In the past I have not really enjoyed experimental contemporary piano music, but I was really intrigued by some of the sound effects and novel textures George Crumb created in writing Makrokosmos. The title is derived from a cycle of piano pieces (Mikrokosmos) by Béla Bartók, a 20th-Century composer Crumb deeply admired.
The four volumes of Makrokosmos are scored for amplified piano, which is similar to the prepared piano by John Cage (inserting items into strings like screws, bolts, etc. to create various timbral effects). The amplified piano instead requires the performer to use all aspects of the instrument. That is, rather than be limited by playing the piano using just its keyboard, Crumb calls for direct pizzicato (It. 'plucking') of the piano strings (capable on a grand piano by opening up the cover), muting the strings, producing artificial harmonics (by pressing lightly on the strings to change the available length for vibration), dropping various objects on the strings (e.g. metal rulers), scraping the strings with the fingernails, "ghost notes" (I don't know the actual name for this technique, but I have played around with this myself; playing some keys of the piano silently and allowing their sympathetic vibrations to impact the music played normally with other keys), and other extended techniques.
Though the first two volumes call for a single performer on solo amplified piano, but Makrokosmos IV (the fourth volume, Celestial Mechanics: Cosmic Dances for Amplified Piano, Four-Hands) calls for two performers on a single amplified piano (and at one point even calls for the page turner to participate in the music making). A wonderful program note has been written by Steven Bruns regarding especially the first two volumes of Makrokosmos (themselves masterworks of piano literature, augmenting the possibilities of the instrument and seriously shaping the direction of contemporary piano music). Rather than quoting the entire thing here — though I highly encourage you to go read the program notes — I will share some of the things Bruns has written for some context for these pieces.
Makrokosmos IV is split into four pieces, each of which I've written a quick description of here:
I. Alpha Centauri — The opening piece of the cycle focuses predominantly on interlocking rhythms with atonal cluster chords and repeating notes. While Crumb begins to incorporate components of the amplified piano in this piece (such as string striking, etc.), they are used relatively sparingly; you can think of the opener as a sampler for these techniques. As the closest star to the Solar System, 'Alpha Centauri' represents the closest relationship to conventional piano playing.
II. Beta Cygni — One of the stars of Cygnus the Swan, this gentler movement makes particularly enthusiastic use of artificial harmonics on piano strings. This requires the players to lightly place their fingers at different points along the strings in order to change what length of the string actually vibrates and produces a note. These notes are typically dynamically muted and have a softer texture or 'timbre.' The effect is that notes played on the piano (especially in the higher range) sound like natural harmonics on the harp. Explorations of the timbre of artificial harmonics with trills (alternating with sopra or full-tone notes) and harmonic glissandi (where the placement of the muting hand slides over the strings) also characterize this movement.
III. Gamma Draconis — From Draco the Dragon, this movement is far more violent than the two preceding it. Dropping metal rulers on the strings with haunting glissandi by strumming wide swaths of the piano strings directly, low artificial harmonics with lopsided 'time signatures' (rather, impressions of lopsided time signatures), rapid and brusque textures and rhythms, and polytonal imitations with half-step dissonances and divergent key centers make this movement particularly hair-raising.
IV. Delta Orionis — Orion the Hunter is the symbol of this final cosmic dance. Frequent pizzicato repetition, "ghost notes" as I described earlier (with changing combinations of silently depressed keys), artificial harmonic trilling from Beta Cygni, forearm cluster chords (literally whacking the keyboard with the forearm), knocking on different parts of the piano (also known as frappe), etc. are used throughout the movement. The "Cosmic Canons" combine conventional playing (on the keys), frappe, artificial harmonic glissandi, and string pizzicato across the soundboard. The surreal textures makes for an ethereal texture that is so hard to pinpoint — precisely Crumb's intention by expanding the scope of the piano's instrumental faculties.
I knew nothing about George Crumb to start with when I first heard his music, so I hope this provides some context! Leave your thoughts on the pieces below and see you in the next one!
[1] Bruns, Steven. "Makrokosmos I & II". Program note on DRAM. <https://www.dramonline.org/albums/george-crumb-makrokosmos-i-ii/notes>
The four volumes of Makrokosmos are scored for amplified piano, which is similar to the prepared piano by John Cage (inserting items into strings like screws, bolts, etc. to create various timbral effects). The amplified piano instead requires the performer to use all aspects of the instrument. That is, rather than be limited by playing the piano using just its keyboard, Crumb calls for direct pizzicato (It. 'plucking') of the piano strings (capable on a grand piano by opening up the cover), muting the strings, producing artificial harmonics (by pressing lightly on the strings to change the available length for vibration), dropping various objects on the strings (e.g. metal rulers), scraping the strings with the fingernails, "ghost notes" (I don't know the actual name for this technique, but I have played around with this myself; playing some keys of the piano silently and allowing their sympathetic vibrations to impact the music played normally with other keys), and other extended techniques.
Though the first two volumes call for a single performer on solo amplified piano, but Makrokosmos IV (the fourth volume, Celestial Mechanics: Cosmic Dances for Amplified Piano, Four-Hands) calls for two performers on a single amplified piano (and at one point even calls for the page turner to participate in the music making). A wonderful program note has been written by Steven Bruns regarding especially the first two volumes of Makrokosmos (themselves masterworks of piano literature, augmenting the possibilities of the instrument and seriously shaping the direction of contemporary piano music). Rather than quoting the entire thing here — though I highly encourage you to go read the program notes — I will share some of the things Bruns has written for some context for these pieces.
As is true of most of Crumb’s music, the rhapsodic, quasi-improvisatory impression of many passages in Makrokosmos belies an extremely precise compositional design. The voluminous compositional sketches for the work reveal the composer’s meticulous planning, from the large-scale formal shape of each volume down to the smallest details. Chopin’s manuscripts confirm that the apparently “free” filigree* in certain passages is in fact the result of painstaking revisions. Crumb’s sketches illustrate a similar concern for a perfectly balanced musical conception. Just as pianists come to appreciate the intricate architecture of Makrokosmos in the process of rehearsal and performance, the design of each piece and of the whole crystallizes for listeners after repeated hearings. [1]*Examples of the 'filigree' Bruns writes about include some of his Études: Op.10 No.4, No.5, No.7, No.8 or Op.25 No.1, No.2, No.6, No.11.
Makrokosmos IV is split into four pieces, each of which I've written a quick description of here:
I. Alpha Centauri — The opening piece of the cycle focuses predominantly on interlocking rhythms with atonal cluster chords and repeating notes. While Crumb begins to incorporate components of the amplified piano in this piece (such as string striking, etc.), they are used relatively sparingly; you can think of the opener as a sampler for these techniques. As the closest star to the Solar System, 'Alpha Centauri' represents the closest relationship to conventional piano playing.
II. Beta Cygni — One of the stars of Cygnus the Swan, this gentler movement makes particularly enthusiastic use of artificial harmonics on piano strings. This requires the players to lightly place their fingers at different points along the strings in order to change what length of the string actually vibrates and produces a note. These notes are typically dynamically muted and have a softer texture or 'timbre.' The effect is that notes played on the piano (especially in the higher range) sound like natural harmonics on the harp. Explorations of the timbre of artificial harmonics with trills (alternating with sopra or full-tone notes) and harmonic glissandi (where the placement of the muting hand slides over the strings) also characterize this movement.
III. Gamma Draconis — From Draco the Dragon, this movement is far more violent than the two preceding it. Dropping metal rulers on the strings with haunting glissandi by strumming wide swaths of the piano strings directly, low artificial harmonics with lopsided 'time signatures' (rather, impressions of lopsided time signatures), rapid and brusque textures and rhythms, and polytonal imitations with half-step dissonances and divergent key centers make this movement particularly hair-raising.
IV. Delta Orionis — Orion the Hunter is the symbol of this final cosmic dance. Frequent pizzicato repetition, "ghost notes" as I described earlier (with changing combinations of silently depressed keys), artificial harmonic trilling from Beta Cygni, forearm cluster chords (literally whacking the keyboard with the forearm), knocking on different parts of the piano (also known as frappe), etc. are used throughout the movement. The "Cosmic Canons" combine conventional playing (on the keys), frappe, artificial harmonic glissandi, and string pizzicato across the soundboard. The surreal textures makes for an ethereal texture that is so hard to pinpoint — precisely Crumb's intention by expanding the scope of the piano's instrumental faculties.
I knew nothing about George Crumb to start with when I first heard his music, so I hope this provides some context! Leave your thoughts on the pieces below and see you in the next one!
[1] Bruns, Steven. "Makrokosmos I & II". Program note on DRAM. <https://www.dramonline.org/albums/george-crumb-makrokosmos-i-ii/notes>
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