Because
George Crumb's atmospheric compositions are usually scored for chamber ensembles and filled with myriad quiet effects, his larger-scaled orchestral works may be more difficult to recognize and appreciate. The private tone that
Crumb practically trademarked, in such works as Ancient Voices of Children and Music for a Summer Evening, is harder to find in his largest ensemble pieces; though his gestures, quotations, and advanced techniques are similar, they are less intimate and affecting in such a public "forum" as the orchestra.
Crumb's intense vision is blurred in A Haunted Landscape (1984), which, due to fat string textures, busy woodwinds and brass, and sustained violence in the percussion, resembles a horror film soundtrack. Star-Child (1977) still has enough of
Crumb's mannerisms to be identifiable, but the vastness of his forces, his apocalyptic texts, and his Ivesian complexities make the work too pretentiously epic to really touch the emotions. Of the three works here, only Echoes of Time and the River (1967) retains its period magic, since at this stage in his development
Crumb was still exploring his soundworld and had not yet begun to parody himself or to take himself too seriously. The
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, under Thomas Conlin's direction, delivers competent performances, and soprano
Susan Narucki is exceptional in Star-Child. Bridge's sound, though, is only decent.