e o f th e s a l i e n t id eas, of
West ern cu ltu re and a hallm ark of , '
"grea tness" in Wes ter n a rt a t leasts since
the Renaissance, has been that of monumentality.
To capture and communicate a sense of fhe
scope and magnitude of creation - the variety
an drtiftstsu lti
■a andp licw ity
ritersof things',
ha ve foco
un d mpo
i t se
apprs ropriat
as well eas
to bri ng toge ther a weal th o f diverse m aterials,
often plac ing these in sud de n and v io len t s ,
ju x ta p o s itio n ’. (One nee d o n ly th in k o f a ’
Bach Pa ssio n , a Beethoven symph ony ,, o r a
p la y by S h a k e sp e a re .) One w ay-o f com bin in g
an d u niting con trasting i deas into a coherent
whole, reconciling seemingly incompatible
e v en ts, i s to sub sume them on some h ig h er
ord er - to embody them w ithin a h ier ar ch ica l
structure." v
The type of musical 'monumentality' which Meyer describes
and which elsewhere Joan Kunselman-Cordejs has shown to be
a very prominent feature in contemporary American avant-

19
gar de mu sic is c le a rly re fle c te d in Cr umb 's no tes fo r* .t he
cording of Ancient Voipes of Children.
18. Leonard Meyer , "Mugi c, the Arts, and Id ea s (Chicago,

U niversit y of C h ic a ^ P re s s, 19.67) , p. 312 -3 13.
19. Joari Kunse lman -Cor des in h e t- 4 is s e rt a ti o n "A New

Developme nt in Amer ican Mus ic i^rSpme c h a ra c te ri s tic '
c fea ture s extend ing from the legacy of Charles Ive s, in” '
this th e sis ali
"monunient , ty"
the found
aut hor
i ndis Ivcusses in c d’and
e 's musi e ta how
il theth eisleme
is nt of
31
"In composing Ancient Voices of Children,

I was conscious of an urge to fuse various
unrelat ed s ty lis tic el em ent s. I was i ntrigued
with the idea
inco ngru ou s:of ajuxtaposing
su gg estiothe seemingly
n of Fl amen co w ith ’a
, Ba roq ue q u o ta tio n .... or a remini scence of
Mah ler with a brea th of the O ri ent. I t la te r
oc cu rred to me th a t bo th Ba ch a nd Mahler
■drew upon many d isp a ra te ' so ur ce s in t h e i r own 2q
mu sic wit hout sac rif icing " sty listic p u rit y ".
Turning now to some of the more detailed features_of
' Cr umb' s m usical'l an gu age , i t is, conven ient t o discu ss
for mal pa tt erning in h is sty le in ter ms of three tra d ition a l
leve ls of ana lysis : 'd e ta il' (t he sh orte st percei vable
elem ents of mea ni ng) , in term ed iate s y n ta c tic fo rms (of wh ich
there may be many, depending on the length and complexity of
the mu sic) and lon g rcp ge pa tterns or form s'(t he ge ne ral unity-
* 1 ' »
over a wh ole com po siti on ). The se three ^leve ls w ill serve here
>
as.a general basis for a description of Crumb's music, and
the p rin cip les of orga niza tion wh ich ' wou ld appe ar to c o n stitu te
a type o f 'm usical lan gu ag e'. ' The. an aly sis of a m usi cal time '
* * _
in th is st udy w ill al g'o be conc er ned w it h the in tera ctio n and
e ffe c t of these lev els o f pa tterning , an d how they contri bu te

along wi th the ex tra-m us ical ele ments wh ich hav e j u s t be en
. - discussed , in the gen eral m usic al i mag e.
1 ' t The organ izati on of d e ta il in Cr um b' s mus ic is gen erall y
assim ilated in the sty le s o f severa l pr ominent con tempor ar y

lUnerican composers' including Crumb.
20 . George 6ruimb, A n cie n t Voices" of C h ild re n , (New York,

( ': Nonsu ch R ecord s, . 19 71, 312S5) . n o te s on r e c o rd c o v e r.
’ ■ . ' " ■\ ’ ■-“ •

32
' accompli shed through th e combinati on of sh o rt rhythm ic,
and harmonic gestures into longer sequences or complexes.
In th is sense, Cr umb 's co ntro l of the ba sic com positi onal

elements 9f harmonic and melodic continuity bears a notice
abl e sim il ary to t h at of the early free atonal sty les of
Schoenberg and Webern.
"As in se v e ra l of m y o th er works , the

m usic al fa b ri c o f (Mu sic fo r a ) Summer Evening
results largely from the elaboration of tiny
c e ll s in to a so^rt of mosa ic de sign. This ti me
hallowed technique seems to function in much
new mus ic irre sp e c tiv e o f sty le as a pri mary
structural modus."
The role of this aspect in Crumb's musical language

in the effect of his music can be studied very clearly in
^ an an aly sis of one of h is sh o rte r pie ce s. "No piensan en la
ll u v ia , y Be han dorm ido." (M agriga ls, B k .l, nu mber two)
is a -pa rticu larly good piece for th is pur pos e bec aus e i t
demonstrates the combination of the small cellular units
or ge stu res in to bo th lon ge r s equences a nd complexe s. (See
score on pages 33 and 34).

V
< • /
» The na tur e o | the rh y th mi c or ga ni za ti on i n " No pi en s am. .
is qu it e free a nd strai gh tforw ard. The ope ni ng c rista lin o

* * — c
'intonation* and the 'molto delicato' consist very simply
of sequ en ce s of articu late d ge stures, i.e . the lo ng sy ll ab ic
^ cho rds of the int onati on, the r ai ndrop-l ike staccat o pit ches
C"} ,21. Georg e Crumb, M usic fo r a Summer E ve nin g, (New Yo rk,

Nonsuch R ecord s, 19 7S , 71311), n o te s on th e r e c o r d ’
Cover, .
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N ii iK l ( m I m ic Ii I
34
u i-5
"O
i
Reprod uced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited w ithout permission.
35
(for min g overlappi ng ec ho -li ke in te rv a llic p attern s be twee n
the soprano a nd vibr aphone) and the se rie s of vibraphone
(and con tr aba ss) arp eg g iation s. 'Ra in Dea th Mu sic i'p re s e n ts
a com pl ex of ra in d ro p -lik e a c tiv ity whi ch f .orms a grad ua l
ris e an d fa ll in hdmuîc an d rh yt hmic den sit y and recedes
into th e si m pler tex ture wit h the en trance of the soprano. A

«&
certain structural layering of rhythms and tempos can be
observed hpre w it h osten ato rhy th ms (in s ynchr onous fiv e
six tee n th a nd fou r sixte en th meas ur es ) in t he co ntrabass
and vi bra phdhe (l e ft ha nd), bu t wit h the free occurr ance of
sh ort sta c a tto ge stures in sex tup let rhy thm ( vi br aphon e rig h t
ha nd ) the ge neral e ffe c t is t h a t of a sing le sh o rt co mpl ex
, of a c tiv ity from wh ich ce rtain short iso lated gestures w ill
mom enta ri ly pr otru de . The reduced tex tu re a t the end of
'Rain -Deat h M usic I 1cre ate s a sens e of return to the s im p listic

I suc ces si on of gestur es i.e ., the stac atto rain-d rop -l ike
fig u res , the sh o rt mel odi c or namentat ion o n 'lluv ia* an d the
s
vibraphone and contrabass arpeggiations (which suggest a short
re c a ll of the m ore ex te nded tex tu re of'R ain-d ea th Mus ic I1, b ut
fad e in to a lega tto artic u la tio n wit h the me lod ic return o f
the s oprano on 'en la ll u v ii a ') . 'Like Rai n- Deat h Mus ic i',
kain-D eath Mu sic I I 1p res en ts a 'rain d ro p compl ex' whic h

\
grad ua l]^ bu il ds in den sit y an d r ece de s leaving the sopr ano
unacc ompani ed fo r the fin a l 'y se hem dormido' . In th is passage
as w ell as i n t he preceeding 'M ol to d e lic a to ' and'Rain- Death
C ) Mu sic I 1, the te x t h as a n im po rtant ro le i n th e g en era l rhyt hmic
an d melodi c orga niz ation since w it h the exep ti on of the orna
me nt on 'llu v ia ', i t is trea ted sy llab ica lly a nd creates
melodic grouping in accordance with its natural articulation
an d in to n a tion . The in te re stin g fea ture s wh ich 'Rain- Death
II1adds to the general rhythmic development is the accelerated
a c tiv ity 120) an d the sense of rhyt hmic p u lsa tion ,
p e rh a p s a s i f i t had be gu n to r a i n s t e a d i l y as t h e p ie c e
comes to a close.
In looking at the harmonic and melodic structure of the

r
musi c, i t is possible t o s ee a co ntrol of in te rv a llic tension

which has a significant effect in the succession of individual
events w it hin the piec e. W ithi n the gen eral rhyt hmi c struc ture
c er tain common ato na l in te rv a lli c groupings are m ade to
pre d om ii h it e a t d i f f e r e n t p o i n t s . The f i r s t two o f th e o p en in g
'c r is ta li n o ' ch ords, (F-F# -G- G# an d B-C-C#-D) fo r example,
contain an equal predominance of the semitone between pitches.

b
The th ir d chord of the se rie s (A-B -D-D#E) is sim ila r m it s
se mit one con tent, but is d iffe re n iate d harmonical ly fr om t he

f ir s t tw o chor ds by t he pres ence of the inte rv als of the
22
trito n e and p e rfec t fou rth. Al tho ug h the an alys is o f
22 . I t mu st be adm it ted th a t the e ffe c t o f t he s pacing of

a chord has a considerable effect in the general harmonic
ten sion . Pitch gr oup s in close po siti on o r comp ac t p o sition
w ill no t h ave t he s ame aural e ffe c t as i f they are diff used
over a wider re g iste r. In th is d iscussion , a gene ral eq ui
va lence i s as sum ed be twee n pri m ary in te rv a ls , (unison, seconds ,
th ird s, fou rths, a nd tri ton e) an d th e ir inversions i n order
no t t oti m
same b ecome
e, to e t oo
stabcaught
lish an up inintu aco
itiv ustic d e ta il, bu ba
e ly reasonable t asis
t th e
i
£
*
37
v e rtica l an d ho ri zon tal in te rv a llic tensi on is not as s impl e
in the follow ing more rhy thm ically complic ated passag es, it
is s t il l en tir ely po ssi ble to disti ng uish aural gr oup ings

(determined by adjacent pitches in melodic gestures, or in
some case s b y the p itch es on the ind ivid ua l sy lla b le s of the
text) whi ch repeatedl y e mp ha size ce rtain interv al re la tio n s.
The 'molto d e lica to ' se ctio n , fo r e xa mpl e, begins w it h a
grouping (B-C-C#) wh ich fe a tu re s th e sem i- tone re la tio n .
Su bseq uen t gro up ing s, the B -E-A-D# (G# co uld als o be inclu de d)
a t 'pi ensam ' the C -F#-B- E# a t 'la llu v ia ' and the t wo
a rp e g g ia tio n s E- B-D#-A-D and F-B- E-Al -D# a ll comb ine the

trito n e an d semi ton e in stru c tu re s wh ich a re id en tica l to bot h
the th ird chor d of the openi ng into n atio n an d t he melodi c
contour in the s opr ano wh ich is o u tli n ed by a ll of the th ree

23
chor ds of th is seq uence . I t is wor th no ti ng th a t th is subtle
for d escri bing the succes si on of the basic musi cal m aterial.
A sim ilar type of ha rmoni c a n aly sis has alread y been propos ed
by Eug en e Narmour in Beyond Sch enk eri sm (s e e p ag es 158-1 62)
where the vertical
discu ssed in t erintervallic
ms of m content
usi cal is noted
t im in detail
e, as andc process o
har moni r
movement from relative consonance to relative dissonance.
23 . In the in ter e st of avoi di ng an overl y stru c tu ra l app r

• to t h e m u sical form , a d e t a i l e d s e t t h e o r e t i c a n a l y s i s
f . w ill not be presented here. I t shoul d be note d th a t the
! princ ipal in ter v a llic gr ou pi ng s isolate d in this discussi on
re fe f to a numb er of p o ssib le se t f or ms. The ' sem itone ' group
ie in g s in w hich t h e r e i s a p redom inance o f th e s e mi to n e , a n d
I to a les so r ex ten t, the wh ol e ton e, re fe r to gr oups like
i B- C-C# , o r B-C-CI-D o r tra n sp o sitio n s of the m. The 'semitone
\ plu s tr ito n e ' groupi ngs re fe r to any gr oups for me d by the
altern ate super posit ion of triton e s an d fourt hs or triton es
, and f i f t h s such asbC-G- C#, C-G -C# -G# , C-G-C#-G#-D o r C-F -B,
^ - C -P-B -E, C -F-B -E - b ” . He re there is a mo re o r les s equal
" pr ed omi na nce of t he s em itone, trito n e an d fourth or fi f th .
1
38
coh er enc e in th e in te rv a llic tension is c on tr ad icted in t wo

p la c e s in t h i s s e c t i o n w it h i n t e r e s t i n g e f f e c t s . The r e p e t i 
tion of the E#-G# creates a deviation in harmonic coloration

from pr edomi nanc e of Semi tone a nd tr it o n e ', as d oes to a c e rta in I
e x ten t, the major th ird of the vibra phone arp eg giatio ns (A-G#-
C- F#-E#) b efo re the beginning of 'Rain-Death M u sic .I'.
Whi le th e ‘semi tone* group ings and 1sem it one plu s tr it o n e ’
group ings ma y be fou nd in th e open ing o f 'Rain-Death Mus ic
I*, (in the p itch es of the co ntra bass oste n ato , and in
numerous ways in the vibraphone patterns they are spread over

a ver y wid e re g is te r aJhd wittî su p erp os ition of the va riou s
p a t t e r n s , no re c o g n iz a b le harm onic t e n s io n is h e a rd u n t i l
the tex tur e thin s out. With the re-e ntra nc e of th e sopr ano
an d the te x t, the s upe ri mpos ed 's em it one pl us tr ito n e 1
tension returns (same pitch content as in the pppp vibraphone
arpeggiation of the preceeding section, but somewhat different
re g istra tion ) and is agai n fu lly evide nt in the vi br aphon e
and contrabass arpeggiations, and short soprano reiteration
b e fo r e th e orn am ent on ' l l u v i a ' .
i
The soprano ornam entat ion on ^V lluvia1 in 'Rain- Death Mus ic
I* ac ce ntu ate s a typie of w hole-t one re la tio n sh ip bet wee n
’p itc h e s (A-G-C# and D“C- F# woul d be melodic f ig u re s w ith in a

d iff e re n t who le t one sca les) an d as su ch c o n stitu te s a mom-
entary harmonic coloration, which suggests something of the
» 39
spontaneous Andalision 'canto*. The c o lo ristic an d evoc ati ve
aspect of Crumb's control of harmony and pitch organization
be co mes more pro nounce d i n l a t e r w ork s (Lux A e te r n a , B la ck

A ng els, and th e Makrokosmos Volumes I , I I , and I I I ) where
there is a larg er scale monument al ist orga nization of .t ona l
connotations.
The reite ratio n of the c rista lin o 'inton ation ' is in
the f i r s t t wo chor ds, ide n tica l in h ar moni c t ension to the
opening bu t in a more compac t sp ac ing . The th ird chord, in
ad diti on to occur ri ng o n a d iffere n t sy ll ab le also presents

"A
a ve ry s lig h t h ar mo ni c de viation in th at the contr abass
A
har moni c doe s no t f i t into the 'semi to ne plus tri to n e '
groupi ng of the oth er pitc h es . Alt hough' Rain- Death M usic I I '
is ver y active an d har monica lly unstable, i t is s t i ll po ssi ble
to see a progression from harmonic groupings which emphasize
th e se m itone (G#A-Bb , B- C-C #, G-F #-F e tc .) <£o th o se which
invol ve the' sem it on e p lu s;tr ito n e ' stru ctu re . As in 'Rai n-
De ath Mu sic I ', th is l a tt e r in te rv a lli c gr oupi ng pre dominat es
in the melodic line.
In addition to the transposed recurrence of certain
in ter v a llic gr oupi ngs , t here is a d istin c tly noti ceable
recur rence of th e trito n e b -p i n the hi gh re g iste r of the
vi br aphone wh ich le nds a slig h t suggesti on of ton al 're tu rn '
or pa tt ern ing . The points at wh ich th is p a rticu lar interv al
}
4
0
' * i
~P
{ ai%d re g istra tio n occ ur are also fa irly sig n ifica n t in ter ms
of the general form and gesturetof the piece, namely in the
arpe gg iati on a t t he close o f the 'm olt o d e lic a to ' sec tion a nd-
a t the e nd of the 'ra in drop ' comp lex of 'Rai n- Deat h Mus ic I'
and in a s im ila r p o sitio n to war d the en d of 'Rain -Deat h
V Music II'.
From th is ver y b rie f disc uss ion of C rum b's treatm en t
o f t he trad ition a l' composi ti onal el ement s of in te rv a llic
tensio n, i t can be seen tha t t he tran sp o sit ion o f s mall c e llu la r
units provides a feature of immediate "low level" coherence
an d d iffe re n tiatio n in the success ion of individua l r hyt hmi c
^ ge s t ur es . The long ran g e r e pe t ive form o f th e p ie c e is r ef l ec
ted only t o a lim ited exten t in d e ta ils of p it ch and har moni c
t ensi on, i.e ., the interv alli c sim il arities in t he d if feren t
st at em ents in t he text, in t he 'cr is ta lin o ' int ona ti on a nd
in the recurr ence of the hi gh re g is te r in ea ch of the
three m aj or passag es. Th e type of p atte rn ing th a t d omi nat es
the immedi at e succession of ge sture s in t h is^ p iec e an d
generally in Crumb's cellular intervallic organization
is e sse n tially one of ha rmon ic co loration in w hich a c erta in
con si st ency o f h ar mo ni c tension is e stab li sh ed (in th is ca se
the semi ton e and 'semi ton e plus trit o n e ' groupi ngs) an d ce rta in
figures and more complex textures provide momentary deviations
from the predominant tensions.
I
41
Much of t he p a rticu lar e sth etic e xperience i n th is style
can be studied in terms of the principal types of pattern
closu re whi ch w ill be perceive d by a lis te n e r as a work
p ro g resses. C e r ta in ty p es o f p a t t e r n c lo s u r e in C ru m b's
work are qu ite straigh tforw ard an d nee d not be dis cussed in
any d e ta il. The ope ni ng 'in to n a tio n ' fo r ex amp le, termina tes
in a ver y obvious clo su ral g estu re - 'the di mi nu en do al
niente' . Anot he r in tu itiv e ly apparent ind ication of
closu re a nd a rtic u la tio n is the amo unt o f t ime l e f t b et wee n
suc cessiv e ge stu res suc h as the three second pauses (before
'molt o d e lica to ' and before t he return o f the c ris ta lin o

'in to n atio n ') or the fer mata s or short pau se ind ication s. A
i
na tural cl osure a rises in the 'molt o de lica to ' secti on from
24
si m ple rhythm ic pu lse a nd th e sl ow te mpo, upon whic h a re su pe r
imposed the articulation of the words and phrases of the text
and the p a ttern in g of in te rv a llic sy mmetr ie s be twee n t he sopr ano
\ 24 . -Rese arc h by the eminent Fre nch p sy ch o log ist, Paul F ra isse
ha s in d ica ted s ome po ssible gu ide lines for judg ement s
of t he pe rcep tion of even ts in sequence. F raisse' sugg ests
g en er ally (see page 1 23 of Th e Psychology of Ti me, tr a n s . by
Jen nifer L eith)) th at events wh ich fol low, a t a cl oser inte rv al
them i.7 seconds w ill ten4 to be hear d a s a sin g le coh eren t
flow. At approxim atel y .7 seconds bet ween each ev en t, they
w ill b e heard as individu al eve nt 3 in d ire c t succe ssi on, and
at in terv als of m ore tha n .7 sec onds, the im pre ssion 'i s th at
of iso lated occurrences . The indiv idua l stac atto pitches ?
of the 'molt o d e lic a to ' sec tion occur a t a bo ut rtSh e ever y
sec ond, wh ich is' fa ste r t han t he succession of the 'c ris ta lin o '
tones, b u t s t i l l slow endu gh to crea te the gen eral impr ess ion
of iso lated ev ents rath er than a un ifi ed flow.
42
U
{i / and vib rap ho ne .^
The subsequent vi bra phone arpe gg iation s c rea te an
in te re stin g form of me lod ic cl osu re in th e ir dep arture an d
ret urn to a spe cific pitch, the D na tural i n the fi r s t o f
th es e, an d the F n a tu ra l of the pp pp arp eg g iatid n whi ch
is re c a lled (E# tre mol and o) be fore the beginning of'Rain-Dea th
Mu sic I .' As alread y menti oned, w it h the co nstan t re -i te ra tio n
of the F n atu ral in th a t re g iste r, become s a po int of lo ng
range melodic return in the accompanying music.
An important point in the general prSgressôn of the
p ie c e i s re a ch e d a t th e r e i t e r a t i o n o f t h e t e x t i n 'R a i n -
De ath Mu sic I?î nce th is is the f ir s t strong in dic ation o f a
re p e titi v e line ar patterning. The return of the tex t in
the same general melodic setting creates both immediate and
long range expectations based upon what Leonard Meyer has termed
'successive compa riso n1 , or t he a n ti cip ation of re p etitio n .
25. W ebern' s concisen&ss of g e stu re and th e de p ic tio n of

'c ry s ta lin e ' in te rv a llic sy mmet ries wh ich we re ment ione d
b r i e f l y As
music. i n in
th eWebern'
f i r s t sc hmusic,
a p te r tha reis sft reoantug re
l y of
r e fmelodic
l e c t e d in Crum b's
design
lends an additional formal elegance to the rhythmic definition
of the ind ividua l gestures. As an aside to th is discussion
of Cr um b' s sty le , i t is in tere stin g to no te s ome po ssible
indications of the logic by which elements of Webern can
be co m bin ed w ith th e more sp o n ta n e o u s an d m y ste rio u s o v e r
tones of Lor ca, cr umb , in h is no tes for the record ing of
Ancient Voices of Children quotes the following excerpt from
Lo rca' s ' theo ry a nd Functi on Due nd e' whi ch Lor ca ex pla ins h is
con ceptions of th e C reati ve impulse: "This 'm ysterio us po we r
tha t ev er yon e fe e ls but th at n o ph il osp her ha s explained'
is in fac t t he sp ir it of t he e a rth .... A ll one knows is tha t
i t burns t he bl ood like powd ered g lass, th a t i t exhau sts ,
tha t it'r e je c ts a ll the swe et geome ty on e ha s lea rn ed ... "
(my ita li c s ) .
/ , "R eite ra tio n i s the b as is of what may be
' ca lled the pr inc iple of succe ssive compa ri so n.
A giv en p atte rn es tab lish es an intr a-.opus n orm,
a ba se fo r expect ati on w it hin the p artic u lar
' pie ce . Subs equ ent de viation s from the p attern ,
occurring in repetitions, give rise to affective
' or e sth e tic res ponses bec aus e they function to
a rre st or i n ^ b it the t en de nc y t owa rd pr ecise
repetition.
In ad ditio n to the sense o f devel opment whi ch a ris e s from
the n ew se tting o f the tex tual mel odi c lin e (i n a fa ste r

/
tempo and more a c tiv e accom pan ying m a ter ia l) an in te rn a l
dev iat ion is h eard i n the rep etitio n of 'no pi en sa m1 and the
unexpect ed leap to the high A n atu ra l in the melodi c orde ring
of this three note c e ll. Oth er fea tures of 'devi at ion, *

from the previous setting of the text can be noted in this
se ctio n suc h as th e or name nt on 'l lu v ia ' (a ch an ge f rom
^ th e pred o m in an tly s yl l a bi c s et t i ng o f th e t ex t , a nd a s
noted e a rl ie r, the ad dition of a new har monic color) and
^ the re p e tition of 'en la llu v ia ' before the return of the
c ris ta lin o inton ation wh ich crea tes a type of bal ance wit h
the e a rlie r rep etition of 'no piens am '.
f
An in te re stin g l ong ra nge pa tternin g of tex ture is
e v id e n t in bo th 'Rain-Dea th Music I and 1 1*. These passa ges

| each beg in w it h one pla ye r who is in tu rn joine d by the
\
o th er s, gradu ally bu ilding the rhyt hmi c and ha rmon ic den sit y
• o f th e sound, and then a s th e vib rap h o n e and th e c o n trb a s s

« - - -- --- - - - - - -
s
» 26. Leonard
iiGon&rciMH6yGX
eyer, Emotion
/ and&nci
Meaning
„ in M . usic, ( Chicago: m usi c
U nive rsit y of Chi ca go P res s, 193?), p . 15 2.
Reprodu ced with permission of the copyright owner. Furthe r reproduction prohibited witho ut permission.
t
44
become' s i l e n t , th e t e x t u r e red u c es to a so p ra n o s o l o , th u s "
tra cin g a type of long range tex tu ra l form o r shap e ( to use
laR ue's ter m ). The re p e titiv e a ltern a tio n bet ween en sem bl e
and solo textures or between different soloists is an
im po rtant f or m of p a tter n in g in Cru mb' s n ru si c whi ch w ill be
discussed la te r in more d e ta il. In the 'Rain- Death Music
I a nd I l'o f th is p iec e, the s ho rt so pr ano solos m ay be
regar ded as clo su ral f ea tures i n the pa tt ern ing of texture .

i
In t er ms of the progression of the piec e, a g rea ter sens e of
closu re i s f e lt in ter ms of textu re a t the end of 'Rai n- Dea th

*
Music II' be ca use th is pa tt ern of tex ture has alr eady b ee n
e sta b lish e d in the prec eed ing 'Rain- Death Musi c I*. As no tice d .
e a rlie r, a sho rt tex tura l reitera tion o f the longer gest ure
o f *Ra in- Dea th Mu sic I' is ap pa ren t in the v ibrap ho ne and
contrabass arpeggiation and soprano re-entry before the
ret urn o f t he 'c rista lin o ' int onati on.. I t is interest ing t o
re fl e c t u pon the iso la te d pppp vi bra phone and con tr bass
arpeg giati on of the 'molt o de lica to ' sec ti on as a possi ble
foreshadowing of these longer moê complex textural gestures.
With the rep etition of 'en la llu

v ia ' a t t he end of
i'
De ath Mus ic I ', a very str on g po in t of clo su re is reached
diminuendo, ritardeuiHo, and pause) but the incompleteness
| of the tex t may fo r some lis te n e rs be a source of an ticip atio n
over the three se con d pause. In any .case, the return o f the
f 'c ris ta lin o ', inton ation comes as an await ed co ntinuation and
45
cre ate s bo th ’an i mmed iat e p re d ic ta b ility in the se que nc e of

• (
it s gestures ’ (an an ti cip ated rep etition of the ope ni ng
se que nce ) as w ell as c e rta in im plication fo r the l ong r ange
design. . I t is in te re stin g to not e the de vi at icr owhic h is
com posed in to th is re0 it e r a ti o n '- a si mple ch an ge in t he order
of t he* m ysteri ous sy lla b le s an d a much s o ft e r dyna mi c le v e l,
.a s if i t wer e a fa in t ec ho of the Op en ing in to n a tion . As
e feturn t o t he d istinc tive op en ing m aterial , the 'c ris ta lin o 1
re -ite ra tio n raise s ex pectat ions -as t o whe the r this is a
fortuitou s rep etiti o n or whe the r i t ha s a s ignifi can ce as p art

(
of a possible formal symmetry which may be revealed in the
following passage.
\ <
f
•Rai n-Deat h Mus ic II', whic h does follow h a s, as alre ad y
mentioned, the same general t(^xtu£h| contour which was
p r e v i o u s ly h e a rd i n 'R a in -D ea th M us ic 1'^ an d i t i s a return to
the straigh tforw ard treatm en t of the te x t of th i J-molto
d elica te1 sect i on (ex ce pt that i t is a mid a g rea ter,d ensi ty of
ev ents an• d a t a fa "o

s te r te mp o) ,. The c lo su ral lo g ic o f the
en d of'Ra in-D eath Mus ic II ' an d of the who le p iece can b e
, ■>.
underst ood in ter m s of the - retu rn to tie sopr ano so lo tex tu re,
p e rh a p s a s l i g h t s i m i l a r i t y in f i n a l g e s t u r e t o t h a t o f t h e
- * -'
rep etiti o n of 'en la llu v ia ' of the pre ceedi ng secti on ,

27
the sl ig h t sl owi ng .down -in t he fin a l glissand o of th is gesture -
1 V g
and in the me an ing of the t e x t. ' •
c
27.. Ithe
t isfac inte
torsrestin g to n o ate'th
of closure t th aist ipo
n iift:,
t he combi
the nainterval
tion w ith
V 4
46
? u
The la s t of t hes e fac tors , the tex t, ha s a ver y sig n ifica n t

( >
ro le in t he o v era ll d irec tion ” of the piece .' 1' T he an teced ant
lin e ’no pi en sa m en al llu v ia 1 gains e mph as is i n i ts va ried
re it e r a tio n in ‘Rai■vn- Deat h Mus ic I' , bu t i n the fo u rth
st atem ent (a to ta l of two fu ll stateme nts o cc ur in'R ain -
Death Music r) the more of less exact repetition creates a

' 28
sense of satu ration o f an ex pec tat ion of ch ang e whi ch
focuss es in te re st o n the a n ti cip ated co ns eq ue nt line ('y se
han dorm ido') whi ch is em phasi zed from i t s having b een

*
del ayed a nd from the fa c t tha t i t co n stit ute s the fin a l
i
i moment, o f the p ie c e.
< A f t e r th e en d in g o f t h e p ie c e h as become a p p a r e n t ,
* F ( '
| ' the liste n e r can re fle c t upon the long rang e design . A c erta in
! un de rlying elegance emer ges in no t only the^ va rious for mal

4
re itera tion s b ut a lso in the durati on al patt erning of the
p rin c ip a l p assag es. Th e f o llo w in g i s t h e le n g th o f th e
. * passage s whi ch wo ul d mos t lik e ly be "disti ng uished by a lis te n e r:
* . the ope ni ng c rista lin e 'in ton atio n ' seve nt ee n seconds, 'molt o
d e lic a to '- about twen ty-f our secon ds,' ft ain-D eath Mu sic I' tabout «
fi ft y sec onds, the re itera ted Into

na ti on se ve nt ee n s ec ond s
> f
, and *R ain-D eath Musi c XI* ab o u t tw en ty-o ne sec on ds . The
%
con tent of clo sin g gesture i s not o ne of th e p re do mi na nt
so n o rit ies of the piece ( i . e . e ith er the *semitQne* or ‘tr ito n e
and semi tone * groupings) and as such cr ea te s a se ns e o f s u b tle
harmonic deviation and openness in the ending.
28 . See Leonard Meyer, Emotion and Meaning in Mu sic, p . 135,

O • ■• i . _ ~
*!
'i
' ' * * ' '

i . . . 0 ' w
Reproduced with permission o f the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibit ed without permiss ion.
47
appr oxi mate equ ivalanc e>in the du rati on o f the' R ain- D eath
( >
II'an d the 'molt o d e lic a to ’ passages is reinfo rced b y t he •
fac t th a t they b ot h fol low a stat em ent of the 'crista lin o '
int on ati on and t he y b ot h present stac atto syllabic tre a t
ment s o f the t e x t. The c e n tr a l ‘Ra in-Death M usic I' is
co nside rably long er t han the 'm olt o d e lic a to ' an d the 'Rain-
Dea th II ' an d also co n tains , in compari so n to .the se pa ssag es,

\ t V
a no ti cea ble e ffec tive elab ora ti on of the textu al mel od ic
lin e . The mo re immedi at el y tang ible asp ec ts of the l ong ra nge
des ign a re of co ur se the cy clic re p e titi o n s of t he t e x t,
the re curr ance of the 'c ris ta lin o ' int on ati on a nd possibl y
\
the d e ta il of the recu rrent hi gh re g iste r B -F in e ach of t he
three p rinc ipa l passages. As not ed he re.m ore subtle
recurran ces w ill be h ear d in the te x tu ra l dev elop me nt o f' R ain -
Death M usi c I* and 'Rain-D eath Music I I ' and between 'Ra in-D eath
Mu sic II ' and t he 'm olt o d e lic a to ' se ctio n in du ration and the'
treatm en t of the tex t. Added to th is is a type of deve lo pment
throughout the three p rincip al passa ges in te rms of a c tiv ity
an d dy na mi c le v e l, i . e . , 'Rain- Death Mus ic I I 'i s the

so fte st a nd mos t ac ti ve as if in im itation (as >men tione d
e a rlie r) of an increasi ng stead iness in the rain a nd the
even tual fa llin g asleep. The re s u lt i n ter ms of m usi cal
time is sim lar t o wh at w ill be se en in c e rtain of Cr umb 's
longer piec es. A ce ntral rep e titive p roces s (i n th is cas e the
re p e tition o f t he t ext) ge ne rall y det er mines the l arg er
dimensi ons of the w or k, an d pro vide s a b a sis fo r lower lev el
/ P ~
i
A
48
, ex pe cta tion s. Su pe rimpo se d upon , or co inc ide nta l wit h th is

( i
ho wev er , are t he oth er recurranc es in ge sture (t he inton ation s)
\ or tex tu re or p itch , wh ich impl y the presence of other

t
| pro ce sse s, and whi ch co ntribu te ad de d di mensi ons to the ba sic
formal design.
In loo king m ore gene rally a t Cr umb' s music, i t can be
not ed th a t t he pa tt erning of re ite ra te d m ater ial i nto longer
re p e titiv e seq uence s is a v er y impo rt ant aspect of his tr eat -?
me nt of mu sical ti m e.
This cou ld be se en only to a lim ite d
£
ex ten t in'N o pi en sa m en la llu v ia ' bu t is q uite pro min ent
> i
*
in 'Cancion de Jinete* of Songs, Drones and Refrains of
Deat h. Ve ry a b stra c tly , if W ,X,Y, an d Z are i nd ividu al
, ^ g estu res or passages pl ayed by a p a rtic u la r play er, many piec es
an d passages of Cr um b's mus ic wou ld ha ve W X Y Z W X Y Z
W-X Y Z or s omethi ng li k e th is as th e ir ba sic for mal de sign .
In ter ms o f music al t ime, the e ss e n tia l inte re st in th is
j ty p e o f c y c l i c a l o r g a n iz a t io n i i s b o th in t h e im m edia te and lo n g
{- ra nge p re d ic ta b ility and the sense of process or de ve lop men t

j whi ch i s d e r iv e d th ro u g h an y d e v i a t i o n in th e s im il a r
I segments. An extension of th is cy clic org an ization of
m a te ria ls can be seen in Crumb' s more c omp lex pa ssa ge s. Ver y
typically in Crumb's music, textures of increased density
and complexity are derived through a simple superposition
of d iffe re n t cycles of events as in the many instances of
^ 'c ir c le music ' or the occ asional i nstanc e of i sor hyt hm.
3 49
^ i The l a t t e r of th es e idi oms (found in M adrigals Book IV,
number on e, "La Noche C a n ta ... ." and i n 'Myth' o f Mus ic
* for a Summer Evening) is in keep ing with the ge ne ral con cep-
’ tio n o f t he form o f th e medkjevil iso rh y th mi c * mo te t. No ta te d
in a s tr ic t t emp o, i t co nsists of a supe rpositi on of t wo separ
at e p arts ea ch repea ti ng a rhyt hmic stru ctu re of d iffe re n t
du ration . The supe rpo sed rhyt hmic cy cles contain e a sily
discernab le gestures b ut ar e too lon g to be ea sily recogni zed
as re p e titi v e p a tter n s (s ev en and ten meas ure s i n 'La Noche
C a n ta...' and sev en and thirte en in 'Myt h' ) esp ec ially si nc e
they ar e heard tog ethe r, an d in both case s, a third p a rt

en ters i ndependentl y wit h d iffe re n t m ateria l. Be caus e of the
distinct timbral and gestural quality of the events within

f
the individual lines, the listener is aware of a type of
repetitive process, which remains unpredictable because of the
textural complexity, unfolding evenly and steadily in obedience
to the hidden in te rn a l l o g ic. Th e isorhythm ic f orm of 'Myth'
is particularly deceptive to the ear since both cycles are
J; internally symmetric, creating further repetitions within the

^ i n d iv i d u a l is o rh y th m ic l i n e s .
'C irc le m usi c' by co n trast is comp osed as a rhythm icall y
I free and spo nta neous sup erp osition of m ateria l usu ally re s u lt-
i
f ing in a den ser co mpl ex of e v e n ts. The technique d ivid es
!- ‘ ■%
| the ens embl e in to sep arate groups of pe rform ers, eac h gro up
{ ( indepen dently playing a se ries o f fr agments, leavi ng a few
If
50
29
sec onds bet ween each. In mos t in sta n c e s, a stagg ering
of t he en jîes of tfie diffe re n t gr oups crea tes a gr adual
rise an d f a l l in the comple xit y of the sou nd, and in ad d ition ,
the sense of superimposed cycles becomes more apparent when
the sep ara te groups play the same m a ter ia l as in Ec ho es of

*
Time an d th e R ive r an d Son gs, D ron es and R efr ain s of D eath ,
cre atin g a type of imm it ati ve exchange. In ter m s of m usical
time, c irc le m usi c, lik e iso rh yt hm c rea tes a f low o^ eve nts
in wh ich in te re stin g e ffe cts aris e in the sp ont an eo us j ux -
tapp os it ion an d overl appi ng of ge stures often in a ' str eam
of con scio us n ess ' or drea m -like ambience. As" can be imagined,
circle music presents no sense of directed succession or
p re d ic ta b ility (e x c e p t p erh ap s v a g u e ly i n th e g e n e r a l r i s e
and fa ll in the den sit y of the ov era ll te x tu re, and agai n
p erh ap s when t h e c i r c l e music is slo w and lo ng enou gh t h a t any
'echo ing' o f m aterial coul d be recogn ized a nd an ticipate d)
and as such , i t o ften provides a str u c tu ra l an d dramati c
co ntrast to the m ore rhyt hm ical ly s tr ic t and direc ted passages,
As of y e t, in on ly o ne of Cr umb' s p ie c e s , Dream Sequenc e,

doed the c ir c le mus ic form the predom inant org an ization o f
the whole work.
29. The fragm ents of eac h cycle of m ate rial are arranged o n
the page in t he fo rm of a c ir c le , hence the n am e. This
would not appear to have a substantial role in the musical
e ffe c t, b u t i t do es pr ovide a graphic neg ati on of the
tra d itio n a lly ilin e a r conc ept ion o f time w hich is impli ed in
convent ional no tation. Th is is p a rticu lar ly appropri ate
to the sense of s us pe nde d d ire c tio n th a t is co mmu ni ca ted in
the various passages of circle music.
o As seen i n 'no pi en sa m en la ll u v i a . .. ' the 'echo ' is
a common ima ge o f re p e ti ti o n in C rumb' s music, and is an
obvi ous sou rce of ' su cc es sive co m pa rison'. The 'echo ' is
tre a te d in Cr um b’s mus ic much as i t occu rs n a tu ra lly -
faintly and at a greater or lesser delay after the srcinal
m ateria l I t thus cr eates at ype of la rg e r r hy thm as se en i n
some circle music passages where the echo overlaps with the
p rec e e d in g m a te r ia l or in c e r t a i n l e s s complex p a ssa g es which
c o n si st of a si mple successi on of tw o or th ree ec hoe s of a
given fig u re . The 'echo ' is a f a ir ly co nmon p o etic i mage in
Lorca and as a m usical e ff e c t i t embodi es many of the

m ysti cal and sup ern atura l overt ones wh ich are a t the h e a rt of
*
Cr um b's sty le .
Another very important aspect of Crumb's treatment of
re p e tition an d of musica l t ime i n ge ne ral, is the sim ulati on
of r it u a li s ti c exp eri ence. Li ke the 'echo ' th is c an Be*
li nke d wit h the evoc ati on of the m ystical and sup ern atural
in Crumb's music and is an appropriate setting for many of
30. A lice P o llin g s A Conc or dan ce o f th e Play s and Poems o f

Fed erico Garcia Lorca c ite s se venteen occurrences of
' eco ' o r kec o s* . One examp le which wou ld be p a rt ic u la rl y
in keeping with tfre tone and evocation of Crumb's music is
fou nd in ' P re lu d e' from the ' Canciones •. <
"El vie nto e s ta am ort ajado "The win d is enshr ouded

a lo largo bacjo e l c ielo a t len gth beneath the sky.
Per o ha de ga do fl otando But i t has le f t floa ting
so br e los rio s sus eco s." upon the riv e rs , it s echoes."
the ex otic sounds of Cru mb' s mus ic (e sp e c ia lly the so un ds
of rit u a li s ti c conn otat ion li ke the g on g, or templ e bl ocks
or cha nt ing e tc .) . I n t er ms o f e sth e tic e ffe c t, the e lemen t
of ritu a l is ch arcteri zed by a rig id adh er en ce t o p att ern
an d the refo re an, abse nce of a ffe ctiv e d ev iation . Meyer no tes
the fol lowing concer ni ng ritu a l in prim iti v e mus ic.
"Much p rim itiv e mus ic is intim ate ly

conne ct ed wit h rit u a lis tic obs er van ce s
and magi c cer emones, an d i t is proba bly
for this re as on tha t i t o ft en tends to b e
less, sub ject to v aria tion . The religiou s
san ction s impo sed upon prim itive a rt an d t he
comm unal na ture of the p rim itiv e cer emonie s
p r o h i b i t t m s a a t i v e d e v ia t^ y n on th e p a r t o f
individual petfojjmers^"
The isorh yth m in 'Myth' from Mus ic f o r a Su mmer Ev ening ,
al though i ts ge ne ral se que nce of ev ents m ay be unp redictab le
to a lis te n e r, is a good ex am ple of ri g id adher ence to p a tter n
and the ex act, r itu a lis tic rep etiti o n of i ndividual gestures.
Fu rther exa mpl es of Cr umb 's tr eatm en t of r itu a l w ill be
discussed in the analyses of Echoes of Time and the River
and Lux Aeterna, but it can be noted here that the simulation
of r itu a l in Cru mb' s m us ic h as the e ff e c t of mi ni miz ing the

p o s s i b i l i t y o f any s u b j e c t i v e a n t i c i p a t i o n o f e v e n ts . B ecause
of the exact repetition and uniformity of perceivable patterning,
there is no do ubt created wit h res p ec t to the compl et ion of
an ui\ deviat ing ri tu a lis tic p attern . The lis te n e r can onl y
i »
accept any higher orderi ng of rit u a li s ti c event s su ch as fo r
* I
s
31. Leonard MMeyer,
eyer, Em
Emotion
oti on and
and Mea
Meaning
nin g iinn Musi
Musi c (Chicago:
U niv ersity o f Chi ca go P res s, 1$S ')j], p. i i j .
S
3
^ . ex amp le, the nu mb er of ex act re p e titio n s o f a p a rtic u la r
se que nce as being ar b itr a ri ly predetermined a nd be yo nd his

i '
capability of prediction.
The many instances of numerological patternings of
rep etition ( i. e ., e xac t rep etition s of an el ement se ven,
eleven or thirteen times) can be taken as an extension of the
element of r it u a l in Cr umb' s music. Black Ang el s is the
most no tab le example o f th is where the numbe rs seven and
th irte e n are to be fo un d in al most a ll aspe cts of fo rmal #
org an izatio n; the num bei of notes i n sp e c ific r hyt hmic

figures, the number of repetitions of a figure within a move
ment', the number of movements in the work and even in deter-

^ (
mman ts of pit ch structure (the p erfe ct fif th con si st ing of
seve n sem it ones an d the minor nin th o f th irte e n '.) . Other
works exhibit numerological patternings as well (as in the
numb er of bars in tl ê isorhythmic c yc les o f 'Myth') bu t only
^ w ith the mdkt obvious re p e titi o n s <which a re so met ime s ev en
, ment ione d in pr ogr am no tes or in t i t l e s suc h as the 'Fiv efo ld

j G ala ctic B e lls ' in Musi c fo r a Summer Eve ning) cou ld the a c t
\ of counti ng become a sig n ific a n t el ement o f pre d iction and

I ex pec tati on in the experi ence of the music.
f In the larg e sc ale org an ization o f Cru mb' s music, and

»
a t ce rtain i nter m ediat e l ev els, i t is possible t o dist ingu ish
two ad d ition al a spe cts of fo rmal desig n. Ve ry simply, t hese
54
^ - are the long rang e growth and decay in dyn ami c le v e l and
dramati c in ten sity , and t he success ion of mutua ll y isola ted
|
\
ev en ts in symm etri c arc h forms. Forms o f dyna mic growth
! and decay a re s el f e v id e n t in th e low l e ve l c re s c e n d i and
dimuendi of individual lyrical lines, but examples of extrem
ely long dynamic gestures extending over whole pieces are
wo rth n o tin g . In Mu sic fo r a Summer E ve n ing , 'The Awakeni ng'
is conceived as a five minute crescendo in dynamics and
a c tiv ity . In t he same wo rk, 'The Advent1 co nta ins t wo s uc h
gestures (of about a minute and a half each) and thefinal
'Son g of R ec o n c iliatio n ' is co mposed as an extended (eig ht

minute) dyn ami c growth and dec ay. Over whole wo rks, i t is
e n tire ly p os sible to hear (and obse rve in the scor e) a
general i n ten sific a tio n in d ra mati c ac tiv ity , reachi ng a cl imax
usu ally a fte r the h alf w ay po int a nd fa llin g o ff to war ds t he
end, often in many of Crumb's works, in a long extended fade-

/
out. Thi s archetypa l pa ttern of dramati c in ten sific a tion a nd

*
| release ha s bee n refe rred to in the h isto ry of west er n lite ra tu re
f as the n a rra tiv e cu rve, and appea rs to hav e become deeply ro ote d
f
i
| in many tr a d iti o n a l m usical fo rms as w e ll, as Bar ne y Ch il ds

i5
| ha s not ed in a rece nt a rti c le .
i
\ "T he West er n Eur ope an in te lle c tu a l and
| c u ltu ra l tra d itio n has se emin gl y foun d mo st fun da-
I menta l a ba sic stru c tura l org an ization of a
| work of ti me a r t, what might be c a lle d a
I n a rrativ e curve. Gr eek tr aged y, the 'c la ss ic '
I sh o rt sto ry , the tele v isio n cr ime dram a,
the Romant ic t one poe m, fu rn ish Exampl es of
j th is org an ization , wh ich pr es umabl y is^he ld to
)( e x ist as a sty lized re fle c tio n of how the
*
\
55
traditi on view s li fe its e lf ..................

/ M aterial - ch ar ac ter s, music al sou nd,
^ whatever - introd uc ed alo ng w ith
elements of question or tension -
archetypally perhaps, as in the Renaissance
tra g ic dractors,
universe: ama, of diso rde ring
relationships, and a n ordered
responses increase irregularly in complexity
and in ten sity : a hi gh point or relev ation
or climax or catastrophe or denouement is
reac hed; resoluti on or relaxa ti on or 'fallin g
a ctio n ' fo ll ow s: concl uding g es ture or comment
is made - again archetypally, the renewal of
cosmic order, of ^gurse altered from the
srcinal order."
A number of Crumb' s works, es p ec ially lon g er on es, tra c e a
ver y no ticea ble ' n a rra tiv e cu rve ': Ech oe s of Time and j
the R ive r, Eleven Echoes of Autumn, Lux A ete rn a, Songs, Dro nes
and Refrains of Death, and the Makrokosmos Volumes I and II.
The general dramatic progression and in particular, the
( po sitionin g of the cl imax in these wo rks can also be re la ted
to a principle of structural organization also found in the
music of Bela Bartok in which points the key dramatic and
structural importance occur at the golde^n mean of duration
w ithin the work o r movement. Of the p ie c e s m entioned,
significant golden mean occurrences can be found in the
foll ow ing: in Makrokosmos I I , the 'cadenza ap po ca liptica '
at the beginning of the eighth of the twelve zodiac pieces;
in Songs, Dr on es a nd R efrains o f Death, the 'cadenza
32. Barney C h ild s, "Time and Music, A Co m pose r's View,"

P e rs p e c tiv e s o f New Music, X VI (19 77 ), p . 19 5
*
33 . For a fu ll d es crip tion of t he presence of th is el ement
in Ba rtok's m usic, see Em o, Lendvai. Bel a B artok H
An A nalysis of h is Music, p. 17-26.
Rep roduced with permission of the copyright owner. Furthe r reproduction prohibited without permission.
56
J
ap pa ssion ata' breaks out i n the mid dl e of the th ird of fou r
mov eme nts; in Echoes of T ime and the R iv er , th e clim ac tic

r
'Co llapse of Time' o ccu rs in the m idd le o f the t h ir d mo vement;
and in Lu x A etern a, the p o in t of m aximun a c ti v it y an d
re g is tr a l expansi on is fo und in the seventy sec ond of t he on e
hundred and sixteen bars of the piece.

a J
Ct
' The term 'a rc h for m' has been use d to re fe r to a symmet ric
successi on of even ts about a ce n tral po int or ev en t. General ly
speaking, the fin a l e ven t of t he arch f or m re c a lls o r ca n
b e r e l a t e d to th e f i r s t , th e se cond l a s t t o th e se co nd e t c .
b u t i t has been u sed in a lo o s e r sen se in r e f e r r i n g to any
re c a ll or rep e tition of op en ing m aterial. Both inst ances of
'ar ch form' are c ommon in Cru mb' s st y le , and on d iff e re n t
lev els of org an isation : over wh ole wor ks , withi n individ ua l

*
,itt mo veme nts, or even w ithin ind ivid u al pa ssa ge s. In Cr umb' s
mus ic, be ca us e of the wi de va riety and d istin c tiv e cha racter
of music al m ate ria l, arch f orms defined by the succ ession of
timbral or gestural characters become clearly implied to the
lis te n e r. 'L ow -level' arch for ms ca n be he ard in Fiv e Pieces
for Piano and Black Angels in the succession and exact
re p e titio n of ind ivid u al ge stures. One o f t he Madri gal s
(Book IV number on e, ' £Por que n ac i e n tr a e sp e jo s ? ', "Why
was I bom bet ween t h es e m irrors?") is a very g ood ex amp le
of Cr umb' s p re d ilec tio n for arch fo rm symmetr ie s since it
co nsist s (as a re fle c tion of t he t itle ) of m irr or pa tt ern s bo th

1 ° Z tf m ifr irv  I' Cf
• 57
\,
in the larg e fo rm and in th e ind iv id u a l D hrase s. The n103^
s tr u c tu ra lly impo si ng of Cr umb' s arch symmetr ie s can be f ound
in Bl ack An ge ls (thirtee n pieces, a ll in tric a te ly symme tric
abo ut the seventh) and N ight Music I (sev en p ie ce s symmetr ic
about the fourth) where there are obvious relations and
corres pondences bet ween ind ivid u al mov ements in instru m en tation ,
f
and thematic m a te ria l. In pieces lik e Ech oe s of T ime an d the
R iv e r, and Mus ic fo r a Summer Ev ening , only very ge n era l
s im ila ri ti e s in the f or m of even ts and movements can b e
construed b y t he lis te n e r as arch symm et ri es, an d i n pieces like
Elev en Echoes of A utumn and Songs, Drone s and R e fra in s o f D eath,
the arc h f orm is only vagu el y i mpli ed i n t h e re ite ra tio n of

ce rtain d isti n ctive tim bral /them at ic m ater ial .
From the observations m ade to th is p o int; i t . i s po ssible
to sket ch a n ou tl ine of the general t endancies o f organ izati on •
which can be rega rded as Cr umb' s m usical lan gu ag e. On a
fu ndamenta l s ty li s ti c le v e l, Cru mb' s mus ic co mbi ne s elements
o f 'st rea m of cons ci ousne ss ' style wit h v ari ou s types of tra d ition a l
re p e titiv e re -ite ra tiv e pattern ing . Much o f the i mme diate
evocation and effect of Crumb's music - the use of archetypal
sonic gestures, of subtle timbral coloration, the suggestion,
o f a type of myst ic prim iti ve sp iritua lism , the wi de ra nge
o f e moti onal in ten sity , an d t he us e of sim p listic for mal
des ign ca n b e rela ted to it s associat ion with the poetr y of
G arcia Lorca. - ^
Cl
58
In loo ki ng ^Lt tra d itio n a l leve ls o f musi cal ana lysis
it is possible to find, as one would expect in Crumb's music,

34
a type of sim plisti c hierarch ical org an izati on . Indivi dual
'low l evel^ ^ges ture s are cle a rly a rticu late d and organi zed into
int erm ediate sy n tac tic fo rms , wh ich in turn are cle a rly
differentiated and articulated and in their succession,
c o n stitu te a long ran ge s hap e w it hin the wor k. G enerall y
speaking, the nature of the individual gestures in Crumb's
mus ic va ri es wit h t he d ive rsity of m aterial, bu t ne ed s l it tl e
explanat ion s ince it is ba se d on fam il iar st y lis tic inf luences
(lyrical gesture and movement, a text, the duration of

p e r c u s s io n so u n d s, e t c . ) and i s appre hended i n t u i t i v e l y in th e
rhyt hm ic a rtic u la tio n of a p iec e. As seen in "No pi ens am in
la llu v ia " wi thin in te nre di at e sy n ta c tic f orms, the el ement of
in te rv a llic tension oft en ac ts in Cr umb 's mus ic asvt ra d ition a l
34 . The term ' h iera rch ica l' , p a rtic u la rly in th is con text
requ ir es some ex plan ation . H ierarchicalo rgan izati on s
are ver y si mply those in whi ch sm aller u ^ its c o n stitu te a
sing le la rg er u n it, a n umber of wh ich in turn co n stitute
a s t i l l large r u n it. The st andard west er n ca libra tion of time
in to seconds, m inutes, ho urs, days, we eks , mont hs , years etc .
wo ul d be a good e xa mpl e o f a hiera rch ica l org an iza tion ,
certain divisions of which are more or less arbitrary and
co nv entiona l, and o the rs whi ch ca n be re la te d to i m portant
n atu ra l pheno me na. M usi cal stru c tur e ca n sim ilar ly be
h ierarc hic ally conce ived in tha t the larg e st for mal u n its m ay
be s u b d iv id e d (a g a in a r b i t r a r i l y o r p e r c e p t u a l ly ) i n t o s m a lle r
u n its. The gen eral h iera rch ica l concepti on o f m usi cal ti m e,
t howev er , is th a t the d e ta ils o f a work c an be re la te d in s ome
way by a lis te n e r to th e mea ni ng of the who le wor k. In th is
\ sense the m ewi ng of the e n tire composi ti on i s mo re t han the
1 sum of it s p ar ts sinc e i t involves t he successi on in w hi ch
1
I the con sti tutue nt eve nts occur. (Fo r an in ter es tin g discussi on
I '' of the conc ept s of h ier a rc h ia l organ izati on in mus ic of the
avant garde see Leonard Meyer in Music, the Arts and Ideas, p.
( • 164). The particular s t y li s t ic qu ality of mus ic al ti me which
w il l be discussed
archical orderi ngshere i s tsrela
o f even tedbe tounde
can the rst
mood
eansbbyy the
wh iclis
h te
hien r-
er.
I 1
?
59
sour ce of au ral cohe re nce a nd a rtic u la tio n in t he succe ss
ion of i nd ividua l ge stures. In term s.of the gen eral concept io n
of Cr umb 's musi c, the us e of ty p ical atona l in te rv a llic
p a t t e r n i n g wou ld a p p e a r to b e a b a s i s to w hic h o t h e r harm onic
and timbnal colorations are added or upon which they^made to
intrud e w it hin the type of e c le c tic 'monument al ' combin at ion
of m ate rials whi ch C rumb d ev ises .
Sinc e the for m ati on of ind ividu al 'g e stu re s' wou ld appear
9 '
to follow from the basic premises of Crumb's style and his

* ¥
variou s 'borrow ings' whi ch ha ve already be en o u tline d , the

ma in in te re s t in th is an aly sis of m usi cal t ime c an be focus sed
on the sequencing and combination of the fundamental gestures
in to a long er f or m. T o th is p o in t, tw o i m po rtant and very
gen eral aspects of the interme diate org an ization of Cr um b's
mus ic ha ve bee n discu ssed : the s impl e lin e a r succession of

I
ev en ts and the even t compl ex. The lin e a r sequencing of events
beco mes q u i t e a u d ib le i n C ru m b's m usic from t h e j u x t a p o s i t i o n
Of high ly co ntrasting and d istin c tiv e m ate rial, and from

su bs equ ent sequential rep etition s. An inte rn al p red ictab il ity
• is d erived in C rum b' s sty le as in si mple tra d itio n a l sty le s,
from the r e p e titio n o f su ch s equences, and, as se en to a
li m it ed ex tent, so fa r in t he discussion, d iffe re n t t ypes of .

x ' A
longer range musical processajkre implied in the nature of the
res embl an ce and difference in t he recu rrent m aterials. I t is

1 1 »
( ) in te re s tin g to add to th is some re marks w hich Leonar d Meyer
60
^ j has made rega rding the e ff e c t of the mo re obviou s fo rmal
repe ti ti on s i n tradition al styles. *
"Wh ile I wa s wor kin g on th is p a rt o f th e book,

I h ap pe ne d t o go t o a con cert of tr a d itio n a l
tonal music and was struck by the number of phrases
and section s b ape d'ûpo n e ith e r l it e r a l or sequ en ti al
re p e titio n (e .g . A -A, A-A-B, or A- A- B) * How i s i t
p o s s i b l e to g e t away w it h- su ch o b v io u s , even b l a t a n t
re dundanc y? I su sp ec t the most im po rtant reason
is th a t because t he, re p e titio n is em be dded in a
f h ierarch ical con text, i t is only p a rtly per cei ved
in terms of the mod el from whic h i t d e riv e s. Most ly
i t is unders tood as a p a rt, a bu il ding bl ock,
in the organizationof a more extensive, higher
level struc ture . Per cept ual attention is dir ected
not t o the r ed un da nc y relationsh ip i ts e lf , but
towar d the wh ol e ex tent of whi ch t he re p e titio n
is a p a rt. The re dundant el ement is hea rd as
b e lo nremote
more g in g tgoal.
o a p r o c e s s - a s l e a d in g tp w a rd some
Inyad dition to the, sense o f process o r de vel opment
wh ich a rises in successi ve d ev iati on s, the more lit e r a l an d

ef
seq ue ntial rep e tit io n s in Cr um b' s mus ic, as
in tra d itio n a l
* %
sty le s, fo cus in te re st on .the lo ng ra nge h ierarc hy . The more
ex ac t na ture of s ome of the long ra nge h ier a rc h ie s in Cr umb 's
mus ic w ill be discusse£ in the foll ow ing ch ap ter.
The ev ent co mpl ex , in e ith e r s tr ic t or fre e rhyt hmi c
n o tatio n , is ge ne rally heard in Cr umb 's mu sic as a ri ch and
fl ow ing tex tu ra l un it y from wh ich iso la ted eve nts em erge
momenta ri ly in an apparen tl y spont ane ous ord ering . In co n tras t
to the pimple sequenc es of ev ents in whi ch t tiere is often
35. Leonar d M ey ei,' M usi c, t h e A rt s and Id e a s, (Chicago, The

U nive rsit y of C hica go P ress, 1 967) p. 3 13 . \
c
61
an observable long range ordering, the circle music, or any

c
of the passages which consist of a superposition of different
cyc les o f m ate rial, presen t a comp lex an d re la tiv e ly

un pred ictable flux o f events whi ch often for ms a long er ra nge
textural gesture in the gradual rise and fall in the density of
activity.
Two im po rtan t lon g ran ge for ms or idioms which can be
distinguished in Crumb's music sure the arch form and narrative

A ^
curve, both of which can be regarded as formal archetype's, in
western music and both of which may also be found in lower levels
of patterning in the succession of isolated gestures, and in the
ge ne ral dram atic and dy nami c deve lop ment of a c tiv it y . The sense
of long-range hierarchy in Crumb's music can be clearly seen
in the fa c t th a t al most a ll of h is wo rks co n sist of a number

\
% of distinctly different shorter pieces o t episodes which, in their
succession, imply a type of long range arch form or narrative
curve (o ften b o th ). Each of the sh o rter sec tion s in turn ha s
i ts own pa tternin g as a lin e a r succession of e vents or as a n

event complex, either of which may also form a type of middle
range dy nami c g es tu re ( i .e . a type of d yn ami c gr owth and /or
recessim w ithin the sh o rte r ep isod es). Bo th the l ong ran ge arch
form and the narrative curve may be loosely regarded as goal
directed forms since they establish an observable relation
betw ee n t h e in s ta n ta n e o u s p r e s e n t and t h e s t r u c t u r e o f th e
( )
V7
62
^ | whole wor k an d c re a te a b a sis i f on ly a vague an d tenuou s
on e (a s is o ften the cas e in Cr umb 's musi c) fo r the a n tic ip a tio n
of future.-events.
• V ,
a
63
o CHAPTER I I I : ANALYSIS OF SELECTEDWORKS
/
In discussing the general features of Crumb's musical
la nguage, i t wa s se en tha t h is p a rticu lar tr eatmen t of mus ical
time embr anc es a numb er of fa m iliar if no t a rchety pa l for mal

I
organ izati on s: succ ess ive vari ed reite ra tio n , exact
r it u a li s ti c re p e titio n , the eve nt co mp lex , and longer r ang e f orms
in the succession of individual passages and in the general
dy na mi c g ro wth w ithin the wor k. In h is comb inat ion o f these
p a r t i c u l a r id io m s w it h h i s s e le c ti o n o f b a s i c m u sic a l m a t e r i a l .
Crumb derives unique and interesting organizations of musical
exp erience. The discu ssion turn s in this cha pter to a more
d e taile d an alys is of Cr um b's treatm en t of musi cal t ime in
fou r se le c te d works, Ech oe s o f Time and th e R iver, Lu x A etem a,
Dream S eq ue nc es , a nd Musi c f o r a Summer Ev en ing (Mak roko smos
III) .
Echo es of T ime and the R iver i s in m any ways a si g n if ic a n t'

%
work in Cr um b's outpu t. I t is the f i r s t o f his esta blish ed
style to us e t he fu ll orc h estra, the fi r s t to make co nsisten t
us e of th e a tric g es ture , and i t wo ul d also appe ar t o be a mong
the f i r s t of Cru mb' s wo rks in wh ich there is a st rong simu lat ion
of ritu a l experi ence. In additi on^these features there is a
suggestion of a possible personal meaning for the composer
in the se lec tio n o f m aterial suc h a s the c hainted an d whi sper ed
p h r a s e s , 'M onta ni se m per l i b e r i ' (" M ou n ta in eers a re alw ays f r e e " )
6
4
( j the m ott o of Cr umb' s home s ta te , We st V irg inia , an d 'lo s
arcos ro to s d on de su ffre e l t iemp o' (the broke n arches whe re
ti me su ffers) a fr agment f rom L orc a's Gaecel a de la T er rib le

Presencia, both of which Crumb claims in the notes to be
in tim ate ly connec ted wit h t he sense of t he musi c. Thi s i s n o
doubt an important aspect of Crumb's conception and realization
of the com positi on, bu t i t should be stre ss e d , as C rumb
has him self in the no tes, th a t th e w ork is no t pr ogr ammati c,
and the listener is led to experience any hidden structural
mea ni ng in pu rely musical ter ms î th < li tt le kn owl ed ge o f a
hidden meaning.
* » Wi
/ I t is in tere stin g to not e a t the ou tset of theva na 5is,
some comments which Crumb makes in the performance notes
regarding the theatric aspect of the work and its poetic
evocation,.
"The 'riv e r of ti m e' is an anc ient met aph or

wh ich in ter p re ts ti me as a con ti nu it y w it hout
b e g in n in g o r en d . I have f u r t h e r im p li ed th e
concept of continuity by structuring a number
of 'pro c e ss io n a ls' in to my sco re. Th ese
p r o c e s s io n a l s , c o n c e iv e d a s b o th v i s u a l and
sonic events, are executed by small bands of
p e r c u s s i o n i s t s an d w in d p la y e r s who m us t
~ per for m whil e m archi ng."
Thus in the t i t l e o f the wor k. C rumb has i m plied a type
o f temporal ord er, and has d raw n u pon a ric h resou rce of
asso ciati on for the intre p reta tion of the music al m aterial.
37 1
As R os alie Pe rry has ob served , the riv e r is a common
(
36 . George
Bel wi n Cr
M umb, Echo es p.
ills, 1967), o f iTim
. e and the R iv er (New Y ork,
37. R osalie Pe rry, op. c i t . p . *£8.
65
X
ima ge of ti me among the Ame rica n tra n sc e n d e n ta list w rite rs ,
and is very prominent in one of Ives' musical visions,
' The Ho useatonic a t Sto ck brid ge 1 from Thr ee Plac es in N ew

England. Fu rther po etic a sso c iatio n s th a t may be evo ke d by
Cr umb 's choice of t i t l e an d also by choice of m usi cal
m a ter ia ls are re fle c te d in the very term 's tr eam of consciousnes s*

whi ch has already figured p rominent ly in the discu ssion o f
Cr umb 's mus ic t o th is p o int. I t shoul d be noted th a t t he
p r o c e s s i o n a l s do n o t a c t in an y way as a d i r e c t s p a t i a l
de picti on of t he riv e r o f the t i t l e , bu t a s Crumb has indicated
in his no tes, th ey re fl e c t the gene ral c omi ng a nd passing
of event s in t im e, o ft en w ith ver y in tere stin g p remon it ions,
( re c o llec tion s, and inte rac tion s be twee n pla ye rs, wh ich are
dispersed over the extended performance space of the work.
The ti t l e s of the ind ividu al mo vements are equ all y
evocative and ser ve to o rien t the lis te n e r's experi ence by

f poin ting t o c e r t a i n s t a t e s tof ti m e c o n s c io u s n e s s w hic h can be
I re la te d to the m usi cal fo rm. The ima ge of froze n tim e' fo r

f
V
I .example i s re fle c te d in a nu mb er o f w ays in th e opening m ov em en t.
I I t is hear d p er ha ps al most too -lit e ra lly in the b rit tle c ris t-
alin e chi ming(ant ique c ym ba ls i n fifth s) of the 'pe rcu ssion
p r o c e s s io n a l and f u r t h e r s u g g e s te d in a 'f r o z e n ' g e s tu r e

j
as su med by a g ro up of a ntiqu e cymba l p lay ers a t tn e back
right o who (once halfway through the opening

(
p r o c e s s i o n a l and once a f t e r th e p e r c u s s i o n i s t s have re a c h e d
i
66
th e ir p laces onst age ) str ik e a res ounding chor d at wh ich
p o i n t th e m usi c an d p r o c e s s io n a l a r e m o m en ta ri ly h a l t e d . ■
—
A fu rthe r impres si on o f 'frozen ti m e1 wh ich is created in th is
movement is fe lf in the silenc e wh ich sep ara tes the prin cip al
p a s s a g e s a s i f th e y w ere m u tu a lly i s o l a t e d in ti m e.
The t i t l e o f the secdnd m oveme nt ' Rem emb rance of Time'
wo ul d appear to be reflec ted only in the fin a l se quen ce w it h
a re c a ll o f the opening chi ming ti m bre (fr om ' Froz en T ime' )
whi ch is super imposed u pon a se ren e and ha un ting rem iniscence
of the fi n a l lin e of the Ne gr o s p ir it u a l "Were You There When
They C ru cifie d My Lord ?" (in har monies in the v io lin s , an d

t
b a r e l y r e c o g n iz a b le b e c a u s e o f th e s e g m e n ta tio n o f t h e
>
melod ic lin e into a numb er o f sh o rter ss tu re s).
i In th e th ir d mo veme nt, howe ver, th e re emer ges am ob serv ab le
t success ion of event s wh ich is d irec tly suggest ed in the t i t l e .

i
i
tf The 'Co llaps e of Ti me' is de picted in a gra du ally bu ilding
I ostena to cr escendo (a s the br «i ss play ers arr ive in th e ir p ro-
s'
s «
_i
ce ssion al and the w oodwinds leave) whi ch eru pts c lim a c tica lly
i in a r ecu rrence o f the s tri n g 's g li ssan do co mp lex of 'Frozen
Ti me' (Se e O utline of the P rin c ip a l Pass ages o f :Ech oes o f
Time a nd th e River , pag e 69 ) as i f ti me we re re p ea tin g i t s e l f .
An exam inati on of the sco re i n th is movement re v ea ls
an ev en mo re el abo rate re a liza tion of t he image o f t he t i t l e .
\
r
67
( i From the opening of the mo vement to the beg inning of the o sti n a to
is a co ntinu ally e cho ed rh yt hmic, te x tua l ge sture, krek t u d a i',
whispe re d loudly by a ll of the strin g s wit h high piercin g

p ia n o c h o rd s an d low gong so unds a t th e o p e n in g , b u t
graduall y bei ng attenuated u n til i t is mer el y fa in t l ow
re g is te r piano clu ster, an d a sl ig h t t arn tam stro k e. Th rou gh
the s ev en fold < re p e titi o n of the ost*nat o r hy thm, th is gradual
fade -out i s reversed i n the re g istra tio n of t he pi ano c hor ds
an d the mou nt ing .cr escend o of 'kre k tu d a i', reaching the
cl imax wit h the return o f t he pi ano c hor ds t o th e ir re g istra tio n
o f open ing of the mo ve me nt. C erta inly w it h the gradu al b u ild

up of s ou nd s in the brass an d st rin g s, these d e ta ils wo ul d g o
^ unnoti ced by the liste n e r, but the gen eral reve rsal of the
'krek tu d a i' di mi nu en do wo uld be q u ite a pp aren t in the
hu ge crescend o a nd the ev en tual sh outing of th is p hrase a t the
cl im ax. The po int a t wh ich th is rev ers al be gi ns i s sig n ifica n tly
th e tem poral gol deK mean of the whol e wor k, re fl e c tin g a
combin at ion of the na rrativ e curve an d arch struc tu re in the
larg e sca le m usica l, dramatic fo rm. In te rms of m usical ti m e,
the height of the ostenato is also the po int of highest
a n ticip a tion in the wo rk. The sud de n 'rela p se ' into .the str in g
glissan do compl ex a t th is p oin t may be t aken as a m usical
rep resen tati on of disco ntinuity w hich w ill b e dis cussed la te r.
The idea of a 'co llap se ' of t ime receives fu rthe r
(.) ela b o ra tion in the rhy thmi c fr ee dom of the c ir c le '
68
* mu sic which is ec hoed among the br as s pl ayer s on stage and
o ffstag e and wh ich is bas ed al most e n tire ly on re c alle d m aterial
from e a rli e r in the wo rk.
’La st EcHoes o f Ti me’ (the fo u rth mo vement) .a s th e t i t l e
im plies, conti nues the ret rograded thematic d irec tion of
the music, recalling isolated elements from many previous
p a s sa g e s in t h e work in two e la tb o ra te echo co mplex es whifch a re
followed by the concluding processionals.
.JThe difficulty in any analysis of musical time is that

the actual musical experience results from a simultaneous
^ awar ene ss of the d iffe re n t lev els of fo rmal process. V erbally,
th e o ris ts are lim ited to discussing one aspe ct of form a t a
ti me, un less.t he y are pre pare d to re so rt to a highl y su b jective ,
eve nt by eve nt de sc rip tion of a w or k. The appr oac h taken here
w ill be t o give a general lis tin g of ti m ings and struc tur al
descriptions of the main passages as a reference to the large
sca le d u ratio n and succ ession. The mos t su ita b le par am eter s
for t he discussion of d e ta il in this wo rk, th ea tric, dramati c
dev el opment , te x tu ra l design , an d the hierar chy of r hyt hms,
an d du ration s, w ill be anal ysed a nd rela ted individu ally in
terms of their respective roles in the general esthetic effect.
■t
As ind ica ted , in th e o u tline (T abl e I I Page 69), the w ork
( ) begi ns wit h a slow ri tu a lis tic proce ssi ona l (ev en the foot
steps are given in a specific pattern) in which a group of
O
CD
Q.
w
it
h
p
e
rm
si
s
io
n
o
f TABLE I I ; OUTLINE OF PRINCIPAL PASSAGES OF 'ECHOES OF TIME AND THE RIVER'
t
h
e
c
o
(timin gs based upo n the score and rec ord ing o f the work by
p
y
The Lo uis ville O rche stra Un de r Jorge M est er )
ri
g
h Clock Time Duration Structural Description
t
o
w
' Fro zen
n Time' 0 : 0 0  1:10 70 " - tw o sup er impo se d cycles of m aterial res u lting in
e
r. a complex succession of recurrent timbres and
F
u ge stures
gro du es ring
up c om p a rt wh ic honstage
w ay the proce - in
ssional
ter rupp ted
ercussion
by t he
trh
e 'froze n' chor d gesture
r
e r
p 1:10-2:13 6 8“ - re p e titio n o f the preceedi ng co mp lex with sub tle
or alterations 3
d
u
c
- percussion processional"joins onstage percussionists
t
io
n
2:13-2:25 1 2" - resonance of low piano s trin g s foll owed by "ghos tl y
ro
p b e l l s ”- a d im in uen d o se q u e n c e o f p ia n o h a rm o n ic s
h
ib
it
e
:25-3:22 57 " - two successive complexes of intense overlapping
d glis sando lin es in t he strin gs - fadin g out t o
w temolo glissandi in the basses
i
th
o
u
t
3:22-3:34 1 2” - lo w resonance plus “gh ostly be lls"
p
e - mandolin leaves stage echoing arpeggiando figure in
rm ^3:34-4:40 6 6"
is a. slow sequence with echoes of the glass chimes and
s
io
a tr emolo mel ody on the piano str in g s
n
.
'1Remembrance
of Time'
4 :4 0 - 5 :4 7 67" simple seque nce of ev en ts: exc hang e of sho rt ge sture s
b et w ee n p ia n o s an d h a r p - p i t c h b e n d in g f i g u r e a\
(v bph ) sound of win d and w hisp erin g of Lorca fragm ent <o
(by brass play ers onst age) ag ainst tr il le d bac kgr oun d
ambience
inA
llitAeBri-
- ... — ----- —*- ~
— ' 11 ■■■■ —  . k _______________ *— ______

R
e
p
r
o
d
u
c
e
d
w
it
h
p
e
rm
si
s
io
n
o
f
th
Clock Time Duration Structural Description
e
c repetition of the above sequence with subtle
o
p
y alterations
ri
g
h
t 5:47-6:20 33" conti nued tril le d am bi en ce - reite ra tio n of 'win d
o soun d', 'bending' figu re -sh o rt co mpl ex of
w
n glissando har monic s in b asses during wh ic h the brass
e
r. p l a y e r s le a v e s t a g e - fo llo w e d by ^
F
u
trh 6:20-7:20 60" ag ain st tr il le d bac kgr oun d ambi ence , e choi ng of
e 'bending' figu re an d then of t remol ando figu re
r
re betw een f l u t e s , c l a r i n e t s an d o f f s t a g e h o r n s d u r in g
p wh ich flu tes an d c larin ets fil e onst age in a
ro
d p r o c e s s i o n a l an d t a k e t h e i r . p l a c e i n f r o n t o f t h e
c
u
t
io
n
) p ia n o s
p
7:20-8:10 50" clarinet circle music - exuberent complex of activity
ro - echoing in successive entries of clarinets culmin
h
b i ating in a wildly running solo passage w hi ch is
it
d
e immitated and superseded by a running passage in the
low register of the piano
w
i
th
o
u 8:10-8:30 2 0" low register piano cluster followed by a rapid
t dr um ming p a tte rn , on tambo urine (placed upon piano
p
e string s) an d the inten se ch or da L en try of string s
r
m subsi ding in a graduall y ac celerating t r i l l and
is
s glissando
io
n
. 8:30-9:20 50 " flute c ircle mus ic - repe tit ion of that of clarin et
- culm inati ng sim ilarly in solo pass age wh ic h is
immita te d in low reg iste r of piano
9:20-9:50 25" se que nce of even ts: low re g iste r pi ano clu ste r -
rap id drum mi ng p atte rn on tambouri ne - sta rk , sl ow ^
rhythmic figure echoed between pianos (on tambourines)
fol lowed by re-echoing of rhyt hmic figu re (in pn o.),
5 '
CD
■-5o
O
Q.
C
o
CD
Q.
w
i
th
p
e
mr
is
s
io
n
o
f 9:50-10:50 60 " sl ow echoi ng of a high c ris ta lin e chi ming
th
e
(vi braph one a nd glock ensp iel) ag ain st
c
seg mente d rem iniscence' >of negro s p ir itu a l in
o strings. '
p
y
ri
g
h
t
'Collapse of
o Time'
w seq uenc e of ev ents: "kr ek tu^ da i!" chanted twice
n 10:50-11:50 60 "
e - (se ven second t am ta m a nd l ow re g is te r piano
r.
res onance on 'd a i' on each rep etitio n ) fol lowed
F
u
rt by a s h o r t se gm en te d x y lo p h o n e s o l o a g a i n s t
h
e
tr ill e d back gr oun d amb ien ce (sleig hb ells) -
r tr ill e d am bi en ce is then sustained th rough a
re
p
hig h 'rustling ' in the strin g s (b ehi nd the bridge
ro carpegg iati ons) an d 'wind so und ' (flu tes , cla rin e ts
d
c
u and percussionists)
oit
n seq uence of ev ents: "kr ek tu d ait" (o nc e) return of
11:50-12:50 60 "
ro
p tr ill e d ba ck gr ou nd a mbi en ce - a re ca ll of the
h
i
tr emolo an d ' ben ding' figu res in the cla rin e ts -
b
it
e
a fu rth er echo of 'kr ek tu dai* - echo of c la rin e ts
d by t h e e c h o e s o f k r e k t u d a i
w
tih 12:50-13:20 30 " very sl ow osten ato rh yt hm in percu ssion an d pianos
o
u
t
rep etition s of a three role fi gure in brass a nd
p "k re k tu dai" in strin g s - gradual bu ild i n in ten sity
e
r
m
an d compl exi ty duri ng whi ch t he cla rin e ts an d flu tes
is leave the stage in a proc ession al an d are replace d
s by tw o b r a s s g ro u p s
io
n
.
13:20-13:50 30" strin g glis sando com pl ex - sim ilar to th at of
'Frozen Ti me' - fading o ut into a solo bass tremelo
glissando
13:50-15:30 1*40" b r a s s c i r c l e m u si c - f l u x o f m a t e r i a l o v e r la p p in g ^
figures - some noticeable repetitions - complex m .
dies out as eac h g ro up finish es it s m aterial with
the ring ing of a fing er cy mb al j
i
I
-n
R
e
p
r
o
d
u
c
e
d
w
it
h
p
e
rm
is
s
io
n
'La st Echoe s
o
f of Time1
t
h 15;30-16:55 ec ho co mp lex in tric a te sup erpo siti on of isola ted
e
c p h r a s e s an d g e s t u r e s
o
p
y
irg 16:55-18:00 ech o co mpl ex sim ilar to preceeding passage -
h
t
slig h t the mati c a ltera tion s and ch an ge s in pitch
o ¥ and i instrum entation
w
n
e p r o c e s s i o n a l s i n w h ic h t h e b r a L s g r o u p s an d t h e n
r. 18:00-20:05 2 ' 0 5"
F
p e r c u s s i o n g ro u p s l e a v e t h e s t a g e - s u p e r p o s i t i o n
u
rt of the repeated m aterials of the processional
h p l a y e r s a n d w h i s t l e d p o r t m e n to o s t e n a t o amon g
e
r
strings
re
p
or
d
u
c
ito
n
p
ro
h
bi
it
e
d
w
it
h
o
u
t
p
e
rm
is
s
io
n
.
73
p e r c u s s i o n i s t s from o f f s t a g e g r a d u a lly t a k e t h e i r p la c e s b e sid e ,

o
the onstage pe rc u ss io n ists . Wit hout maki ng a c omm itment as
to the i ntended in ter p re tatio n (some lis te n e rs m ay see the

t
event as purel y rit u a lis ti c , or others mi gh t s ens e a the a tric
in tera c tion of 'beckoning' or 'search ing ou t an d find ing ' in t he
antipho na 1 exc ha nge b et ween the o nstage an d o ffs tag e pe rcu ssion 
is ts ) i t ca n be s ee n th at the th e a tric mo vement of the players
is a goal direc ted ev ent, b earing a n atu ral im plicati on wh ich
raises the question, as to where the processional group is going,
and a clearly recognizable and logical realization in their
arrival beside their counterparts onstage.
Subsequent p ro ce ss io n al mo vements, such a s th e see mingl y
e a rly dep artures of th e m and ol in a t the end o f 'Frozen T ime"
and the brief appearance of some brass players who leave after
whispering a Lorca fragment, can only be accepted as unforsee-
ab le occur rances in the general r it u a li s ti c , 'st rea m of cons ci ous -

j
f ' n e ss ' ord er of ev en ts. Th ey do, ho we ve r serve to e xp an d the
mea ni ng of the perfor mance space, and fu rth e r devel op the sen se
of a tran sito ry stage presence. Not only do playe rs a t th is
p o i n t a p p e a r t o be a b l e t o come o n s ta g e from th e 'b e y o n d ',
b u t i t i s a ls o p o s s i b l e f o r the m t o r e t u r n o f f s t a g e fro m t h e i r
p o s i t i o n s o n s ta g e . Th e movem ent o f f s t a g e i s a n a t u r a l an d
tra d itio n a l suggest ion of pa ttern c losure wh ich gai ns in s ig-

« p
nifica nc e as the wo rk progresses.
Wi th thb .pr ocess ional entr ance of the c la rin e ts, and flu te s,
(•)
a further interaction if y *impli ed f n£the echoing., of a 'p itc h
bend in g * f i g u r e (a g li s s a n d o o f a q u a r t e r to n s down from af

\
1 *; •"
sing le p itc h , in the fo ilin g rhyt hm: - ) from the v ibra 
\
p ho ne,? t o t h e c l a r i n e t s and f l u t e s a s th e y come o n s ta g e (w a lk in g
• . ' > • *' ‘
in the same rhythm as the bending figure) and the horns who
echo the fig u re from a’ d istan ce o ffsta g e, (s ee e xa mpl e 4, page 8 3)
The departure of the wopdwinds during the ostenato of the
'db llap se of Ti me' an d th e ir repl acem entf besi de-’ the two pianos
onst age has a n inhe rent s p a tia l lo g ic and^ Lmpli cat ion of 'repe
titiv e pr oces s aridform aul sym m etry . It? sho ul d be noted th a t \
t >
the dramatic exchangl between the presence offstage and Onstage
is- not l im it ed to t he pro ce ssion als. O ff st age brass playe rs
make pr omi ne At in te rje c tio n s a t va rious po ints of £he.piece*
TheV are heard al most as a fo re sha dowing (a low re g is te X g lis -
san do figu re ) in th e opening momenta o4 the p ie c e , and alho

'. v . ; •
during the circle music s q f the flutes and cla rine ts in the
'Re me mb rance of Ti m e' . 1v ' *■

P a rtic Xu la rly a t t he e nd of' tkh e brass
c irc le musi c of i dle 'Collapke of Time', the o ffstag e presence „
* ,
is heard in the fin a l f a in t ec hoi ng of a fing er cy mb al c hime
v 1 *
.wh ich su cc essiv ely'term inates each cycle of the c irc le m us ic. <
*
* ri
i • ■
# , The 'Last Êch oes of Ti me' brin gs the th e a tric dev el opment
*
of the wo rk t o a meaning ful co nc lusion, cre atin g a type o f arch
fo rm and symmetr ic ba lance in th e o rd er of ev en ts. Th e mo ve -

f an echo complex in which antique cymbal
merit beginsAwith i players
*'
75
(woodwind fla y e rs w ho had le f t th e stag e du riri g,the 'Co llapse
of Ti me' ) come to the fro n t le f t edg e of t he stage and recede
>4
o ffstag e again a fte r th e ir ec ho of the ope ni ng chi mes. This
A
may he seen to^symmetrically balance thevpresence of the cymbal
p la y e r s who w ere a t th e back , r i g h t o f th e s ta g e d u rin g th e
openi ng p ro ce ssio na l. A fu rth e r s /a ti a l s ymm etry can be seen
in £he departure of the brass groups who cross-paths and pro-
ce ed in opposi te directions offstag e. Fina ll y t he per cussi on-

V
^ is ts retrac e th e ir st eps of t he ope ni ng processional, b ri nging
the wo rk fu ll c irc le and res torin g the sp a tial o rder wh ich ex
isted at the ope ni ng.
, The strin g s, al though the y do no t p a rticip a te in an y of

^ ■ *
the professionals, have a very important theatric and dramatic
t> ’ ■
identity. ■Not unlike the chorus of a Greek tragedy, they are
sta tion ar y , onst age b ef &r e the dramati c a ction begi ns and a fte r
i t has ended. Th eir i nten se glissa n do co mp lex wou ld appear
to b e a f o ca l po int of t he dramati c ac tion , gi ven in iso latio n
in the opening m ovement arid as a cu lm inating p o in t in the fl bw

/ of eve nts in the 'Collapse of Time'. The strin g s sim ilarly
*■
ha ve an im portant ro le in the g en era l dram ati c momentum in t h e ir
intense impa ssi on ed ent ry a fte r the c la rin e t c ircle mus ic in

i *>
' Remembrance of Time', th e ir serene reminiscence o f the negro
s p ir it u a l'a t the en d of ' Rememberance of Time', th e ir portenteou s
^ wh is pering of the pho neti c frag m ent 'krek tu d a i' in ' Cbll aps e
of Ti me' and* in th e ir ge ntle w histli ng of a.por ta mento figu re
t * ,
an d t he o sc ilatin g fourths at t h e c lose of the wo rk.
Cl \
f
As c a n ^ e ima gi ned from the t i t l e of the wor k, the f echo'

or more generally'^ various instances of repetition, recurrande
an d re ite ra tio n a re to be f ound in a ll lev els of stru ctu re from
the sequence of isolated events to the succession of longer pas-

4
sag es. Exa mpl es of im med iate *echoings a re seen in both s h o rt
gestures (see example 2, page 77, the piano string tremolo
m elodi es) a nd long er line s (as in the c ir c le m usi c, ex amp le 3 ,
page 78) th u s c r e a t i n g a mo me ntary b l u r r i n g in th e s h o r t o v er
lapp ing g e stu re s o r a m ore extended co mpl ex tex tu re in xthe

<y
sup erp osition of longer passa ge s. The mos t rea dily apparent
echoing is heard in simple repetitive sequences of gestures,

t e
(see example 3, page 78) the echoing of the glockenspiel and
vibr aphone f ift h s ) wh ich a t a sl ow t empo give ris e t p a more

p r e d i c t a b l e. , rh
4
y th m ic sen se of r e i t e r a t i o n . The se nse o f echo '
\
re p e titio n can also be underst ood in thj .s pi ece i n the immed iat e
rep etitio n of w ho le pas sa ges of m ateri al (a s i^ th e op en ing
two processional cycles of 'Frozen Time' and the two echo com
p le x e s which b e g in 'L a s t Ec ho es o f T im e') b u t th e s e do n o t have
A
the s ame aco ustic se mb lan ce of a re a l ec ho (i.e . the re ite ra tio n s
fa in te r an d l ess d istinc t) as do the shorter r an ge repe ti^
i.
tio n s. The othe f rep etitio n typ e wh ich ' is hea rd in th is wo rk
ca n b e re ferre d to as a ' re tu rn ', or m ore si mpl y a recurrance

3
o f m aterial aft ef c there has been a sig n ific a n t de pa rture fr om i t
G
38 Se e Le ona rd Meyer, Emo tion and M ean ing, pg. 1 52."
1 i ■
(
t i
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d
'REMEMBRANCE OF TIME'
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79
This w ill b e seen mo st e ffe ctiv e ly in the lon g r ange them ati c
( ) and tex tu ra l devel opment , b ut can a lso be obse rved w it hin in -
*
d iv idu al move men ts. The st rin g gliss an d o c omp lex a t th e cl imax
is a good exa mpl e of a long ra nge retu rn.Nbecause of the si g n if-
ic a n t a mo un t of m ate rial an d t ime whi ch has inter vene d since
i t s f i r s t occura nce in 'Frozen Ti ,me' . A ret ur ^n over a sh o rte r

*
ti m e s pa n is se en i n th e recurrance of t he 'g ho stly b e lls ' xn
'Froz en Ti me ' (hea rd f ir s t dire c tly before t he string g li ssand o
co mp lex an d t hen ag ain d ire c tly a ft e r it) wh ich imp li es a 4y pe
of low level arch form in this movement.
The p rin c ip le of succe ssive com pari soh, ;figu res prom inent ly
»
in the exper ience of t he sh orter range echoes , p a rticu larly

* 4
( in a slow tempo and a relatively simple texture where the listâer
cam gr as p a ny d e ta ils of . dev iat ion in the successi ve re ite ra tio n s.
It is interesting to note the length of the periods between

i
re ite ra tio n s in t hese pass age s - a t the e nd of 'Fr oze n Ti m e' , f
twelve seconds between successive glass chime reiterations

, I ' \ \
(see e xa mpl e 2, page 77), s ix seconds b et ween re ite ra tio n s

o f thec jpitch bin din g f ig u re in ' Reme mb erance of Time' (g age ^
5 and 6 o f s c o re ), eig h t se conds bet ween a ntiqu e cy mb al chi mes
a’t th e end o f ° ' Remembr ance o f Time* (se e exam ple 3 , paVI ge 78, a
fa in t' ec ho of th e antique cym ba l in th e vibraphone is a lso h eard .
midway bet ween each o f the an tiqu e cymbal \c hi mes) , around fiv e
se con ds bet ween ech oes of the 'krek tu d a i' figu re in 'C ollapse
1 f
of. Ti me ' be fore the oste na to, an d ten se conds be twee n re ite ra -
O tioris of a ll fig u re s (i nclud ing t he a ntiq ue cy mba l ch imi ng again)
80
in the opening echo compl exes of 'L as t Echoe s of T ime '. In

u -
the open ing pe rcussio n p roc essio na ls of 'Frozen Ti me ' and the
If
clo sing ^proces si onals of 'L as t E ch oe s of /Ti me1 , i t is p oss ible

to no ti ce the s ame sl ow paci ng of re it e ra tio n ’but bec aus e of the
su per pos ed Cy cl es of m ateri al (i n the d iffe re n t processi ona l
gr oups ) n o o v e ra ll re g u la rity of pacing emerges . The 'Fr ozen

4.
Time' processionals are nevertheless good examples of successive
comparison because of the rich though unpredictable echoing of
the antique cy mba l chi min g in the d iff e re n t c ym ba l p itch es of
the onstage and frrocessional groups and in the different timbres
intro du ce d in t lie gongs and vibra ph on e. The an^jûe cy mba l

is ,a p a rticu la rly us efvty i nst rument in th is type of context
fo t bot h i ts long a nd in ter e stin g resonance peri od (when struc k

V*
,sfz) and it s a b ilit y to p en etrate the mo re com pl ex tex tu re .*
In ad dition to the opp ortunit y whic h the se sl ower pacings
/ give to the lis te n e r to gras p the ti m bral su b tletie s of the so unds ,

\
they cre ate a uni que e ffe c t in purely rhyt hmic t erms. R eferri ng
again to m ate rial whi ch Paul Fra isse has presented in T he

Ps yc hol ogy of Ti me, i t ca n be se en th a t the slow rate of re ite ra - „
tion in t hese pass ages ma ke s th e ir re p e titiv e sequ en ti al o rg an
* ization har der to gr asp percep tuall y. F raisse c ites

t
exper iment-
a tio n (s ee pages 8 9 and 90) th a t de m on strates th a t w ith mo re
than two seconds between

/
occurrences, sounds are not generally
\
ju dged*'to b e w i t h i n th e same 'p e r c e p t u a l s p a n ' m ea nin g t h a t
t
> i ' ’ ^
they do not fprm a sense of 'tempo' or rhythmic succession.
81
S im ilarly, with two or mo re s econ ds bet ween succ essive s tim u li,
o i t be comes i nc reasing ly d iff ic u lt for a lis te n e r to ap pr eh en d
mo re than thre e s tim u li. (That i s , to reme mbe r, w it ho ut cou nt

ing while lis te n in g , hoy many stim u li were he ard .) Alt houg h
i t is d iffic u lt to re late unco ndit ional ly th is inf or mati on~t o
the more co mpl ex co ntex t of Cru mb' s m usic, i t can be s een th a t
the cyclic re p e titiv e n atur e o f thes e^passages w ill not be fu lly
grasped w it hou t s ome 'stre tc h in g ' o f t| ae pe rce ptu al s pan.
The e ffe c t of th is i s , as in much of Crumb' s p attei^ jii ng , a
st rong im plicat ion of seque nti al desi gn in the rep eti ti on - of t he
individu ally distin c tive ge stures, but b ec aus e of t h e ir s low

p a c in g t^ e a c t u a l sim p le r e p e t i t i v e p r o c e s s e s a r e n o t a s o b v io u s
bo th e l i s t e n e r a s th e y a r e yn. the score.
Robert P. Morgan has cdmmented very appropriately on the
‘ê lem en t of slo w rhythm ic pac ing in Crumb' s m usic.
"Perhaps most impressive, however, is Crumb's

extremely sensitive handling of the slow rhythmic
p a c i n g . I know o f no com poser w r i t i n g to d ay
’’ , who is ab le to p res en t 4 uch a spa rse a nd a tten 
uated- sonor ous ima ge w ithou t prod ucing a c o rre s
p o n d in g s e n s e o f fo rm al d i s r u p t i o n . ' By v ari o u s*
means - mos t p a rtic u la rly , I th in k , b y the spa n-
^ ni ng and connecti ng of temp orall y dislo ca ted
se gments t hrou gh very sim ple,, eve n obvious t im bra l
and re g is tra l assoc iat ions so as t o p oint t he
ear to the larger relation sh ips - he i s ab le t o
ke ep the m ot ion of the piece under c on trol.
Indeed , on e of the mos t in tere stin g aspects

of Cr umb' s mb si c is jus fc t he ten sio n th a t a ris e s
from having to w ait over su c h lo n g , spa ns ' for in te r
rupted ideas to be taken up again.
C) 39 R obe rt P. Morgan, Records in Rev iew, '1975, p^ . 117.
V
Reproduced with permission o f the copyright owner. Further reproduct ion prohibi ted without permission.
82
In conn ecti on w it h Morg an' s re mar ks i t can be noted th a t
much of the c la rity of t he sequ ential p attern ing is du e t o
th e ‘ o f h ig h ly d i s t i n c t i v e ma t e r i a l s . R e p e tit i o n s
. . L
of ind ividu al g es tu res are en made to stand ou t by th e ir
co n trast with the oth er ma t a ls i n th e ir imm ed iat e co ntex t.
The nat ure o f the dev iat ions in' these gra dual re iter a tiv e
p r o c e s s e s i s g e n e r a l l y an e x te n d e d d e c re s c e n d o , b u t in many
in sta n ce s, c hanges of instrum en tation or p o sitio n of the sou nd
w it hin t he pe rfor manc e s pac e crea te ad d it ion al su b tletie s,
and d e v ia tio n s. One go od exa mpl e of th is i s see n in 'Re me mb rance

of T ime ' in t he c la rin e t a nd flu te p roce ssion al wh ere the pitch
b en d in g f i g u r e i s ech oed betw een th e f l u t e s , c l a r i n e t s an d
o ffsta g e 'ho rn s • (Se e ex amp le 4, pa ge 83) A type of 'fo o le d '
expectation can also be seen in this passage in that the horn
doe s not e ch o t he tr ei tio lo fi gu re o f the f lu te s an d c la rin e ts in
the se co nd s equence, bu t instead re- echo es the pitc h bend ing
figure of the earlier sequence.
I t sho ul d be not ed tha t ce rtain instances of re itera tion
\n Ec ho es o>f Time and th e River p res en t no d ev iatio n a t a ll
and s o do no t imply a lon ge r ran ge p roc ess * Th is is th e case
in the opening of 'Frozen Time* where amid the complex echoings
in the g ortgs and tam ta rns , a nd bet ween th e d if fe re n t p itch es
of ’ anti que cymbal s, th e re in the u nd eviating reg u la rity of t he
'Sfz attac k s in th e an ti qu e cy mba ls wh ich cre a te s the sense of
a s ta tic , rit u a lis tic , un de ve lop ing su cces si on of event s.
p
is!
♦ p,.t &fii
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduct ion prohibit ed without permission.
84
o The re p e tition o f longer pass ages ha s an im po rtant.r ole
thoug h somewhat d iff e re n t ef fe c t i n th is wor k. Ea ch of the four

movements begins w ith a passa ge o r sequence o f m ate ria l whi ch
is fo ll owed i mmedi at el y by a slig h tly v aried re ite ra tio n of
the wh ole pass age or s equence. A dditi ona l re ite ra tio n s of
longe r passages a r£ seen in 'Frozen Ti me ' in the immedi at e
rep ea t of the strin g gli ssando comp lex and in the c la rin e t
«
and flu te ci rc le * musi c of ' Remembrance o f Tim e'. In these
la s t t wo pass ages, there is ver y l it t le no ti cea ble deviati on

p
betw een t h e f i r s t s ta te m e n t o f t h e - m a t e r i a l an d th e r e i t e r a t i o n ,
other them the obvious one in the case of the circle music
th a t i t is he ar d fi r s t in the clarinets a nd t he n in th e flu tes.

( , S ligh t ch an ge s in i nstr um entat ion o ccu r in the re ite ra tio n 'o f
th e openi ng pro ce ssion al music of 'Frozen Time ' and of the
open ing ec ho co mpl ex of 1L as t Ech oes of Ti me' , b u t because of
th e len gth an d com plexit y of these p assa ge s, suc cess ive c omp
*5 arisons wo uld onl y aris e in the listen ing situ atio n

t
in terms of the general features of texture and the more
distinctive gestures within these complexes.
v / '
- The op eni ng ech o co mp lex es of 'Last Ec ho es of Ti me ' is

5
4
p a r t i c u l a r l y w ort h n o t in q a s an ex am ple o f t h e c o n t r o l o f p acin g
'and tex tu re w hi ch is devel oped in th is work . The pass ages
div ide the orbh estra into six qroups, thre e o f whi ch c o n sist <•
o f a pe rcussion ist an d on e third of a ll the strin g s, and the
C> o th er * fchree co n sisting of a pe rcu ssio n ist, a cym ba l player
Jr -'— ■ v
Reproduced with permission o f the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibit ed without permiss ion.
A
85
( ) (at £he si de of the st age) an d a flu te or c la rin e t (o ffsta g e) .
The f i r s t of t he p ercussion an d str in g gr t»«ps a nd th e f ir s t
of the p ercu ssion an d wi nd groups begin sim ultan tou sly , a hd

a fte r on e mea sur e (t en se con ds ) th e ir m ate rial is ec hoe d
by one o f th e s i m i l a r g r o u p s , g r a d u a l ly b u i ld i n g up a
rich tex ture of iso la te d events wh ich th ins ou t: as eac h of the
grou ps complet es its fou r b ar s of m ate ria l. As ca n be see n
in th e sc ore (ex ampl e 5 , page 8 6) and he ard in a performan ce,
these pass age s present a rich p o ss ib ility of successi ve
compar is on in the gchoing of m ate rial bet ween the groups of
p la y e rs . Be tween th e two ec h o com ple xes (e ach l a s t s abo ut
a minute and a ha lf) th e no tic ea b le chang e may be he ard in

i
^ the p itc h of th e an tiqu e cymbal s (from C#-G# to P-C)
and in the portamento figure which is in the clarinets and
flu te s in the fi r s t co mp lex a nd in t he v iolin s in the se co nd.
In the openi ng re p e titio n s o f 'Reme mb rance of Ti me ' a nd of V >

ti
'Collapse of Time', the longer range successive comparison
be co mes more c l e a r l y p o s s i b l e b ecau se t h e s e p a s s a g e s c o n s i s t

$
of a si mpl e tex ture and * stra ig h tfo rw a rd seq uen ce s of ev ents.
Two instan ce s of an app arent in ter ru p tion in th e longer
range sequen ce o f m ate ria l can be see n in ' Remembrance of Ti me'

a
an d in t he op en in^se qu en ces of ' Co ll apse of Tim e'. Aegean
,vt, be se e n i n th e o u t l i n e o f t h e p r i n c i p a l p a s s a g e s (p age ,the

c la rin e t an d flu te c irc le m us io pass ages are m ore or less
(/ X id e n tic a l, an d e hd i n the same way/ w it h a so lo passage wt fich
V
86
E *1
M
I
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F
O
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E
O
H
C
E
.)
6)
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O d
C V T W
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:rn“j“
II
♦*1 A
\
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: "*ivrr
& ill I
si»"w#v* »!”W/I*
Ho f X
is imm it ate d in the low pi ano r e g is te r , and is foll ow ed b y
a l ow c lu s te r and a rap id d rumm ing p a tte rn on the tam bo urines.
Where the c la rin e t c irc le m usic' conti nues into the i nten se
chpr dal en try of the stri n g s, a sta rtlin g deviat ion f rom this
sequenc e (whi ch wo ul d p red ict a rep ea t of the intense ch orda l
string s pa ss ag e a fte r the fl u te c ircle mu sic) is fe lt a fte r
the flu te c irc le mu sic i n th e stark rhy thmi c fi gures (id en tica l
to the foo tstep p attern in the ope ni ng proc essional of 'Frozen
Ti me' ) echoed by the pianos. A retu rn of the string s is
ev en tua lly f oun d in the 'remembr anc e' of the ne gr o s p ir itu a l
in
Sv
s, the fin a l passage of th is mov em en t. In 'C ollapse o f T ime- ',
a l onger r an ge interruption or deviati on is fe lt a fter the
return o f the 'krek tu d a i' cha nting . Where a continued
• re p e titio n of the op eni ng cycle of m ateria l wo uld p red ict

t
the re ite ra tio n of the 'high ru st lin g ' and wind sou nd , there
a rise s a re c a ll by the c lar in e t; of i ts tremol o an d ^be ndi ng'
figu res (ech oe s by the flutes) and the fu rthe r atten ua ted
ec ho es of 'kre k tu d a i'.
4
S
The se in stanc es of- an/app arentl y cont inuous pa ttern
/
_/
b e i n g \ i n t e r r u p te d and r e p la c e d by a n o th e r fo rm o f p r o c e s s , a s
w ell as the much more common in s ta n c e s in th e wor k wh ere o ne
sec tion si mply end s a nd ano ther q u ite d iffe re n t o ne beg ins *
can be regarded as changes in process which create a momentary
d isc o n tin u ity .4 ® The interru p ted or d iscon tinue ^d ^c froc es ses
...................................... „ 11 ' — ............................. — — — I f a i i< ■— ..
................ —— ■ ■■■■
o
40. Se
fo er his
Leoexplana
nard Meyer,
ti onEmoti on es
of proc and Meaning
s reve rsal inintrad
M usic,
iti opg
n .a l93
styles.
1
►
t
8
8
4 "V
( t in Echoes of Time and, the River can be ex pla ine d in term s of
the ge ne ral ep isod ic dram ati c and them ati c dev el opme nt o f the
work whi ch wAill b e discu ssed sh o rtly , b ut they « ha ve the

import ant effe c t of cre ating a n unc ertainty an d an in te re st
in how thd m ome ntary inte rru p tio n or disc o n tinu ity w ill fit
into the long range design.
Ano the r inte re stin g feature of the succes si on of longer
p a ssa g es i s se e n in t h e i r d u r a t i o n s . The t o t a l tim e f o r th e
composition (based(^p the recording by The Louisville
O rch estra conducted by Jorge M est er) 41 is abo ut twent y m inutes

and fifte e n sec onds. Wit hi n th is ti me s pan, i t is possible
to hear (a nd s ee) twel ve cle a rly de fined passages of bet ween
fi ft y and seventy sec onds, (s ee the durati on s in the o u tlin e

42
of the p rin c ip a l pa ssage s), an d from the score, i t can be
noted th a t the echo co mpl ex es o f 'L as t E ch oe s of Time 1 are
int ended to be s eventy s ec on ds e ach bu t b ecaus e t he f i r s t
is ext ended into a sho rt epi sode ('a d ista n t mus ic1 pla yed on
the pian o, mandoli n, c e les te and harp) an d the seco nd ex tend s
d irec tly into the fin al proc ession als, the y do not f it into
f /
41. Echo es o f Time and the R iv e t. The L o u isv ille O rch estra
JOr ge M es te r co nd . (Lo uisvill e O rchest ra f ir s t ed iti o n
records. 1971 LS'IU) .
42 . In th is a na lysis of long range d u ratio n , the osten ato

an d th e foll ow ing strin g g lissan d o co mp lex are taken
as o ne d u ra tio n because of t he. l ong range dy na mi c and te x tu ra l
gesture (ri se an d fa ll) wh ich they for m.
*s
8
9
th is lo ng range d u ratio n al pacing. ^ The two prol onged se c tio n s,

(.3 * »
the brass circle music and the final processionals occur!

*
a t im portant po in tj s in the long range dramatic desi gn - a ft e r ,
the climax in 'Collapse of Time', creating a relief from.the •
reg u larity in the succession of pa ssage s, and a t th e e nd o f
the work as a type of final elongation and closure.

* '
Gen eral ly in C rtimb 's mus ic, i t is po ssible to d isting u ish
three d iffe re n t tex tu ra l and rh yt hmic type s: the slow
succession of isolated events, the succession of separate
events but wit h some overl apping and irre g u la rit y due to th e
fa c t that the se pass ages con sist o f a sup erp osition of t wo
inde pendent cycles of m ateria l, and th ird ly , the type of even t
complexes which is derived from the superposition of a number
of cycles o f m ate ria l. As menti oned in the s eco nd ch ap ter,
these three types can be re gar ded as d iffe rin g de gre es of %
horizontal density which Crumb controls by straightforward

' ’ *
co ntra pu nta l mean s. The op eni ng te x tu re of t he w ork in 'Frozen
Time ' is th e type o f comp lex s equence de rived from the su pe r-

k>
p o s i tio n o f two c y c le s o f a c t i v i t y (th e o n sta g e and p r o c e s s io n a l
p e rc u s s io n g r o u p s ). A f te r th e r e i t e r a t i o n &f t h i s t e x t u r e ,
there is th e ju xtap po siti on of t he si mple s eq ue nc e of th e
'gh ostly b e ll s ', th e i nten se strin g gli ssando c omp lex es , .
the retu rn of the 'gho stl y b e lls ' an^t the closing tex ture
which consists of simple reiterated sequences of the mandolin

{ /
p r o c e s s io n a l . The sim p le seq u en c in g o f e v e n ts i s resu m ed in th e
s
>
\
r A
, "V * *
<
' I ^ 90
( ! openi ng of 'Reme mb rance of Time' w ith an in te re sti n g tr il le d

* * '
* bac kgr ound co lo ra tio n sh iftin g bet ween the variou s ti m bres,
b u t w it h th e a r r i v a l o f th e f l u t e s and c l a r i n e t s o n s ta g e ,
^ * ' this is interrup ted by the dense and pulsati ng cla rin et c ircle
mus ic compl ex. The tex ture of th is passage incre ases qu ick ly,
in de nsit y wit h the entrance of ea ch of the cla rine ts in
tu rn , re ach ing a p ea k of a c tiv ity and t hen subsiding as .the
p la y e r s com ple te t h e i r c y c le s e l a c t i v i t y , fo ll o w in g t h i s i s
\ the re la tiv e ly quick successi on of long er rang e events and
textures discus sed e a rlie r invol vi ng the short i ntense s tring
en try, the re tu rn of c irc le mu sic tex ture an d the s ud de n h a lt
of activity in the stark rhythmic figures drummed by the
^ piani st s. The last e p is o d e o f 'Remembrance o f Tim e' pr es en t s
a return to the openi ng textu re of the wo rk wit h the cle a rly
ringing antique cymbals and the quiet slightly overlapping
ly rica l gestures in the string s. ^
The openi ng df 'C ollapse of Ti me' sim ilar ly pre sen ts a
type of tex tu ra l an d t imb ral return in t he succes si on of eve nts
ag ain st the t r il l e d , backg ro und amb ien ce (as in t he open in g of
^Rem embrance of Tim e') . From th is p o in t of the work to the

vy
end, howev er , th ere are no mo re abrup t tex tu ra l cha nge s a nd the
longer passages c rea te gradual ebb an d f low in t he den sit y o f ,
events. The tex tura l bu il d of the ostena to of ' C oll apse of
Ti me' beg ins almost i m perce ptibly, ex tending ri g h t f rom the lo w
^ p ia n o re son a n c e s which accompany t he last echoes of 'kr ek tu
H, '6
9
1
( ^ d ai' . The" ev en tua l bui ld of th e os ten at o i s ca r r i ed o v e r ih
the intensity of the return o't the string glissando complex
wh idh i n turn thin s o ut gradually to a

solo contrabass , *, w
*■ *
glissando tremolando, thus completing an elegant longer
ra nge d ynam ic a nd te x tu ra l gestu re in the gradual ris q an d f a ll
in the' de ns ity of a c tiv ity . The solo bass is fol lowed by a
solo hor n whic h begins the bra ss c ir c le mu si c. Aga in in th is

i *
p assag e t h e r e i s a g rad u a l gro w th an d r e c e s s io n i n co m p le x it y
asleac h gr oup in turn begins and com plet es i ts m ate rial. In
termB -of the long ran ge development o f th e work, th e b ras s
c irc le mus ic can be t aken as a type o f arch form cor res pondence
in tex ture and rh yt hmic ch arac ter wit h the c irc le mu sic
co mpl ex es play ed b y t he fl u te s and c la ri n e ts in 'Remembrance

*!.
of Time'.
The la s t ringin g of the fing er c ymba ls (hear d.a lon&
offstage) a t the end of t he brass c irc le mus ic is fol low ed }

^ a ft e r a sh o rt pau se , by the loudly reso na nt antique \ymbal
' chi mes of 'L a s t Ec hoes pf Time ' and th e two-ex tended echo
co mpl ex es of th is movement eac h ri s in g in a ver y d e lic a te w
complexity of events and fading directly into the f£nal
p ro c e s s io n a ls . The f i n a l p r o c e s s io n a ls i n t h e i r g e n e ra l
, '■***'
texture are Bimilarto the proceeding echo complexes since
* >
f^V. the y prese nt a co mpa rab le d iv ers ity of m ateria l in su pe ri mpos ed

t
% « r >
cy cle s an d con ti nue the port ament o f ig u re in , a type of melodic

( ) ostena to a ltern a ting be twe en chor use s of w histlers in the
str in g s and the vibraphone. As the pro ce ssion al play ers
(
lea ve there is the fin a l thinning out of the text Ure to th e
* ' it
o s c ill a tin g fo ur ths among dec reasing nu mbe rs of A'st ri ng-jpl
90 ayers
wh ich in turn fades to a n unvoi ced w h istle and fin a lly to
n o th in g . -. r
f
t
f ‘
The g e n er al lin e of devel opment which Echoes of Ti me an d
/
, •
th e Ri ver pres en ts i n t er ms of t ex ture , is a n in tere stin g on§.
The ope ning moveme nts of th e work in 'F ro ze n Time1 'an d 'Remem-
/
b ra n ce o f Tim e' p r e s e n t an a r t i c u l a t e d s u c c e s s io n o f e v e n ts
ahd passages o f co ntra sting m ate rial. Begi nni ng with the
t ■' !
ostenato of 'C ollapse of Time' , fe wg r a rtic u la te d sections
are app arent a nd the w ork progresses in long tex tu ra l ge sture s
con si sti ng o f a gr adual rise and fa ll in the densit y of
a c tiv ity . In te rms of the t hematic devel opment , t he longer
textural gestures from the brass circle music to the end of the
*
p ie c e p r e s e n t i n s h o r t g e s t u r e s , i s o l a t e d re f e r e n c e s t o th e
m aterial and ev ents whi ch f orme d the more ar tic u la te d succession
of the first part of the work.
Th em atica lly,* Echoes of Time and th e R ive r is ve ry comple**.,
not in terms of the development of themes, but in the quantity
of rec urre nt figu res a nd the sc ope of th e ir int eract ion. C ertain
figures however, are worth discussing in some detail because
they are m ade to stand o ut i n the gen eral tex ture an d so hav e
a g rea ter influen ce in the tempo ra l d irec tion wh ich is sen sed
in the in tr od uc ti on of n ew m ateri al an d t he re c all o f m aterial
p r e v i o u s ly h e a r d . As m en ti o ned in th e i n tr o d u c ti o n t o t h i s
a n a ly si s,' Echoes of T ime and the River is co mp osed asâ kind
of 'dis ru p te d ' arch form in whi ch the re is a s udden^ retu rn

of previ ous m ate rial (t he strin g ' glissan do co mp lex) a t t he
cli m ax of the piec e in 'Co llaps e of T ime ', fol lowed b y a more
general recall of short gestures within the extended complexes
of t he bra ss c irc le mus ic a nd 'L as t Ec ho es of Tim e'. A
p o s s i b l e c o n je c t u r e c o u ld be made h e re a s t o w h eth er Crumb
made a type of tra n sla tio n of the Lorc a fr agment ' los arcos
roto s d on de su ffre e l ti empo' into the ge ne ral for mal desi gn
of t he wo rk. Th is is suggested in t he v ariou s elements of arch

form dev el opmen t of t he pro ce ssion als, the d isin teg ra ted retu rn
of e a rlie r m aterials an d the appar ent d isco n ti n u it y in the
recu rrenc e of th e s tri n g g lissan do co mpl ex whi ch as tCrumb has

. ’ <0
im pl ied i n his t i t l e 'Co ll apse of Time', r ep resen ts a t yp e
of psychological relapse at the d ramati c foca l p oint of t he
work. 4^
43. The su dd en re c a ll of the str in g g lissan d o co mp lex at

the he igh t of the o stenato of Co ll apse of Time cre ates
an in tere stin g m usi cal an d emoti onal d isco n tinu it y since the
se ns e of an ticip atio n an d gra dual arr iv a l o f the sl owly bu il ding
ostenato is followed by an event which has already happened
a t the b eginn ing of the wor k. W here th is might b e a n exp ected
type of ret urn in a t rad iti o n al sonat a f or m, it is de finite ly
unexpected in ' th is c o n tex t and evoke s m uch of the sense of temp 
ora l no n line arity an d disrup ti on o f t he t it l e of th is mo vement.
Ano the r in tere stin g m ani pula ti on of the exp ectati on s invol ved
in fam il iar music al for ms, w ill be studied in the discussion
of 'Musi c fo r a S ta rry N igh t' from Musi c fo r a Summer Ev ening.
In th is case as w ell, there is an underlying poetic meaning
wh ich ca n b e re la te d to the na ture of the succession of *
i events.
Reprod uced with permission of the copyright owner. Furth er reproduction prohibited without permission.
9
4
I t is in tere sting to not e in t he ge neral the mat ic
d irec tion of the mus ic th a t, the l ong range t hem at ic re c a ll
b e g in s g ra d u a lly w h ile new m a t e r i a l i s s t i l l b e in g i n tr o d u c e d .

The f i r s t in stan ce of wh at could be con sidered a l ong er r an ge
retu rn is heard a ft e r the sta rk rhyt hmic fig u re (drummed ec ho
by th e p i a n i s t s ) to w a rd s th e en d o f ' Rem^mbranee o f Tim e1
wh ere the ch imin g- f if th s and a su b tle su gg estio n of the
strin g s glis sand o m aterial of ' Frozen

Ti me' are he ard’again st
<* * •
se gme nt ed ve rsion of the negr o sp iritu a l* In 'Collaps e, o f 1
Time' there is a retu rn of the tr il le d backgr ound amb ien ce
(as i n the opening of 'Re me mb ran ce of Time1 bo th of the se p ass
age s are ma rke d 'a s from a fa r') and also a p os sible thematic
correspondence can be noted here between the short harmonic
g lissa n d o co mplex^ in th e ba sse s in the b eg inn ing o f 'Re me mb rance
of Ti me' an d sh o rt co mp lex of behi nd the bridg e arpe gg iations
in the v io lins * in the beginning of ' C o llaps e of .Ti me'. The

’w *
se ns e of a te x tu ra l themati c return is fu rth e r• br ought into
focus b y the 'sound of the wind' whi ch is superi mp osed upon
-both of these passages.
Y Further d e ta ils of the general thematic reve rsal of this
movement include the clarinet and flute echoings before the

f
ostenato, the return during the ostenato of the segmented
xyl oph one m ate rial (from the solo a t the b eginning of the
mo ve me nt ), t he re c a ll in the bra ss a t the h eigh t of t he o stenato
(* of th e s t r i ngs a c c e le r a n d o tril l f i gu r e in t h e 'Remembrance o f
'9 5
- of T ime* (a fte r the c la ri n e t c i^b le musi c) ^n d a pa ssing retu rn
of the p ia n is ts ' sl ow sta rk rhyt hmic f icj ure

/ (fro m t he en d
,of 'Remembrance of Time' ) heard in g lissa dd o s in the ti m pan i
against the gradually subsiding string glissando complex,.
•As men tion ed e a rl ie r, the brass g irc le musi c rec a lls a

r i
va riety of"m aterials includi ng tlê 'bending fig u re ', an d a
fr ag ment f rom the flu te and clar in e t c irc le musi c.
At t he e nd of the wo rk , a ft e r the w h istled port amento

44
osten ato , where the re has-be en a continued re fle ctio n on pa st
^ •
v m ateria l, it is in tere stin g to not e tha t there arises wh at is
e sse n tially n ew and differe n t-m aterial.
The os c illatin g fourth figu re take n u p (in whistl ing)
by th e s t r i n g s had been h e a rd p r e v io u s ly o n ly i n p a s s in g in
t .
the p icco los a t th e en d of the sec ond echo comp lex , as suc h
fhe e ff e c t cheated is a type of op en end ing, as if the w ork
we re s t i l l progress ing them ati call y at t he c lose.
Wit ho ut goi ng in to a ll of the in tric a c ie s of th e w or k, j>

a few exa mpl es ca n be chos en to . ill u s tr a te the corr espondenc e
betw ee n th e th e m a tic and t h e a t r i c d ra m a tic e le m e n ts o f th e
44. The 'portam ento' fig u re , up on c lo se r examinat ion sugg ests

a c e rta in them atic devel opment. I t has the. same r hyt hmic
fo rm as th e 'be n din g' fig u re of th e 'Re me mbr an ce of Time" , bu t
instea d o f the mournf ul desce nding q u arte r t on e, o f the 'ben ding'
fig u re , i t has th e more serene major second as in the s egment-*
ed p or tame nt o ge stures of the strin g s in th e ir remini sc ence of
"Wer e, you t h ere wha n the y c ru c ifie d my Lord?" a t the end of .
' Remem brance o f Tim e' . <.
96
wor k. The orch estra is tr ea ted es se n tially as fpur separate

r ' i
th e a tric gr oup s: the string
s, the per cuss ion an d pia nos,
*, '
th e wo odwinds and th e b ra ss , each a pp are ntly w it h it s own
them atic m ate rial whic h is ech oed w ithin th e me mbers of

each grou p a nd als o to a ce rta in mo re lim ite d ex ten t among
members, o f the oth e r groups. For e xample , in th e opening

meas ur es of 'Frozen Tim e', t he pr esence or the b rass is f e it
remotel y from ba ck stage in a low re g is te r g li ssan do figu re.

f
Thi s is re flec ted onstage b y th£ tim p an i' at the begi nni ng
lc,
o f t he s ec ond cycle of th is pro ce ssion al. When the bra ss ente r
in th e ir proc essional in 'C oll apse of T ime ’ , they repe at
edly echo ■ {of fs tage and on stag e) a sho rt f igure w hich
b e a r s th e same i n t e r v a l l i c c o n to u r o f t h e i r o p en in g g lis s a n d o .
p re m o n itio n and s i m i l a r l y t h i s m oti v e f i g u r e s p ro m in e n tly in

*
th e ir c irc le musi c. A rea d ily apparent th e a tric them at ic 04
in tera c tion ha s bee n obse rv ed e a rlie r ip the ec hoi ng of the
'p itc h ben ding' fig u re in the 'Re me mb rance of Ti me' bu t also
a t the e nd of th is movement an in te re stin g themati c tra n sfe r
is hea rd in the ech oi ng of th e p erfec t fi f th of the per cussi on
ch imi ng in iso lated gestures i n the str ings.^ The 'fi f th s '
gesture is later-taken up by both the strings and woodwinds
in 'L as t Ec ho es of Ti me' an d in f a c t on e of the l a s t so un ds , c f

•*
the w ork is a fa in t chor d oh the op en -stri ng s of the vio lin,

» *
in h ar moni cs . Ano the r very sub tl e a nd in ter e stin g d e ta il
wh ich re flec ts\ the in tera c tion of the strin g s wit h the pr o
c e ss io n a l groups i s th a t whej^j, th e ]j >er cus sioh gr oups first
come onto the stag e a t the openi ng o£ the work , ch an ting
f*
97
O- 'M ont ani se mp er li b e r i' lb is as a qu estion whi ch is ec ho ed

i *
in affir m ati on by the s tring s. ‘In t he proce ssi on al a t t he
end of the wor k, it cm be s ee n the ft t he p erc u ss ion ists

(repe ating mo re or le ss the same cyc le of m ate rial as in
th e ir open ing processional) haVe ch an ge d th e ir in ton ation
of ' Mo nt ani semp er li b e r i1 to th at of the affirm ativ e. The
dep arture of eac h of the proce ssional grou ps a t the end of the
wo rk is acc om pa ni ed by a type of farew ell r e ite ra tio n of the
low"muffled roar from the piano, a shouting of 'krek tu dSi'
and a chi min g of an ti qu e cy mba ls i n the str in g s. A d e taile d
examinat ion of the score reve als' m ore suc h th e a tric the m at ic *
im pli cati on s, but thes e w ill suffice to illu s tra te the gener al
n a tu re of the m usical . image whi ch is conveyed, a nd whi ch

r
dominates the experience of the work.
j] I f i t i s p o s s ib l e to d e s c r i b e V a re s e 's t r e a tm e n t o f m u sic a l
time in terms of an interaction of spatially conceived timbral
an d t on al s ym bo ls, then a fit tin g de scription cm be made of the
conception of time presented in Echoes of Time and the River
and in much of Crumb's music, as an interaction of psychic
sy mbo ls or spnic arch etyp es. A s see n in the d iscu ssion of t he
various significant elements of design in Echoes of Time and

r
the River the work presents a type of composite image combining
s
the illusio n of ritu a l f or m i n the d e libe ra te an d s olemn
p r o c e s s i o n a l s w it h th e 's t r e a m o f c o n s c io u s n e s s ' im p lic a tio n
o f the musi cal m aterials as w ell as the imp li ed th e a tric
. : n
9
8
in te ra c tio n s bet ween p la y e rs, an d the mor^, a b str a c t se ns e- of

V
m usi cal dev el opmen t in the sh o rter an d longe r r ang e re p e tition s
a n d 'tex tu ra l gest ures .*" Thi^ impressi on of te m pora l ord er
c re ate d in Ech oe s o f Time and the River can be un derstood

* 0 i i
in terms of a slowly evolving process wiiich involves a unique
a
b a la n c e o f p r e d i c t a b i l i t y and u n p r e d i c t a b i l i t y . As in m ost
of Crumb' s wor ks, the e s s e n tia l for m of Echoe s o f T ime and t he
River is a se ries o f episod es in wh ich there is the im plication
of a l ong r ang e un it y - e ith e r a n arra tive curve or arch f or m.
Among t he lower lev e l e pis o de s o f Ec hoe s o f T ime and t he R ive r,
i t w as se en th at p re d ic ta b ility ar ose g radu al ly* and in d iffe re n t
ways - the very slow rhythmic periods defined i*i the sequential
t *
re iter a tio n of d istinc tive m aterials, the s lowly evol vi ng
te x tu ra l and dy na mi c gr owt h an d rece ssio n s, ah d also in t he
immedi at e re p e titi o n Of lon ger and o ften mo re c ompl ex passag es
(s uch as th e opening ecomplexes o f 'Froze n Time* and 'L as t
Ech oes of Ti me' ) whe re a c e rta in p re d ic ta b ility em erges- in the
re p e titio n . In reme mbe ring the th e a tric elem ent of th is wor k, .
x t can als o be not ed th a t a ver y obser vabl e p re d ic ta b ility

w it hin the in divid ua l ep isode s, is deri ved from the \ d irec ted
\
m o tio n o f , th e p r o c e s s i o n a l s . ° „ \
-A
« 5 i .>
In terms of the overall design, one of the important
e ffe c ts of the obser vable re p e titio n of lo we r lev el even ts
or episodes is th e ii pp li cation of a. highe r orde ring. (As not ed

_' o' ' * „
in Leonar d Meyer 's remar ks a t th e close o f the se cond chapter.
V
99
( » p ag e 60 ) . One o f th e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c f e a t u r e s o f th e
organization of Echoes of Time and the River is the unpredic
ta b ilit y wh ich is fe lt in the s uccessi on of t he longer episodes.
To a large e x ten t, th is e- lem ent of^ u n p re d ic ta b ility in the
succession of longer episodes is absorbed into the general
evo cationof myst er y a nd rit u a l, but as the work pro gresse s,
p a r t i c u l a r l y a f t e r th e c li m a x in 'C o lla p s e o f T im e ', a c e r t a i n
re g u la rity a rise s in the du rati on of t he longer passages a nd a
c e rta in long ra nge sens e of closu re i s derived fr om general
dynamic direction of the music, suggesting a type of narrative
curve, and the general thematic recall suggesting a type of
arch fo rm. Peihaps the most tan gib le exp ression of a type
o f sy mme tric ar ch f orm closu re is f e lt in the fin a l proc ession als
as the brass a nd pe rcussion gr oups leave the stag e. The ver y
~gen?S£al i m plication in th e lowe r l ev el re p e titiv e pa tterning
oTv a type] of highe r lev el desi gn is the refo re re aliz ed in thi s*
, piffece. The ex a ct na tu re of th e hig he r lev e l meani ng is compl ex,

*
a s alre ad y ment io ned ,, . inv olv ing the th ea tric, themat ic logic
as w ell a s the m ore pu rely musi cal processes ( i. e . processes of
re p e titio n an d dy na mi c and te x tu ra l g ro wth ) an d the strong
symbolic archetypal nature of Crumb's musical imagery.
Crjjiribfe .use of a h ig h ly e v o ca tive m usic al imagery d es erv es a
fu rth e r co \nm§nt in resD ect to .it s ro le in the gu a litv of experience
in h is musi c. As no ted -in the s ec ond ch ap ter, the arch etyp al a nd »
co nn ota tive i mag es Which a ris e w ithin the va rious for mal p a tte rn -
ing s o f Cru mb' s musi c-ha ve strong a sso cia tive mean ings them selves The
c
( jux tap p o sition an d c o n tra st of these image s in bo th the imme di at e
succession of events or in the succession of longer passages
(i .e . the l on g ran ge d isco n tinu iti es or interruptions) creates

a unique ten sio n an d in te re s t as t o how such fundam entally
evo cative a nd co ntra sting ima ge s are brought tog ethe r in
a h igh er ord er o f meani ng. T his, comb ine d w it h th e pacing
of events a nd pass ages dis cussed in th is an alysis crea tes
a sense of suspense in Crumb's music.
Alfred Frankenstein1s remarks on this particular quality

\
of Echoe s o f Ti me and the -R iver ar e wo rt h n o tin g .
"T hr oug ho ut the e n tire sc ore, the big o rch estra

is handled as a series of chamber ensembles,
p e r c u s s io n , w in d s, s t r i n g s , and su ch u n u su a l
additions,as a mandolin - each group handled
separately and most quietly against a background
of to ta l sile n c e . What ha pp en s p rim arily in
this music is a sense that something is going
t6 happ en; th er e are a few loud brassy g estu res
here and there, but they do not really qualify
as ev en ts; the rea l eve nt h a s n 't come o ff when
the music runs out at the end of its twenty
m inut es. Bu t yo u s i t fasc ina ted t hrougho ut.
Crumb has conjur^ji time perhaps more successfully
than he knows."
In a ll fa irn e ss to Cru mb' s wor k, however , i t ha s] been
ev ident in th is d iscussi on tha t t here is a no ti cea ble cl imax
in the| work in 'Co llapse o f Ti me ' whi ch has both an in te re s tin g
composi tional o rigin and a d istinc tive m us ica l e ffe c t. It
should be noted also that Frankenstein's comffifents refer only to
the recorded performance && the Louisville Orchestra and do
( 45. A lfred F ran ke ns tein , Recor ds in Revi ew, 1971, pg. 142.
\ ■“
' not ta ke into account the ro le wh ich th e a tric ge sture plays
in the o v era ll mea ni ng of t he wor k. Crumb is q u ite c o rre ct
when he mentions in the notes to the score that the processionals
imptLy a type of conti nuum . When the pr o c e ss io n a l pla y e rs
ha ve a ll le f t the stage a t the e nd of the 'Last E ch oe s of

\
Time', i t is no t as if the musi c has ende d, b ut ra th e r a s i f
i t has departed t o be con ti nue d some wh ere e l^ e . S im ilarly

a
the im pli cati on of ritu a l or of distan ce , re m ot eness , or
sound s com ing 'a s from a f a r ' which is common in Crumb's m usic,
is vividly reflected in the use of the extended performance
space . In ad dition t o th is , there is an ad de d spo ntane it y
in th e m usical phen om enon o f sounds co mi ng fr om pe rform ers w ho
( are not v isi b le to the audience an d an add ed ex pe ctation th a t
a ris e s in the entr ance of pla ye rs from o ffstag e dur ing ,, the
co urs e of the m usic. Tsadeus Kowzan has m ade some in te re s tin g
ob servati on s o n th is aspect of w ha t he c a lls the ' sp ec tac tula r-
iza ti o n 1 of m usic in the recent a va nt - ga r de *
"Ye t i t mus
appearances, t t hey
be r (instr
ecognizumedenthtal a t,the datre
esp pieces)
ite
ar e not direc ted to a sh ola rly e lite but to a
wide pu blic, and t hey re fle c t c ertain asp irati o ns
and an x ieties of our ti m e. A rtis tic producti ons
in whi ch re a l m ovement is used to the f u ll e s t
extent tend to hold to the maximum the attention
of the spectator of the spectator or listener,
to capture him e n tire ly , to absor b him to
the greatest degree, and to make him a
p a r t i c i p a n t . Tfeey may even p r o v id e him w ith
a .c a th a rsis ."
8
46. Tsade us Kowzan, " Mus ic an d th e P la s ti c A rts: In Conquest

( of Time and Sp ace ," Dioge nes LXXIII, (197 1), p . 19.
1
\
X
1
I
( ; Echo es o f Time an d the R iver in i ts d e p ictio n o f the co ining an d
p a s s in g o f e v e n ts by t h e co ming an d go in g o f th e p r o c e s s io n a l
I
p l a y e r s w ould c e r t a i n l y f i t Kow za n's d e s c r i p t i o n . The r e s u l t
is both a more cle arly de linea ted for mal pa tternin g and a
heightene d a tten tio n on ^the per for mance n ot on ly for the
information in the music but in the performers themselves,,
th e ir mo vements a nd p o sitio n s.
1
Cr umb 's crea ti on of 'la rg e r r hyt hms' in t he succ essi on
of ev en ts is ver y p lain ly app arent in D ream Se qu en ce fo r piano,
p e rc u ss io n , v i o li n , 'c e l l o an d two o f f s t a g e g l a s s h a rm o n ic a s.
* In- th is wor k, the two g las s harmonicas su sta in a high so ft
( dr one through out wh il e the oth e r instrum ents perf orm a long
c irc le mus ic i n three g rou ps - t he pe rcu ssion ist, t he p ian ist
an d the v io lin an d 'c e llo as a duo . The work p rog ress es as a

f ■r
c irc le m us ic creating a l on g s equ enc e o,f iso late d v ^ io n s ,
fre e ly succ eedi ng a nd overl apping with ea ch oth er, a ll at an
extrem ely so ft dy na mi c le v e l. As the wo rk pro gre sses , on e is
very lik e ly to become awa re of a 'la rg e r rh yt hm' in th e in ter v al
of en try of the individu al groups. The p erc u ssio n ist l eaves
from five to seven seconds between each of his fragments, the
p ia n o betw een se v e n an d t e n , aid th e v i o l i n an d 'c e l l o , betw ee n
te n an d th irte e n se cond s so th a t w hil e the perfor m ers play
independent ly of e ac h othe r, crea ti n g a f luc tua ti n g p attern
in the succe ssi on an d overl ap ofe v en ts, there is an
appr oxi mate re g u lar ity w it h wh ich ea ch ofth e pa rts e n ter s.
103
Even larg er r e p e titiv e cy cles can be se en in the design of
the work in th a t e ac h of the cir c le mu sic g roup s re p ia ts its
se que nc e of m aterial over and over u n til th e v iolin an d 'ce llo

ha ve comp let ed three cycles o f th e ir m ateria l. The v io lin
and 'c e llo p arts ar e pa rticu larly in tere stin g bec aus e o f t he
d iff e re n t mood de signa tions of t he ind ivid ua l fragm ents, {in

_ 0* d e r: ’"n er vously * “m is te rio s o * la n g u id ly * , ^ b reath in g * * fra g ile *
I* |i »• i l , M •*
h erv o us ly, sem pli ce, un poco mecha ni co an d b re a th in g ), lik e
short emotional episodes against the delicate and subtle,
b u t e s s e n t i a f l y calm backgro und in th e o t h e r p a r t s . In
liste n in g to th e w ork one is p a rtic u la rly aw are of th e v io lin
an d 'c e llo epis odes per haps becaus e of the larg er in te rv a l of
en try be twee n episodes a nd t he d istin c tiv e nature o f th e ir
m aterial. The re su lt is th at as one cont inues to lis te n to
the wor k, on e become s more in tune to the v io lin and ‘c e ll o 's
interval of entry as a type of-long range meditative rhythm.
The work ends as it begins, with the sound of the glassfc
harmon ica, bu t an add ed cod a ep isode is include d w it h a sho rt '
excited out-break in the piano softening into a 'cicada.

47 t
drone ' („the str in g s i n a sh o rt fr agment of nigh sul p o n ti-
cellotremolo plus sustained harmonic before the final fade out
of the glass harmonica.
47.
The sou nd of the ci cada (a c ric k e t-lik e in se ct f oun d
commdnly, in Spain) is a promine nt i mag e in L o rc a 's po etry
symbolizi ng the n atu ra l ener gy an d warmth of the sun, sinc e i t
emit s i ts hi gh pit ched dr on e in reaction to the su n ligh t.
104
Dream Seq uen ce exempJJr iies both the str eam o f co ns cio us 
n ess , drea m -li ke evo cation in Cr umb' s mus ic and h is use
of a scheme of larg er c y clic al occu rrence. The und erlying
cyclical organization of time is very apparent in the graphic
layo ut of the score, ou t becaus e the individ ua l cy cles are
so l ong a nd becads e tie tex ture re su lts from thre e si m ult aneous
cy cles, the liste n e r /f inds onl y sub tle suggest ions of the large r
cy clic orde r i n the ^r ec ur renc e of certain d istin c tive ge stures.
Even t hou gh th is wo rk is e ss e n tia lly m editat ive in ch arac ter,
a m ar ginal r efer ence is seen to the long ra nge line a r pa ttern ing '
wh ich is c h ar a c ter istic of Cru mb' s sty le. ^ Thi s is evi denced in
the solo drone of the glass harmonica at both the beginning

(
and en d o f the wor k, a t ype of lc fhg ra nge te x tu ra l re tu rn , and
the emer gen ce of a dyn ami c hi gh p o in t towards the end o f the

Ci
work in a se rie s of high re g is te r pi ano cho rds whi ch lea d
ev en tua lly into t he cod a. The p rin cip a l ev en t, howev er , is the
long s ta tic fl ux of vis ions in wh ich t he liste n e r can explor e
the free asso ciation o\ m ateria ls a nd the l arg er rhy th mic structu re
Lux Aeter na fo r s oprano, ba ss flu te (a nd so pr ano rec o rd er ),
si£ar, and two percussionists is another good example of Crumb's

t
co ntrol of t he 'lar g e r rhy thm' w it hin a wor k. I t pr ogresses
as a n alte rn a tion be twee n t wo d iffe re n t mus ics not u nlike tha t

a t the end of Night of Four Mo ons. The f i r s t mus ic in whi ch
'Lux A eterna' tex t is s e t, c o n sists of a numb er of el ements
including the slow chiming of simple melodic whole tone diads
R
e
p
r
o
d
u
c
e
d
w
it
h
p d
e
rm
si
s
oi
n
o
f
t
h TABLE I l l s LUX AETERNA - LONG RANGE PATTERNINGOP PHRASING N
AD DURATION
e
c
o
p Phrase Lengths Duration
y Clock Time
ri
g
h
number of
t b a rs
o
w
n 'Lux Aeterna* 1-7 8-13 14-21 22-28 29-35 26-41
e 41 3*05'
.r
F
u
rt
(7) (6) (7) (7) (7) (6)
h
e
r 'Masked Dance*
re
42-48 1 '17 '
p
or
d
u 'Lux Aeterna' 49-62 63-75 27 2 *02"
c
ti
o
n
(14) (13)
p
ro
h 'Masked Dance' 76-80 5 ' 5*
b i
it
e
d
w 'Lux Aeterna' 81-86 87-93* 13 l'OO"
i
th (6 ) (7 )
o
u
t
p
e
r
'Masked Dance' 94-96 3* 3"
m
is
s
io
n 'Lux Aeterna* 97-103 104-108 109-112 16 1'13"
.
(7) (5) (4 )
'Masked Dance* 113 1 11"
•Lux!' 1 15 "
1
0
5
106
(c ro ta le s p la te d upon timpan i membranes,, and very long
m elisina tic, qu asi i mp rovis ed melodic lin e s (mostl y who le t one
in p itch stru c tu re w it h s ome chr om ati c embell is hment) in
the flu te a nd soprano. The a lte rn a te mus ic (or re fra in )
is e n ti tl e d "Masked Dance: Elegy fo r a Dead P rin ce ", and
co n sists o f a s ita r dro ne o n F w it h a si mpl e re p e titiv e
b u t r a p i d l y orn am ente d l in e in t h e sopra no r e c o r d e r , s i m i l a r
to the Indian ac co mp an ied melodi c sty le s (pa llavi e tc .) .

As seen in the su mmary of th e pr in c ip a l du ration s (Ta ble II I ,
pa ge 105) , th e d u r a tio n of th e - a l t e r n a t i n g s e c t i o n s become
p r a g r e s s iv e l y s h o r t e r , th e 'M aske d D an ce ' by two m easu re s
on e ach .re ite ra tio n and the 'Lu x Aeterna' section by
four teen a t lea st ove r t he fi r s t thr ee st at ements of t h is
se ctio n . As menti oned in the previous c ha pte r, th e work
traces a narrative curve in terms of complexity and activity
reachin g a high po int a t meas ur e seven ty-t wo whi ch is v ery
close to the gol den mean po int in the en tire d uration of
the wor k. Lux Ae terna th er ef o re has a very tan g ib le long
range patterning in the general dynamic contour and in the
successive durations o f the re fr a in , wh ich dwindl es to on e
measu re a t the clo se o f the work. • w
In d ivid u ally , the 'Lu x A eterna' s ec tions form ver y
elegant long and slowly developing lines both in the lyrical
107
p a rts ( f l u t e an d so pra no) an d in t h e p e r c u s s ! ^ g e s t u r e s .
The percussion gestures (antique cymbals are placed on
a ti m pani m em brane, the te ns ion o f wh ich is .sh ifted a ft e r
the an ti qu e cy mb al is struck causing a fluc tu atio n in
the re son anc e o f the an tiqu e cymba l) forming a type o f
recurrent motto figure consisting freely of two
wh ole t one d iad s, one ascending , th e o th e r descen ding ,
or both ascending or both desc end ing. The con ti nu ou sly
cha ngi ng figu ratio n of the dia ds , whi ch a rise also in the
other instruments, creates a type of spontaneous floating
p a tte rn d e v ia tio n . E s p e c i a l l y when i t i s g iv e n in th e
an ti qu e cy mba ls an d from fiv e to e ig h t s econds elap se
betw een p i tc h e s , an i n t e r e s t i n g te n s io n i s c r e a te d i n th e
li s te n e r 's having t o^>w ait to see whi ch way the d iad ic
p a t t e r n w i l l u n f o ld . As w ith s i m i l a r a n tiq u e cymb al
figu res in 'Echo es of T ime a nd the R iv er ', or the retu rn

I
of the 'c ri s ta lin o ' into n ation in "No pi en sa m e n la
llu v ia ..." , the disti nc ti v e ret urn of th is m at eri al deli neates

much of the long er pe riod ic mo vement in the f i r s t two
'Lu x A eterna' se ctio n s.
The scor^\E£veals a certain numerological ordering
in the m etri c d uration of the ext ende d m el odi c lin es of
c' \
108
1
'Lux A eterna' se ction s ihto phrases of s ev en an d t h i r t 
een measures . This wo uld only be apparen t to the li s te n e r'

in terms of a certain longer regularity in the phrase
leng th, bu t i t can b e regar ded as a type of com posit ional
devi ce wh ich is ‘'der ived fr om the r it u a li s ti c concepti on

and p rese n tation o f the w ork. An in te re stin g d e ta il w hich
cre ate s a very st rong and audible sug gestion of the r it u 

a lis ti c order is ' the si ng le occurr ence in ea ch of t he
'Lux A eter na' sections o fa c ris ta lin e qho rd (tubu lar b ells
and crotales) to which the soprano reacts with a signif

ica nt melodi c ge sture. In the la s t three of the 'Lu x
Aetefcna' sec tion s the tub u lar be ll and c ro ta le chor d occur
a t num erol ogical ly sign ifica n t po ints in t he scor e ( th e

• f1
thirteenth bar of the second section, the seven bar of
the third sec tion, and t he th irtee n th bar of the fourth.
In the first section the chord falls on the thirty-third
bar) an d p ro v id e s a r e c u r r e n t f o c a l p o in t fo r a lo ng range
successive c ompa riso n in ea ch of t he se sec tion s. Thi s

5
p a r t i c u l a r g e s tu r e w il l most l i k e l y be u nd e rs to od by
the li ste n e r as a ritu a lis tic a lly imp osed ev en t but its
recur renc^ also re fle c ts inte res ting aspect s of t he lar ge
form of the work such as the general dynamic growth,
(t he c hor d occurs f i r s t as sff z , then in the s ec on d

sec tion s ff fz , then pp in the th ird an d pppp in the fourth)
Reprod uced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited witho ut permission.
109
'( an d the pr omin ent dyad ic pitc h p a tte rn .(th e upper pitche s
’ . " L.. '
of the c ro ta les over the four occurr ences trace the *
m elo dic 'diad s AB, E?, l,i ke the d iad ic w ho le t one p a tter n s
in the ’Lux A eterna' sec tion s] .

V v
— ,'
Ce rt ain othe r rep e titive d e tails in 'L ux Aeter na'
and ' Masked P rin c e ' se c tio n s be come ap p are n t to >the
- liste n e r an§ become a sour ce of p re d icta b ility an d affec ti ve
d e v iatio n as th e work p ro g res se s. One of these i s the w hole
to n e m elo dic p a tt e r n (C# D# F o r B G# D# F which le a d s
into the F drone in each of the 'Masked Danoe' refrains.
I t is in tere stin g to not e the he sitatio n wit h wh ich th is
i pa ttern is co mpl et ed in the tran sitio n to the fin al single

b a r r e i t e r a t i o n o f th e r e f r a i n . S im i la r ly i t can be
no ti ced th at a sing le iso late d ha rmoni c F n atu ral in t he
s it a r in ea ch recurrence sign ifi etT)the end of eaa h of the

> Z' y
'Mas ked Dan ce' se c tio n s. One^dJ hta il o f extreme long range
design is f ound in the l^ ast the " Lux A eterna' sec tio n s
whe re there is a re cSa ll of t he t r il le d cym bal (on the

tim pa ni me mbrane) and ibowed tarn tarn s o n o ri ti e s of the open
ing sec tion , c rea ting a}n iso la te d sugg esti on of a lon g r an ge
arch form.
The interesting sense of temporal order in 'Lux
A eterna ' re s u lts much as in the M adrigal " No pi ens am en la
Reprod uced with permission of the copyrigh t owner. Furth er reproduction prohibited without permission.
110
\
1 J
llu v ia ..." st udied in t he previ ous ch ap ter, fr om a basic
•repe ti ti ve cy clic organ izat ion, (t he altern atio n be twe en
the 'Lux A ete rh^ ' and ' Mask ed Dance se c tio n s) , in whi ch
there evolve additional long range processes - the narra
tive cur ve an d the process o f the sh orten ing' of the du rati on s
of the alte rn a tin g s ec tion s. As in " No pi en si un en la liu v ia
.. ." wh er e (wi th t he re p e titio n o f t he high B -F in the v ib ra-
p h o n e ), t h e r e i s th e s u g g e s tio n o f a ty p e c y c l i c m elo dic
p r o c e s s , a s i m i l a r s e n s e o f to h a l r e t u r n i s f e l t i n Lux
Aeterna in the recurren ce of t he so pra n o's wh ol e tone melodi c

lin e ris in g to the F of the dro ne in the' M asked D ance? se ctio n . <
and in the recurrent F natural harmonic at the end of
the ' Ma sked Da nc e' se ctio n s. Li ke the re tu rn of the 'c ri s ta lin e
in t on ation in the sh o rt M adr iga l, the rep ea ted cho rd s i n
the 'Lu x A eterna' sec tions c rea te a sense of an other ver y sl ow
evolvi ng proce ss in connecti on with the lo ng ra nge dire c tion

\
of the music.
v
Music fo r a Summer Even ing ’ (Mak rokosmos I I I ) fo r two
am plif ied pi anos an d two p er c u ss io n ists, is Cr umb 's l on gest
compos ition t o date a nd as the su b title s sugg est, i t
creates an episodic representation of a conception of
s p ir itu a l cos mic o rd er. The work com pri ses a n arch fo rm in
five movements a^ indicated by the following timings and
sho rt de scriptions of the stru c tu ra l c ha racter of e ac h 'of
V.
ill
the movements.
TABLE IV: STRUCTURALOUTLINE OF MUSIC FOR A SUMMER EVENING
I . 'No cturna l Sounds ' 5'1 7 " very lon g range , gradual .. .
(The Awakening) dynamic and textural
crescendo ,
I I . . 'Wand er er Fan tasy' 5' 12" sequ ential altern ation of 4•

m ateria l b et ween playe rs
implied arch form return
‘ a t en d
I I I . 'The Adven t' 4'10" two long crescendo gestures

in an ostenato rhythm followed
by an echo sequ en ce o f d i f f e r e n t
material
/
'Hymn fo r the N a ti 3'50" responsive segments between
vity of the S tar p la y e r s - tw o l o n g e r ra ng e
Child' rep etiti v e cycl es (at d iff eren t
p i t c h e s ) and a t h i r d in v o lv in g
a type of echo overlap between
p la y e r s
IV. 'Myth* 4'57" sequential succession of

gestures, underlying isorhythmic
N structure
V. 'Musi c fo r a S tarry -
N ig h t'
Introduction 4' 2Q" dra m atic> sequ ence of m ate rials
'Song of Reconcili 7'40" long range dynamic and textural

ati on ' gr owth (o ste n ato rh yt hm) ve ry
" gradual fade ou t.
ca n be se en in the stru c tur al ou tline of the piece, the re
is a^ o n slaten cy in the paci ng of episodes wit h the four
to f i&e minut e du ra tio n s, leading to the extended s ev en

K-
min ut e "Song of R e co n cilliatio n '.
1
12
\
The placem ent of a long exten ded mo vement a t th e end of

*
th e w o rk 'is found in m any of Crumb' s wor ks as a type o f long
ran ge c los u ral g estu re, in th is wor k, as i n the co ncl udi ng

c
'Music fo r th e En d o f Time ' in Vox B ala n ae , the - 'So ng of
R ec o n cilliatio^ ' has a po etic sign ifican ce , a s a. type of
spiritual contemplation of the eternity of time.
'■S* *
The l ong range arch for m of t h is wo rk is ap pa rent, only
to a ver y li m it ed ex tent in the re c a ll th emati c m ateri al
b u t i t can b e se n s e d q u i t e c l e a r l y i n th e v e ry lo n g dy na mic
ge stures of the openi ng a nd closing p iec es , an d i n cer tain
more tenuous correspondences between Wanderer Fantasy and
'My th! A lthou gh 'M yth 'is isorhy thm ic and *Wande re r - Fant asy *
is e ss e n tially a seq ue ntial e xc ha ng e of passages be twe en
p e rfo r m d r s , b o th c r e a t e th e im p r e s s io n o f a d y n a m ic a ll y
s ta tic progress ion of bl ocks of m ateri al in co ntrast to
th e l ongj 'dynami c g e st u re s. An adt iT 'tiio nal correspon den ce
ca n be s ee n in the fa c t t ha t' W cê ser-Fa ntasy co nsists

moftly of an interaction between'the two pianists
i
and'Myth* is almost exc lusiv ely for th e two p e rc u ssio n ists.
The ' Hymn fo r th e N a tiv ity o f the S ta r C h ild' makes

use of the sh o rt re ite ra te d G re gori an Chan t»- like figu re
up on wh ich a repe ated f if th figu re from t he en d of the j

lh
introd uc ti on of th is mo vement intrude s in eac h o f the three
sequen ces o f th e hymn. Wi,th 'Hymn fo r th e N a tiv ity o f the
♦
1
113
S tar C h ild' as the cen tre of the a rch f a©m, i t ca n be s een

f '
how in Music for a Summer Evening, Crumb again?in juxta-

.posing a series of only vaguely related episodes,
cre ate s a s ens e of u nde rl ying po etic an d for ma l org an ization .
I t is wo r.th looking in d e ta il a t o ne passage of Mu sic
fo r^ i Summer Eve ni ng as a n ex amp le of th is p a rti c u la r sense
of underlying poetic and formal order which Crumb creates.
'Music fo r a S tar ry Ni ght* be gin s w it h a sequen ce whi ch fe a tu re s

o *>
#
the co n trast b et we en wide ly d iffe re n t sty les not unlike Lux
A etern a o r th& end of Night of Four Mo ons. • ^ e ^-wo s ty le s
in t h is cas e ar e t he m yster ious,atona l son o rit ies ty pica l
of Cr umb 's sty le (p a rtic u la rly promin ent among these is a
cas cadi ng figure recu rri ng rit u a lis tic a lly un ch ang ed wit h
the d irection of " fa n tas tic, oracular") and a qu otat ion

i
from Bach, Well Te mper ed C la v ie r , Volume I I , Fugue Number
E^g ht. The passage p ro g res se s as summar ize d in the schem atic
diagram (Tabl e V, p age 11$) in a suc ce ssion of in d iv id u a l

events which create a type of larger rhythm ip^their relative
du’ra tio n (the pr edo mina nce of s ix , seve n and e ig h t' se con d
du rati on s) an d the i m plica tion o f a type of cy clic for m

<4
in th e ir recurr ence. I t i s in tere stin g i n lig h t of Cr umb 's
numerologicai devices to note the fivefold occurrence of
the cascading arpeggiation in correspondence with the
fivefold galactic bells of the following'Song'tJ^ Reconciliation!
"O
“5 ^
o
Q.
C
o
CD
Q.
w
it f
h
p
e
mr
is
s
io
n
o
f
th TABLE V: SCHEMATIC DIAG
RAM OF THE DURATIONAL PATTERNING IN THE INTRODUCTION
e
c TO'MUSIC FOR A STARRY NIGHT'
o
p
y
ri
g
h
t
w
o opening chordal 'cascading ' cascadi ng chordal gliss over
n
e
trip le t + arpeggiation* arpeggiation' tr ip le t CLn echo) low pno.,
.r resonance + repeated note strin g s +
F
u 7" figure resonance
rt 6" 6 " 7" 8"
h
e
r
r
e
p Bach 'cascading m id»register mid and gliss over
or
d quotation j t r p e g g i a t i o n -* trill lower low pno,
u
c
ti
register stin gs +
o trill resonance
n "striving but falling"
p
r
o
h
ib
24" 5" 5" 41 6"
it
e
d
w Bach chordal ‘cascading •cas cading g liss over
ti quotation
h
o
triplet arpeggiation* arpeg giation* lo w pno.
u (in echo) strin g s +
t
e
p "striving but falling" + repeated resonance
rm note fîture
i
■m 1*
s 22" 4’ 15" 4' 6 6 6
s " ‘ " 6"
i
o
n
.
1
Bach 1
4
quotation
1 • f
"striving, att aining ! 13
24"
115
<■> a £
At the b eginning of th e p assa ge , Cr umb p re se n ts a
q u o tatio n fr om R ilke, "Und in de n Nachten f a l l t die sc hwer e
Er de au s a lien Ster nen in d ie E insam ke it . Wir a lle fa lle n .

tfnd *doch i s t e ine r welche r d iese s F allen un^ndli ch S an ft
in sein en Ha nden h a lt" ('And in the n ig h ts the heavy ea rth

•>
is f a llin g from a ll th e st a rs down into lon eline ss. We
are a ll fa llin g . And yet the re i s O ne who hol ds th is fa llin g
en dlessly in Hi s hands. ") wh ich is d irec tly refle cte d in
the music
o
in the downward cascading arpeggiations in the pianos
and in the u pwa rd 'striv in g ' but 'fa ili n g ' of the Bach
qu otation . The quo tat ion en ters ver y su rrea listi c^ ally as a
type o f n ostalgic reco ll ec ti o n, ami d the 'roa r of d ista n t
thunder' (t he gl is sando over the l ow re g iste r p iano string s)
and in it s f ir s t t wo occurrences, as indicated in the sco re,
i t 's mel odi c l ine rise s but des cends at the end . The th ird
occurr ence of t he quo tat ion h ow eve r 's tr iv e s ' to a c lea r
ca d en tial p oint in to F # major a t whi ch, by a ll imagina ble
to n al e xp ec taion s, the E# mus t ri s e to F#. Crumb has eve n
ma rke d 'atta in in g ' a t th is po int in the score, and the t
th irtee n sec on d pa us e leaves the lis te n e r h an gi ng in a n tic i
p a t i o n o f some Ejort o f r e s o l u t i o n o f t h e E# . The r e s o l u t i o n
oc cu rs in ^-re m ark ab le w ay. The E# , transp ose d up an ac tave
and transfig ure d wit h t he ad dition o f t he c rota les on the
same pitc h , bec om es the f i r s t of thre e pitc h es (E# , D #, B#)
^ in a sl ow a nd g en tly descending chorda l figu:iûi

re (s even sec onds
Y
116
on each chor d) whi ch is the f i r s t of t he ’Fivefold G ala ctic
B e lls' of the ' So ng of R e co n c illi atio n '. From th is poin t
the ' Song of R ec on cilliation 1 extends to the en d of t he wo rk

in a very long an d gradua l dynami c sw ell and fa d e- o u t.
I t is in tere sting to no te in / connect ion wit h the key
p i t c h e s o f t h i s p a s s a g e , t h a t i t i s p a r t o f a c o n c e p tio n
of to n a l c e n tre s on D# and F# whi ch C rumb has e x p lo ite d
e a rl ie r in 'Th e Advent 1. In 'Th e A dv ent', i t is s een in
the opening crescendo gestures as well as the sequences
of "H ymn fo r th e N a tiv ity o f S ta r Ch ild" yj hich c e n tre on D #
and jF§ bu t i n the Ba ch qu otation , i t ia a cas e of mel odi c
line ris in g from D# mi no r to n a lity and never qu it e a tta in in g
F# m ajo r.
Much of t he un fo rg etta b le-e ffe c t of the introd uc tory
p a s s a g e o f 'M usic f o r a S t a r r y N ig h t' i s f e l t i n th e su sp e n se

^ . °
of £he longer rhythms and juxtaposition of the disparate
el ements but per haps t he mos t strik in g xe ature is th e doubt
and expectat i on tha t ari ses a t t he c rucial 'a ttain in g '
p o i n t of t h e f i n a l o c c u rre n c e o f t h e q u o ta ti o n a s t o how
the E# w ill be m eaningf ull y reso lve d . Th e solu tion i s

tI •
sta rtlin g and reveal i ng, a negati on of the tra d it ion al
str u c tu ra l, emot iona l ’t ende ncy of the to n ality in the
quotation, but the indication of a higher meaning in which

( ' the E# has a n eleg an t pp etic and s tru c tu ra l mea ni ng, as i t
Reprod uced with permission of the copyrigh t owner. Furth er reproduction prohibited without permission.
117
is repe ated over the closing episode of the w ork i n th e
'Five fold G alact ic B e lls'. Sim il ar to the depict ion of
the 'C o llap se o f T ime' in Ec hoes of Ti me a nd t he R iv er ,
th is intro du cto ry pas sa ge t o 'Musi c fo r a Starry Nigh t' is
a go od exampl e of Crumb' s o rg a n iz a tio n of the tempora l and
emoti onal q u a lities of d iffere n t musi cal m ateri als wit hin
an underlying poetic design. ’
Alt hough the fou r wo rks disc us sed in th is c hap ter
p r e s e n t w id e ly d i f f e r e n t v a r i a t i o n s i n C ru m b's t r e a tm e n t o f
long-r ange design, i t has be en po ssible to iso late in th is
discussion important aspects of Crumb's general organization
( of m usic al ex pe rienc e.
A ll of the wor ks stud ied (an d indeed a ll of Crumb' s
wo rks in gen eral) c o n sist of a. succession . of sh o rte r
episodes in which there emerges a type of long range form
o r p ro ce ss . In Echoe s of Time and th e R iv er, Mus ic fo r a

Summer Even ing, an d Lux A etem a, the ep iso d ic q u a lity o f the
W 1 1 1 — ii^—I
ge nera l design is qu ite tra n sp a re n t. In Dream Seq uen ce
i t is le ss immedia tel y obvious , bu t no nethe less p res en t ami d

>
the gen eral fl ux of m ateri als o f the c irc le mus ic. . In a ll

*
case s, clo se ly a ssoc iated wi th t he! episodic organization
of m ateria l is a t ype of l on g ra nge p a c in g . T h is c o u ld

i
| be no ticed mos t rigoro usly in Lux A eter na in the gradu al
I (
118
shortening of the durations of the alternating sections,
b u t an i m p o r ta n t lo n g e r ra nge p a c in g was a ls o o b se rv ed i n
Echoes of Ti me and the River ( the re la tiv e c on sistenc y o f
the f if ty to seve nty s ec on d d uration i n the successi on o f
episodes) and Music for a Summer Evening (the succession
of four to five minute pieces leading to the seven minute
•Song of R e co n c illiatio n ’ a t the en d of‘ th e work). In
Dream Sequence a si m ila r though m uch s h o rte r pacing b eco mes
apparent i n/ the ten to th irtee n se co nd inte rv al of entry
be tw een th e v i o l i n an d 'c e l l o e p is o d e s th u s c r e a t i n g a ty p e
of vagu e and m ed itative longer rhyt hm during the extended
circle music flux of events.
In iso la te d pass age w it hin the wor ks disc usse d, i t was
p o s s ib le to n o t i c e and stu d y C ru m b's tr e a tm e n t of v e ry sl ow
rhy thm s in the seque ntial re p e titi o n o f d istinc tive ti m bral
and g e stu ra l m ate rials . Instan ces o f th is ab ou nd in Ec ho es
of T ime -and the R iver, b ut i t was als o observe d in Lux
Aeter aa (t he sl owly unfolding dia d ic p attern s) an d i n M us ic
for a S ummer Evening (in'M us ic fo r a S ta rry Night* in t h e
abundance of six to eight second durations and the distinc
tive , re p e tition s of the cas cadi ng ar peg giati ons an d the
Bach qu ota tion ) . Much o f t he e ff e c t of such passages cou ld
be u n d e r s to o d i n te rm s o f th e c l a r i t y o f th e r e p e t i t i o n s ,
b u t v e r y slo w pace o f t h e s e q u e n t i a l p a t t e r n i n g w hich c a u s e s

( '
(. <
the lis te n e r to w ait an d e xt end the nor mal perceptua l
i spa n in ord er t t> grasp the suspected pa ttern in g as i t un folds.
The f ou r wo rks discu ssed in th is ch ap ter exempli fy in
th e ir d iv e rs ity the gen eral conce ptual free do m wit h whi ch
Crumb de term ines the lar g e sc ale form an d mea ni ng in h is
* m u sic. Each e x p r e s s e s a di f f er ent ty p e o f po6 t i c r e pr e s e nt -
a tio n . In E ch oe s of Time and the R iver i t is the r it u a l a nd
states of time consciousness involved in a type of continuum
and th e a tr ic d ram atic for m. Musi c for a Summer Evening

p r e s e n ts i s o l a t e d v i s i o n s o f a cosm ic o r d e r , w hich d e s p i t e
the lack of thematic repetition between movements imply
( a ty pe of m yster ious und erl ying arch for m in th e ir suc cess ion.
Lux Aet ecn a a lter n a tes be twe en t wo e ss e n tia lly m editat ive
b u t c o n t r a s t i n g s t y l e s i n a v e ry g r a d u a l p r o c e s s w hich ev o
much of the r it u a l and sens e of temp oral expa nsi on in the

f
title . In Dream Se qu en ce the sens e o f po etic r ep rese ntation
is ver y st raigh tforw ard, in the st a tic dr on e of t he glass

[ harm onica and th e p ia n is s im o f l u x o f e p i s o d e s . I t i s i nt er e s t
ing to n ote th a t both Lu x A etem a an d Dr eam Se que nc e p res en t
] over th e ir lo ng ra nge org an izatio n proc esses whi ch ha ve

6
I be en noted to occur w it hin ind ivid ua l episodes in Cr umb 's

If musi c: c ir c le mus ic an d th e a lte rn a tio n be twee n two
5
\ d istin c tly d iffe re n t sty les (as in the 'Musi ca Humana ■
( W „
I aihd.the "Mus ica Mu nd ana1 a t the en d of the N ight of Fou r
(' ■
|j Moons). .
12 0
)
Ve ry ge n era lly in the wo rks stud ied , howe ver , Cru mb' s
two common idi om s of long ra nge u n ity ^ th e n a rra tiv e curve
an d the arch f or m are in evidence. The n a rra tiv e curv e

%
is fou nd q u ite d is tin c tly in both L ux Aeterna an d Ec ho es
of Time and the River, and the suggestion of arch form is

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- i
an important aspect of the overall unity in Echoes of Time
and th e R iv er and Musi c fo r a Summer E ve nin g. Eve n in
Dream Seq ue nce whe re the c e n tra l o rga n iza tion of m ate rial is
(
a co mp lex flu x of m ater ial * there is the sug ge stion of arch
•Vi
form in the solo drone of the glass harmonica at the beginning
and end of the wo rk, a nd a sl ig h t im plication o f na rra tive
curve in the short dynamic outburst of the piano which
subsides into the pianissimo coda.
121
C
HAPTE
RI
V: SU
M
MAR
YAN
DPERS
PECT
I
V E
It has bec
ome g
eneral
ly ap
pare
nt in t
hsi st
udy h
tat
C
rum
b's style com
bines Im
port
ant element
s of wha
t ca
nbe
des
cri
bed(usi
n g R
och
berg
's e
t rm
inol
ogy) as th
e t
'em
pora
l'
a
n d 'spa
tial' images of um
si
c, or mo
d es of experi
ence
w hich
are d
ominated
respect
ivel
y b
y th
e sub
ject
ive an
tici
p ati
on
a
n dob
ject
ive acc
eptance of musi
cal even
ts. I
nthe di
s-
cuss
ionof the gen
eralfeat
ures of
Crumb's musi
cal lan
guag
e,
*
it w
as se
enthat o
n e of th
e pri
n ci
p al p
oints o
f interes
t in
his styl
e is th
e i
n teg
ration of avari
ety of m
usi
cal m
ater
ials
a
n dtyp
es offo
rmal or
ganiza
tion (b
othtrad
ition
al a
n d
(
avantgard
e) w
ithin a larg
er hi
erarc
hi
cal desi
gn. M
uc
hof
the fundamen
tal nature C
of
r
u m
b's com
binati
onof adi
versity
of m
ateri
al
s c
a nbe under
stoo
d in ter
ms ofth
e ass
oci
ation
of hi
s musi
c w
ith the p
oetry of
F ed
eri
co G
arc
ia Lorc
a.
This is evi
den
t bothin C
rumb
's ri
ch n
a
dhigh
ly ev
oca
tive
soni
c m
ia ger
yw hichreflects the dream
like aware
nessa n
d
myster
ious primitive spiri
tual
ismof Lo rca's s
tyle, a
n din
C
rum
b's use of ob
vi
ous repe
titionswhichsugges
t mo
re
simpl
istic pop
ular form
s. Inter
m s o
f'musi
cal im
te, Cr
u m
b's
musi
c, like Lorca'
s poet
ry, co
m bines he
t mo
re spo
ntan
eou
s
a
n dUnpred
ict
able stre
amof con
sci
ousness fe
ef
cts with
/
the m
i plicat
ion h
tro
ughva
riou
s for
ms of re
turna
n d
re
pet
ition of a long r
ange for
mal des
ign.
122
In furth e r exploring Cr umb 's m usi cal l anguage, it
coul d be see n th a t ce rtain re la tiv e ly si litpl e com posi ti onal
idi oms fi gu re prominent ly in the ba sic p re d ic ta b ility a nd
q u a lity of m usic al t ime w it hin ind ivid u al passages or
episodes. Ve ry ge ne rally, the na ture of both lower leve l
and longer range p atte rn in g in Cru mb' s mus ic re la te s to t wo

4
b a s i c m u sic a l an d p e r c e p t u a l f o r c e s , t h e s e n s e o f dy na mic
form and co n tinu ity (t he ly ric a l an d dram ati c ge sture s,
the lon ge r rang e cre sc en di and dixmnMendi and the n a rr a tiv e
curve} and the sense of an ordered sequence of differentiated
un it s (the rep e tit iv e or re itera tive pa tt em ings or t he
ar ch for m). The rep etiti o n of d istin c tive m ateri all ô r
ge stures in Cr umb' s mus ic cre ates both a n i so late d p red icta
b i l i t y w ith in th e r e p e a te d m a t e r i a l o r p a s s a g e , and an
implication of a longer range sequential patterning which can
b e N d is co v e re d by th e l i s t e n e r . I t w as h o te d g e n e r a l l y
that^the very slow pacing of events in such sequential repe-

<
titio n s in many pass ages had t he e ff e c t Nof al lowing the
lis te n e r ti me to grasp t he rich tim b ral nuan ce of Cr umb 's
sounds, but also made the longer range sequential organization
less rea dily apparent ^caus ing t he liste n e r to-ext end his
normal perceptual span in order to fully apprehend the
sequential design.
t /
123
Thh nature of the rep etitio n in suc h seq ue ntially
org an ized pa ssag es has m uch to do w ith the. sen se of temp oral
dir ect ion in in di vi dua l episodes. Ex act, u nd ev iating re p e titio n s
crea te the i m press ion of a s ta tic , undevelopi ng s uccession.
Gr ad ua l proc esses, are impli ed th ro ugh varied re ite ra tio n s

\
or de viations in recu rren t ev en ts. A numb er of d iffere n t/
types of gradual processes were seen in Crumb's music
involving simple melodic, harmonic or rhythmic developments
or t he atric in terac ti o n b etwe en player s (i.e .,' e c h o '
responses etc.) or processes of gradual dynamic growth

or decay.
A fu rthe r sus pensi on of the sense of direc ted time is
found in Crumb's music in the more complex passages which
resu lt' from the superpositi on°*d if fer ent repeating cycles
of m ate rial. In the case of t wo cy cles evolvi ng si m ult
an eo us ly, (as in 'M yth 'of Musi c fo r a Summer Evening or
the ope ni ng pro ce ssio na ls of 'Frozen Ti me1 of E choe s of

Time and the R iver) the r e s u lt i s a si m ple sequen ce of
events with obvi ous recurrenc es but with an un predictable

o rd erin g . In th e case of more than two super impose d
cycles of m aterial as in the inst anc es of cir c le m us ic,
the e ffe c t is th a t o f a c om plex tex ture of ôver la ppi ng
events an d in whi ch ce rtain figu res o r g estu res spont aneous ly
124
p r o tr u d e an d a re n o t ic e d by th e l i s t e n e r . The g e n e r a l
sense of complexity and unpredictability in the occurrence
of events in passages of circle music is often accompanied

>
by i s o l a t e d in s ta n c e s o f r e p e t i t i o n and a s e n s e o f d i r e c t i o n
in t he gr adual ri s e and fa ll in tex ture as the individua l
p a r t s e n t e r and i n t u r n com ple te t h e i r c y c l e s o f m a t e r i a l .
In add it ion to t hese basic toc de5 o f orga niza tion,
certain other common traditional types of passages like

<
the ostenato r hyt hms, the drone , various ly ric a l style s

and even instances of quotation or immitation of tonal
or m odal sty le s , a ris e in Cr umb 's mus ^c , ea ch ha vi ng i ts
own uni que st y lis tic tempor al q u ality wh ich is integra ted
into a larger meaning.
Cr umb 's m usic, the re fo re , p rese nts a type of composi te
image in wh ich a type of la rg e r sca le pro ce ss is implied in
the succession of episodes of distinctively different

m aterials and org an ization s. In the se con d ch ap ter,
i t waa noted th a t v ery co mmonly in Crumb' s m usic, the suc cess

ion of episodes creates the impression of long range arch form
or n a rra tive cu rve . Th e 4 longer wo rks stu die d in ch apter 3,
d i d f wit h d ifferin g degr ees of c la rity , re fle c t t he pr es enc e

W*
o f t hese long er r ange idi om s, bu t in a d d itio n , m uch o f t he
grea t div ers ity in the form of. thes e pieces can b e attribu ted
, 125
- ^
to the presence of other long range processes of
dev el opmen t wh ich are link ed to d iff e re n t ev oc ations and
p o e ti c a s s o c i a t i o n s in v o lv e d in th e in d i v i d u a l w ork s. As
a
wit h the^p rocesses observ ed in the form alôrganization of
individ ual ep isode s, the sense of l ong ra nge d ire c tio n

f «»
is dependent upon the clarity and predictability of the
%
p ro c e s s . E x act and u n d e v ia tin g r e p e t i t i o n s o f l a r g e r %
episodes cre ate a sense of st a tic undevelopi ng fo rm ,
as do the juxtap^jositions of apparently unrelated episodes.

i
The sense of a longer range process in Crumb's music arises
very simply from the creation of noticeable differences
and no ti ce ab le re latio n sh ip s be twee n episod es. The c la rit y
^ of lo n g ran g e d e s ig n i s t he r e f or e , one o f th e key f e a t u r e s
In the analysis of the p a rticu lar global q u ality of musi cal
f time in .t he four wo rks stud ied in ch ap ter th re e . Despite
■the co nsidera ble d iffe ren ce s in th e long range design of
these works a common feature among them (besides the
reference to arch f orm an d n arr ativ e cur ve) is the in teg ra l

role of the paci ng of the longer d uration in the long r ange
organization and effect.
Dream Sequence, as noted in the lower level episodic
inst ance s of girc le musi c, exem pli fi es a ty pe of s ta tic
m edi tat ive proce ss - s ta tic in th a t-i t e x ists o n a co nsistent
ppp o r pppp dy na mic l e v e l and t h a t th e i n d iv i d u a l e p is o d e s
_ ----
126
wh ich a ris e spontaneousl y ar e m ore o r le ss u n related .
The a c tu a l pro cess o f D ream Se que nc e i s obvious in the
scor e - the s imult aneo us supe rposit ion of t hree rep e tit iv e
separate cycl es of m aterial , but in the listen ing
experience the very gradual process is only sensed in the
reg ula r interv al of entry o f t he v io lin a nd 'ce llo epi sodes
and in certain noticeable but unpredictable repetitions of

*
d istinc tive gestures wit hi n the ext en de d fl ux of m ater ial .
A more rea d ily app arent lon g r ange proce ss is e vide nt

in Lux Aet ema in the even tual ly pred ictable and ri tu a lis tic \
a lte rn a tio n between the 'Lux A eterna' an d 'Mas ke d Dan ce '
sec tions . Integ rated into th is sim p listi c proces s ho we ve r,
is the very subtle and interesting long range development in
the gradual shortening of the duration of the alternating
se ctio n s, and the tra cin g of a l on g r an ge na rrativ e cur ve.
As in the s low pace d seq ue ntial re p e titio n s in the l ower lev e l
org an ization of Cr umb 's mu si c, the uni que e ff e c t of L ux

A etema can be see n in the very transp are nt org an ization of
ext remely long du rations in to t he gradua l proc ess. The lis te n e r
is free to take in the spontaneous details of the individual
epi sodes but mu st stre tc h his perceptual spa n to ta ke in
; the longer ran ge p ro ce ss.
i (
127
Echoes o f Time and th e R ive r and Musi c f o r a Summer

S
'
Ev en ing ha ve the v er y g en eral sim ila rity th at the y presen t
in their successive episodes radically different formal
org an izatio ns an d temporal q u a lit ie s . In Ech oes of Time an d
th e R iver, th is was s een i n the ju x ta p o si tio n of sl ow a nd
transparent echoing sequences with more complex unpredictable
c ir c le music p a ss ag e s. Mus ic fo r a Summer Evening p res en t's
th e c o n tras t o f ver y long a nd p red ictab le dyn am ic gesture s
with episode s wh ich fe atu re a more se q y in tia l and dynam ical ly
s ta tic org aniza ti on . Be ca us e of the ex treme co n tras t in

the nature of the ind ividu al episodes, the globa l sens e of
time in My sic fo r a Summer Evening is th a t of a st a ti c
succession, but as noted in the analysis, despite the absence
of thematic return in this work, there is the strong
im plication of an u n d erly ing ar ch fo rm i n th e tex tu ra l an d
ge stural cor re spondence s b et we en t he f ir s t an d la st epi sodes
and bet wee n t h e s econd and fo u rth . This ca n be co n tras ted
» to Echoes of Time and the River where the arch form is strongly
impli ed i n the cf^ ner al t hem ati c retu rn bu t i t is no t ev ident
in te rms of the tex tu re an d orga niza tion of £ he,. ind ividu al
episodes.
| A furth er in tere stin g point of sim ilarity betwe en the
trea tm en t 6f m usical ti ipe in th es e two wor ks can be
noti ced in th e ir in vol vemen t of st rong ly ’goal d irec ted 1
128
^ ep isod es (the o sten ato of the 'Co llaps e of Ti me' and the Ba ch
I
qu otation in 'Mus ic fo r a S tarry N ight') in a larg er
f
p o e t i c m ea nin g th u s u s in g t h e 'd i s c o m f o r t ' o f c o n t i n u i t y
(t o re fe r ba ck to Kramer 's rema rks c ited in the f ir s t
chapter) within a larger context.

i
Echoes of Time and the R ive r is th e most comple x of
'fhe wor ks d isc u ss e d in th is stud y and* th e m o ss e s Is+WvT to
an y cate g o riza tion in te rms of any on e sp e c ific type of
long range pro cess . Th e gen eral succe ssion of epis odes
in t h is w ork i s r itu a lis tic and un predictable, but the
epis odes the msel ves in th e ir succession are highly im plicati ve
of a long range meaning in terms of the various elements
of textural and thematic return and in terms of the proc
es sio n al m oveme nts an d apparent th e a tric in ter a c tio n s bet wee n
the play ers. In the an aly sis, i t c oul d be se en tha t
inti m ately conne ct ed w it h t he p a rticu la r treatm ent of the
long r ange arch for m and n a rra tiv e curve o f th is work
are the po eti c i ma ges of sta tic 'fro ze n 1 time, a ' co ll ap se'
or tempor al d isco n tinu ity and the no ti on of the 'riv e r of (
tim e' as a conti nuum w itho ut beg inning o r end. Much of the
sense of ti me as an en dless cont inuum is im plied i ri th is
wo rk in the ending wher e de sp ite th e elements of clo su re
(t he gen eral themati c return an d the dep art ure of the ^
p ro c e s s io n a ls ) t h e r e i s an e le m e n t p f o p e n n e ss an d
! ( 1 ^
&
: \
Reprod uced with permission of the copyright owner. Furthe r reproduction prohibited withou t permission.
/
12 3
'/
i
(
co n tinu ity in the in trodu ction of n ew thematic m aterial
and in the fact that there has been no suggestion of arch

for m return in te rms of t he tex tural organ izati on of t he la st
movement.
> In placing Crumb's music in perspective with other
sty les o f t he av ant-garde, two in te re stin g compa riso ns
can be ma de . As m entioned in the second c h a p te r, Joan

o
Kunselman-Cordes has discussed Crumb's music along with that
of several other contemporary American composers as a reflec

tio n of so me of the fe a tu re s of 'monumenta li sm' whi ch is
c h a ra c te ris tic o f the mus ic of Ch arl es Ive s. Among these
co mpos er s, t he 'str eam of con sciousness' na rrative-d ram atic

^
conception of musical form is found significantly in George
. . .
R och berg's Mu sic fo r the Mag ic T hea tre (1965) in whi ch ther e
is a thematic and theatric treatment of this musical time
sim il ar to t he p o etica lly conc ei ved org anization of m ateri als
which was see n in Crumb' s Ech oes o f Tim e and the R ive r and th e
'Music fo r a S ta rry N igh t' of Mus ic fo r a Summer Evening.
Ro chbe rg' s c omm ents o n Mu sic fo r the Mag ic T hea tre re fl e c t
much of the same general conceptions of time and form
th a t w as discussed in con nection with Cr umb 's music.
"Ev en thoug h o th e r com posers (V are se, W eb ,

M ahler, Beet hoven) a re qu oted , my prim ary /
in te re st w as no t i n a r aw or lit e ra l p resentati on
130
of a variety of sources, but rather in the

p r o j e c t i o n o f an a lm o s t c in e m a tic s e r i e s o f
shifting
comb ineideas
in a and
n inelevels
v itabwhich nevertheless
le fashion , d esp it e
sharp combinations and paradoxes to produce
a to ta ]/u n ity . In it s co mbi na tions
of the past and present, of seemingly acci
de nta l , u n rela ted ima ge s wh os e pl acement in the
str eam of t ime obeys no ap pa rent lo g ic , the
work partakes of the state of dreaming - whether
asle ep or aw ak e; an d -l ike a ll dre ams, i t
becomes a f a n t a s y , a f i c t i o n o f th e m in d, non-
theless rea l." 48
if
While this is not the place for a detailed analysis of this
work , f t is of in te re st to note s ome sim ilar ity in the
com posit ional id ioms invo lved in th is wo rk with those o f

Cr um b's sty le. The ju x ta p o sitio n of dispa rate el ements
in sub tl e tr ansi ti ons or shar p co n trasts is inti m ately linked
to an underlying theatric narrative meaning which Rochberg
has m ade e x p lic it in the study score in the foll ow ing
intr od uctions to the three ac ts of the wo rk.
Ac t I: ' - "in whic h "t he pre se n t and p a st ar^

a ll m ixed u p .... and i t is d iff ic u lt t o deci de
or know wh er e r e a lit y is ."
Ac
no tstalgic
I I : -be"in a whi
u ty ch
... athendpac astllshaunts
to u s us w itthe
from h i ts
deeps and inner spaces S i hea rt a nd m ind .. .
b u t th e p a s t i s a l l shad ow an d dr ea m -
in su b sta n tia l. . . an d we don1 1 hol d o n to
i t bec aus e t he p resen t is too pres sing ."
Ac t I I I : - "in w hi ch we re a lize tha t only
the present is re ally b ad .. . be ca us e i t is
a ll w e have, b u t in the en d i t too is shado w
and dream and d i s a p p e a r s - i n t o w h a t? H *
48 . Geo rge Rochberg. Musi c fo r t he Ma gic T h e a tre , (New York ;

De sto C.M.S. Reco rds", 1975 DC n o te s on re co rd c o v er .
, t 49 . Geor ge Ro chberg, Music fo r th e Magi c T h e a tre , (Br yn Mawr
!
> P e n n s y lv a n n ia ; T heodore P r e s s l e r , 1 9 6 5 ).
1
Sim il arl y, the i nterac ti on of musi ca l the atric e n tities
( is po rtray ed as wa s observed in Cru mb' s m usic, in th e pacing
of the succe ssi on of episodes as w ell as th e ir occ asiona l
superposition and in various correspondences in pitch and

instrum en tati on s ome of the va rious m a ter ia ls. Anoth er
in te re stin g fea ture in th is wo rk wh ich is also f ou nd in
sev era l o f Cr um b's pieces i s the dramati c an d po etic s ig n ifi-

I
cance of a n extended passage or piec e w ithin a wor k. In
Crumb' s mu si c, th is wa s o fte n observed in the fi n a l m ovement
or passage of a wo rk (a s in the 'Son g of R ec o n ciliatio n ' of
Music fo r a S ummer Even ing o r th e ' Musi c f o r th e En d o f Ti me'
or V ox Ba lanae) b u t in Ro ch berg 's Mu sic fo r the Mag ic T hea tre
i t is the s ec on d ac t,(co n sistin g al most e n tire ly of a r ew or k-

$
ing of Mozart's Divertimento K. 287), which constitutes a
i
sim ilarly ext ende d du rati on , represe nting th e captiva ti ng
b e a u t y o f th e m usi c o f t h e p a s t .
In re la tio n to Crumb an d Roch berg' s th e a tric or 'al m ost
ci nem at ic' use of con t ras ti ng sty listic m ater ial s i t is inte r
esting to make note of an observation made by Jonathon Kramer
on the role o f th is ele ment in wh at he fee ls to b e a 'glob al
sta tic ism ' in c ont emporar y musi c whi ch is achie ved t hrough
the ju x tap o sitio n of highl y co ntrasti ve musi ca l m ateri als
and organizations.
"My asse rti on th a t st aticism is rela tive to

context is su ppor ted by sty listic a lly ec lectic
music such as W il liam Bolc om's F res co es , some of
the music of Peter Maxwell Davies, George
50. Se e foo tno te 14 of ch ap ter one.
Roch erber g's Thir d Q u arte t, or to g o bac k to th e
source, several works of Ives such as the two
p ia n o s o n a t a s , P u tn a m 's Camp o r p a r t s o f th e
Fourt h Symphony" In a l l of these p ie c e s,
there ar e tonal se ctio n s al ongside nont onal
p a s s a g e s . T o n a lity i s h e a rd as a p o s s i b i l i t y o f
the pa rticu lar com posi tion, but surely not a s i ts
univer se of disc ou rse. The re su lt is tha t the
tonal sections are rendered static by co^Jrast
with the various nontonal surroundings.
Although Crumb's music presents the same contrast of highly
d istin c tiv e and apparentl y u nrelated m aterial s w hi ch are
c h a ra c te ris tic of the moment fo rm pieces whi ch K rame r d iscu sse s,
i t do es no t represent t he s ame sta tic an d d irec tion less
glob al con text whi ch Krame r observes of th is m usi c. S im ilarly,
in comparing Crumb's music with Rochberg's Music for the Magic

Th eatr e i t ca n be noted th a t Rochberg' s wo rk makes in te re sti n g
use of a theatric program, but presents an essentially non
directed image whereas Crumb's music makes more perceivable
reference to long range musical processes and idioms of
coher ence i n t he jux tapp osition o f m ate rials, and ap paren tl y
les s system ati c u se of t he th e a tric pr og ram.
The-presenceîn Crumb's music of both the gradual
p r o c e s s and th e a l l u s i o n to r i t u a l e x p e r ie n c e i n v i t e s a
more contrastive comparison with the music of Steve Reich.
In mu ch o f R eic h 's music (Four O rgan s, Dr umming)a sl ow and
gradual process evolves through repetitions of simple tonal
51. Jon atho n Kramer, " Moment Form in Tw en tieth Century

M usic, " The M usi cal Q u a rter ly , (1978), p . 1 83 - 184.
133
p a t t e r n s , which s y s t e m a t i c a l l y become tr a n s fo rm e d in way s
wh ich become highly pre dic table to the lis te n e r. R eich's
own comments on the gradual process of his music are

p a r t i c u l a r l y w ort h n o t in g :
rung to an extremely gradual musical

''op en s my ea rs to i t , bu t i t al ways
f a rt h e r than I caiTTaear ancT th a t
makes i/t interesting to listen to that
musi ca l proces s ag ain I be g in't o perceive
the&e minute details when I can sustain close
men tion an d a- g rad ua l pro ces s in v ite s my su s
tained a tte n tio n .. By "gradua l" I mean extrem ely
^gradual ; a pro ce ss happ ening so slow ly and
graduall y that liste n in g to i t res emble s wat ch ing
a minut e hand on a watch - yo u c an pe rce ive i t
moving af te r yo u stay w it h i t for a w hile."
In comp ari son, the very s ^ w rh yt hms of Cru mb' s n ^s ic
sim ila rly tend t owar ds dimensi ons whi ch extend fa rth e r th an
th e /e a r ca n he ar, an d sim ilar ly put a n empha si s u pon t h e
uni que an d su b tle q u a litie s of soun d wh ich Crumb c re a te s in
h is music. In t erms of a lon ge r ran ge proc ess Lux A etem a
an d Dream Se qu en ce pre sen t the lis te n e r w it h a sense of
sl ow mo veme nt whi ch c an only be f e l t with su sta in ed clo se
a tte n tio n much like the m ore mechanic al a nd un de viating

p r o c e s s e s o f R e ic h 's m u sic . A v a lu a b le g e n e r a l o b s e r v a t io n
on the re c e n tin te re st in gradua l m usi cal processes has b ee n
made by Roger Reynolds in his description of what he terms
the "close perspecti ve" of m usi cal experience.
52. Steve Reich, W rit ings Abou t Musi c, (H alifax : P res s

of the Nova Scotia College of Arts and Design Publication
1974), p. 11.
134
t
( "I n the v isu al metapho r, the close pe rspec ti ve

would involve the relative enlargement/of event
size and the consequent slowing down of the whole
p ro c e s s o f r e c e i v i n g and e v a l u a ti n g co mpone nt
it ems in a ofsucp cess
canvases a in teion.
r Mark TheRohu geo co
thk ar elorofte
fie nldseen
■
d elibe rately hu ng s o th a t i t is impossi ble t o
step ba ck fa r e no ug h t o gai n s u ffic ie n t ph ysic al
d istan ce -to taka in t he w ho le a t on e glance.
Unable to register instantaneously the
p r o p o r t io n s o r c o l o r b a la n c e s o f t h e w hole
in the ways a painting is usually apprehended,
the vi ewer is forced to sear ch visu a lly an d store
impressions in time with a perhaps capricious
b u t n o n e th e le s s s p e c i f i c c h ro n o lo g y . One has t h i s
fe e lin g in La Monte Young's "The T o rto ise ,
His Dreams and Journeys" and in some of the njusic
of Te rry R iley and Steve Reich wher e an extrem ely
close perspe ctive is u se d ... The pac e of evolution
in th ese work s i s sl owed d own to a degree th a t
"events" as musicians normally think of them
* do ho t seem to e x is t. .. . S ligh ts nor mall y
"unimp ortant " d e v iatio n s w ill assum e a new status."
The interesting feature of contrast between
R eich 's mus ic a nd what coul d b e considered 'pro ce ss p ie c e s'

i
in Crumb's st y le (Lux A eterna and D ream Sequences) is the
apparentl y oppos ite nature of th e ir m u^cal m ateri als -
Reich's use of mechanical uniform objective sounds and
Cr umb 's use of a l yrica ], ric h ly sub jective an d conn otati ve

t
imagery.
"!>
53 . Roger Re yno lds, Mind M ode ls, (New York, Pr a e g a r, 1975)

p . 2 0 7 -2 0 8 .
j ' (')
13 5
In co n clu sio n , a f ew remarks ca n be made rega rdin g

t
‘ th e r e l a t i v e m e r its o f th e p e r s p e c t iv e o f 'm u s ic a l t im e '
in the an aly sis of contemporar y music. The approach taken
in th is study has very si mply been to give an account
of the basic ele ments of sty le and stru c tu ra l proce dur e
whi ch ca n b e taken to co n stitu te a gi ven m usi cal l ang uag e,
and t hen to analyse sp e c ific wo rks in t er ms of th e p a rtic u la r
,elements which give rise to the subjective anticipation of
ev ents ( i. e . a sense of p rocess o r dev el opment ) an d those whi ch
co ntrib u te to a n o bjec tive accept ance of even ts w it hout
a n ticip a tion . Given the g rea t v ariety of musi ca l l anguages
in c ont empora ry musi c, th is p ers p ec tive ,as purs ued her e (and
< no tably elsew here in th e w ritin g s o f Mey er , l a Rue , Na rmou r,
Kr ame r e tc .) o ffe rs a v iab le middl egr ound be twee n the
extremes in the analysis of musical structure and the descrip
t i on of esthe ti c e ffec t. It is pa rt icularly suitahle
for the discussion of styles like that of George Crumb
which create a new context for traditional formal organization^

sit
resulting in a distinctively different sense of tonal order
in music.
In studying the e sth e tic e ffe c t and sens e of m usi cal
p r o c e s s e s i n i n d iv i d u a l w o rk s, i t h as a l s o b ee n p o s s i b l e
to re la te c e rtain fi nd ings in experi m ental ps ych ol ogy
I ( p a r t i c u l a r l y th o s e p r e s e n t e d by P a u l F r a i s s e i n t h e
■ ; f i
f
£ %
Ii
I
1
'N
Psychology o f Ti me) rega rdin g the fundam ental per-ceptual
tendenci es and the v er y basic a b ility to a ssoc iate events
î n seq uence . Th ese finding s a nd fu rth e r rese arc h in th is
area c an be of p a rticu lar in te re st i n the st udy of musi cal
V time from a more compositional view point since they offer
«k some insig h t in ob jectifying the per ceived e ffe c t of c erta in
One f in a l advantage whi ch can be suggested in pursu ing
and developing the perspective of musical time is that it
p r o v id e s a b a s i s f o r th e d e s c r i p t i o n of th e n a tu r e
of t he ac ce ssib il it y of d iff eren t s tyles to thei r audi ences .

■\
The p a rtic u la r musi cal log ic by whi ch co n tinu ity an d dis-

)
co n tinuity is under st ood i n C rumb 's sty le ca n be re la ted to tha t
of compa ra bl e but dive rgen t sty le s like those of St eve
Reich or George Rochberg in developing a more general under
st anding o f the st y lis tic d irec tion s and tendencies wh ich
are of influenc e in cont empor ar y a r t j nus ic.
w
#
137
(?, ' B I B LI OG RA PH Y
Borwi ck, D. "T he ins tru m en tal th e a tre pie fie: An in tr o 

du ctio n to form and a n a ly s is ." Woodwind Wor ld an d
B ra ss, X V, 4(19 76 ), 35-36 .
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nou vell e de la m usi que, P a ris : Pub li c'at ions
(Jniversitaires de France, 1949.
C h a te rje e , M arg are t. "Towa rd a Pheno menol ogy of Time

C onsc iousne ss in M usic," D iogenes, LX XIII (Spring
1971), 49-56.
Ch at ma n, J . "Cr umb' s M adri gals Book I I I , a lin e a r a n a ly sis,"

In Theo ry Only, II (De c. - Ja n ., 1975-1976), 55-79.
C h ild s, Barn ey. "Time and Music: A Co m poser's View ,"

P e rsp e c tiv e s of N ew M usic, X VI (Sp ring and F a ll , 1977 ),
154 - 5 1 9 :----- -----------------
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Publishers, 1967.
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C liffs, N .J. : Pren ti ce H all , 19 76 .
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Jo u rn al o f Mus ic T heo ry, XII (1968) , 86-103.
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V II (1963 ) , 174-1 92.
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1975.
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the R ive r," in Reco rd s in Rev iew. G reat B arrington
Mass.: Wy eth P re ss , 1972.
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P ers p ec tive s of New M usi c. II (F a ll —W inter, 1963),
I4rf5i:— ---------------------
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138
Kra mer , Jon atho n. "M ulti ple a nd N on linear Time in B eetho ven 's
Opus 135," P ers p ec tive s of New M usic, XI, 2( S p rin g -
Summer 1973), 122-143.
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S c ri b n e r, 19 5TT "
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Reich, Steve . W rit ings Ab ou t Mus ic, H alifa x , N .S.: Press

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de S elinc o u rt, B as il. "Mu sic and D uration ," in R eflecti on s

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Century
54-88. M usic, " Jo ur na l of Musi c Theory, V III (196 4),
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_ icto
___ rio u s EEX
x pp
re
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C asterm an n, l9 7 T \ ! 7
*
DISCOGRAPHY
Crumb, Geor ge. A ncien t Voices of C h ild re n . Jan de G ae tan i,

mezz o; ..Mich ael Nash, tr e b le ; Contemporary Chamber
En sem ble, A rth u r W eisberg cond. 'Non such 7/2-5*5* n o te s
by th e co m p o ser.
Echo es of T ime and th e ’R iv er . L o u isv ille

O rch estra, Jorge M es te r con d. L o u isv ille LS 71 1.
r
____ _ Lux A ete rna , Dream' Seq uenc e, Four N oc turn es.
' Jan de G ae tan i, soprano; Penn Contempora ry P lay ers ,
R icha rd Werni gk cond. Aeolean Chamber P la y er s, Lewi s
Kap li n d ir ’., Le wi s R ose nb lit h, v io lin ;. Da vi d Ha ge n;
p ia n o . Colu m bia Ody ssey Y 352 01.
_________ M adrigals, Bk. s I-IV. E lizab eth Sude rb er g

sopran o, Dav id Shrader pe rcu ssio n , F e lix Sk ow ronek
f lu te , Pamel a Vokol ek h a rp , W. Ring er Warne r dou ble
b a s s . T o urn ab o u t TV -345 23 .
J N ig h t ,of Fou r Moons, Vox Balanae. Jan de

~~ Gaetani* mezzo * The Aeo lean Chamber P la y e rs . Col umbi a
M*32739, n o te s by th e compo ser.
Musi c fo r a Summer Ev en ing . G ilb e rt Kalish,

James Freeman piano, Raymond Des Rosnes, Richard
F itz pe rcussion . No nsuch 9 /3 // , no tes by the co mp os er,
Rochb<§iawr_George. Music fo r th e Magic T h e a tr e . Chamber

SyOT&pny. Penn Contemporary P la y e rs , R ich ard Wernick
Cond. De sto C.M.S. R ec ord s, DC 6444 D197 5, n o te s by
the composer.
141
o LIST OF SCORES
V
'-•J Boulez,han Pds.

ierre London:
S truc ture s eVol
U n iv rsa . l, 1;1955
fo r 2 pian os, 4
Cage, John 4 '3 3 " ; New York: Thenmar P re ss 1967
Crumb, Geor ge An cient Vo ices o f C h ildre n ; fo r ôp rano ,

b6 y s o p r a n o , o b o e , m a n d o li n , h a r p , e l e c t r i c p ia n o ,
p e r c u s s i o n . New Y ork , C .F . P e t e r s C o rp ., 1971
Crumb, Ge or ge Bl ac k A ngels: fo r e le c tric s trin g qu a rte t.

New York C .F . P e t e r s C o r p ., 1971
Crumb , George Dream Seque nce Images I I ) fo r. p ia n o ,

p e r c u s s i o n , v i o l i n , 'c e l l o ana tw o o f f s t a g e g l a s s
** ’ harm on icas. New York: C .F. P e te rs C o rp., 19 78
Crumb , George Echoes o f Ti me and th e R iver (Echoes II ) :

four pro ce ssiona ls fo r o rch es tra. M elv ill e, New
Yor k: Bel win M ills P u b lisin g Corp.* 1968
Crumb, Ge or ge Lux A etern a; fo r soprano, a lto f lu te ,

s it a r , two p e rc u ss io n ists . New Yo rk: C.F. P ete rs
C o rp .,1 972
Crumb , George >M ad rigals Book I ; New York : C.F . P e te rs

Corp., 1972
c.
Crumb, George Musi c fo r a Summer E ve nin g; (Makr okos mos
II I) fo r two a m p lifie d .<?pranos and p erc u ssio n (two
p l a y e r s ) . -New Y ork : C .F . P e t e r s C o r p ., 1974
4
Crum b,b aGeo

n jo ,rgec e lNight
l o , p eofr c Four
u s s i o nMo
. ons;
NewfoYrork
al : toC^.Fal. to flurs *
P ete £e,
C orp ., 1970 «
'
Crumb, Geor ge Song s, D rone s, .and R ef rain s o f De ath;
for bari t one, e lec tric g uitar, e lec tri c contt abass,
e le c tr ic piano, pe rcu ssion . New Yo rk: C.F. P ete rs
Corp., 1971
Iv es , C harles Thr ee Plac es in N ew England^ an o rch e stra

s e t. Bryn, ka w r.. Pa. ., T. P re sa fe r C o., 1935
L ig e tti, G yo rgi Atmos pher es ; fo r fu ll orc he stra w it ti out

p e r c u s s i o n , u n i v e r s a l , 1971
r 0
142
Q \
L ig e tti , Gyo rg i Volumina? fo r organ. Fra nk furt H. L ito ff
1968
Rochberg, Ge or ge Music fo r the Magic T h ea tre ; fo r a chamb er

en se mbl e of fif te e n p la y e rs. Bryn Mawr, P a.,T . P re ss-
l e r Company. 19*72
Stockhau sen, Karlheinz Gru ppe n; fo r thre e o rc h e stra s. London
Universal, 1963
Xenaki s, Iann is M etastasis; for fu ll orc he stra. Lo ndo n,
B oo sely and Haw kes , 1967 ' «
* ex ce rpts fr om these sco res photocopied w it h perm iss ion

of the publisher.
■O

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s i

AN ANALYSIS OF MUSICAL TIME IN SELECTED WORKS

A th e s is subm it ted to the G raduat e Fac ult y

in p a rtia l fulfil lm en t of the re qui rement s

for the degree of Master of Arts

JOHN Mac KAY

Thesis su p e rv iso r: Paul V. Pedersen

The author gratefully acknowledges the co-operation

o f C.F. P ete rs C orporation a nd Bel win M ill s P ub lishing -.

Corporat ion f o r th e ir permissi on to re prod uce the various

excer pts referre d to i n t h is st udy. A spe cial not e of

■thanks is owed to George C rumb fo r h is p e rs o n a l commun

ication offering both the encouragement of his interest

in th is th e sis as w el l a s val uabl e advice in t he selection

of co mpos itions for de tai led a n a ly sis ..

The approach taken in th is study of m usical time ,

is based on the differences between various contemporary

con ceptions o f m usical f orm a nd the d is tin c tio n made in*

cu rrent th e o re tic a l w rit ings bet we en ob jective an d

sub jective m usi cal experience. A discu ssion of t he

b a s i c e le m e n ts o f Ge orge Cru m b's m u s ic a l la n g u ag e e x p lo re s

h is inte g ratio n of tonal an d t imbral m ateria ls a nd discusses

a n umber of im po rtan t influe nc es on h is music fr om both

tra d itio n a l and av an t"gard e-styles. As fou nd in the an alysis

o f se lec ted wor ks ("No pi en sa m en la ll u v ia .. ." , Madri gal s

e ff e c t of Cru mb' s mus ic can .be understood in te rms of his

control of t he c la rity of fo rma l pa tt ern ing and his struc turing

com par es and c o n tra st s Crumb 's musi c w ith th a t o f tw o o the r

de pa rt pr emid re ment , la differen

e s t observSe gener, el ement chez le s th e o ric le n s du vi ngt ifcme ,

sife cl e. Un ap erg u des 6l 6m$nt s fonda roe ntavi x de la lang ue

m usical e d e G eo rge Crumb p o rte sur 1 'in te g ra tio n de div ers

m at eri aux de to n a lite e t d e ti mbre ej t met an re li e f un

nofnbre d'influences sur sa musique <qui viennent des styles

{ e t tra d itio n e ls e t av ant-gard es. .Comme i l e st de mon tre da ns

les a nalyse s des ouevres c h a ra c te ris tiq u e s ("Mo pi ens am en

la ll u v i a .. ." , M adri gals Bk. 1, Ech oe s of T ime an d the

R iv er , Dream*Seq uence , Lux A ete rn a, e t Music fo r a Summer

y Eveni ng) un eN gr an de p a rtie d4 l 'e f f e t es the tiqu e de la mus iqu e

1 de George Crumb p e u t s 'e xp l i qu e r p a r s a mani&re de c on t r ol e r

la c la rite du de ssein forme 1 e t par sa fa con d e stru c tu re r 1*

de Geo rge Crumb e s t m ^se eh pa ra ll& le avec c e lle de de ux

^ a u tre s com positeur s Araer ic ai ns a c tu e ls.

ABREGE .................................................. .‘ ............. iv

LIST OF EXAMPLES............................. ..vi

LIST OF TABLES .................................................... v ii

CHAPTER I : In tro d u c tio n and P re lim in ar y

C onsiderat ions in t he A nalysi s

CHAPTER I I : Cru m b's M us ica l Language .. 14

CHAPTER I I I : A n a ly sis of S e le c te d Wo^k s, 63

CHAPTER IV: S ummary and P e rs p e c tiv e . . . . 121

LIST OF SCORES ............................................ 141

EXAMPLE I : "No’ p ie n sa n en l a l l u v i a , y se han

EXAMPLE I I : C lo sin g Episod e o f 'Fro ze n T im e '.. 77

EXAMPLE I I I : F lu te C irc le M usic'and C los ing

EXAMPLE IV: The C la ri n e t and F lu te P ro c es s

EXAMPLE V: Ope ni ng Echo Complex fro m 'L a s t

TABLE 1: Formal O u tlin e of 'C an cio n

de Jin e te ' ........................................ 22

* TABLE I I : O utli ne of P rin cip al Passages

of ' Echo es of T ime and the

, TABLE I I I : Lux A e te rn a - Long Range

Patterning of Phrasing and