George Crumb

Makrokosmos

Innova 313

1. Primeval Sounds (Cancer)

2. Proteus (Pisces)

3. Pastorale (Taurus)

4. Crucifixus (Capricorn)

5. The PhantomGondolier (Scorpio)

6. Night-Spell I (Sagittarius)

7. Music ofShadows (Libra)

8. The MagicCircle of Infinity (Leo)

9. The Abyss ofTime (Virgo)

10. Spring-Fire (Aries)

11. Dream Images (Gemini)

12. Spiral Galaxy (Aquarius)

13. MorningMusic (Cancer)

14. The MysticChord (Sagittarius)

15. Rain-DeathVariations (Pisces)

16. Twin Suns (Gemini)

17.Ghost-Nocturne (Virgo)

18. Gargoyles (Taurus)

19. Tora! Tora! Tora! (Scorpio)

20. A Prophecyof Nostradamus (Aries)

21. Cosmic Wind (Libra)

22. Voices from “Corona Borealis” (Aquarius)

23. Litany ofthe Galactic Bells (Leo)

24. Agnus Dei (Capricorn)

In 1971, George Crumb set out to compose aset of piano pieces; the preludes of Debussy and Chopin as well as WellTempered Klavier of J.S. Bach come to mind as prototypes. What emerged aftertwo years of painstaking distillation, Crumb’s Makrokosmos Vol. 1 & 2 foramplified piano, has proved a worthy heir to its 18th and 19th century analogs.Makrokosmos is a multi-dimensional odyssey through a universe of metaphysicaltimbres created via a compendium of extended piano techniques. These includethe use of metal chains, paper on the strings, wire brush, paper clip, metalthimbles, whistling and Latin incantations. Crumb closes the ‘magic circle ofinfinity’ with these exceptional works, fusing performer with instrument, musicwith timbre, primitive with modern, terror with romance, lyricism withviolence.

Taking advantage of state-of-the-art digital recordingtechnology, producer Marc Wolf & Engineer Jeremy Tressler have capturedGeorge Crumb’s timeless Makrokosmos in stunning detail, clarity and dynamicrange, promising to take the listener literally inside the guts of a 9 footSteinway. If you need to own one version of Makrokosmos, this is the one!

"Laurie Hudicek's brilliant,commanding, and virtuosic new recording of George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volumes 1 and 2,can immediately take an honored place beside the classic recordings by DavidBurge (of Volume 1) and Robert Miller (of Volume 2) . And, given the fact thatshe has generously recorded both volumes, this makes a handier one-CDcollection that either of the earlier.

Her tempos and interpretation are decidedly her own. So isher voice. But it is just as alarming to hear her soprano shouts of"Christe" and "Tora" and moanings as it was to hear Burge'sbasso. She captures all of Crumb's madness and mystery. The presenceshe brings to this CD is nothing short of stunning." - MarkAlburger , 21st Century Music, June 2002

The work in question is a pair of piano sequences based uponthemes of the zodiac. Crumb’s soundworld, for those unfamiliar, can be sparseand magical. Laurie Hudicek takes this work most seriously...but this new one by Hudicek earnsspecial praise for givingeach of the two times twelve pieces its own soundworld without losing anyof the total architecture. Superb graphic design and the booklet includesexcellent notes as well as the spiraling graphic score." -SteveKoenig, Jump Arts Journal, February 2004

"Pianist Laurie Hudicek tackles whatmany consider to be one of the monumental pieces of 20th century repertoire for solo piano. .A greatrecording of a true masterpiece." -New Music Box

"... It takes a daringmusician to pull it off with such aplomb. Hudicek attacks the piece with equalparts finesseand sass, resulting in one of the more provocative CDs for solo pianoto come along in quite a while." -Andrew Ervin, Washington CityPaper, August 2-8