OPEN REHEARSAL: GEORGE CRUMB American Songbook II - A Journey Beyond Time
Watch Sandbox Percussion, Ellen Hwangbo and Kenneth Overton rehearse for George Crumb’s epic American Songbook II - A Journey Beyond Time in preparation for the weekend’s concert Colors of Debussy & Crumb! A free window into a once-in-a-lifetime concert.
Go behind the scenes and observe CMNW’s world-class musicians working together to put the finishing touches on the music for upcoming performances. An informal Q&A follows the rehearsal.
Reed College, Kaul Auditorium
Wednesday, 7/13 • 11:00 am
Program
Click on any piece of music below to learn more about it.
- GEORGE CRUMB American Songbook II - ‘A Journey Beyond Time’
GEORGE CRUMB (1929-2022)
American Songbook II - A Journey Beyond Time (42’)I. Swing low, Sweet chariot
II. Joshua Fit de Battle ob Jericho
III. Steal away
IV. Oh, a-Rock-a My Soul
V. The Pregnant Earth: Psalm for Noontide
VI. Sit down, Sister
VII. Nobody Knows de Trouble I See
VIII. Go Down, Moses
IX. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
One of the defining elements of George Crumb’s approach to writing music was his affinity for the particular acoustics of different environments, like the echoing mountains and river valleys of his West Virginia childhood. Crumb, who died earlier this year at the age of 92, believed every composer’s music reflected, consciously or not, the “inherited acoustic” of their childhood sound-world.
Crumb was most at home composing chamber music: works for solo piano, piano, and voice, and most particularly, piano(s), voice(s), and percussion. He began his American Songbooks series (there are seven in all) in 2001; the initial idea came from a request from Crumb’s daughter Ann, for an arrangement of Appalachian folksongs. “In undertaking the task I was, in a sense, returning to my own Appalachian roots. Indeed, these beautiful and haunting melodies were always a part of my musical psyche, and in many of my earlier compositions I had quoted fragments of these tunes as a sort of symbolic and very personal musical ‘signature,’” Crumb wrote. “In confronting these songs head-on, so to speak, I determined to leave the beautiful melodies intact … since one could not hope to “improve” on their pristine perfection … I have attempted to heighten the expressiveness of this music by scoring the work for a rather unusual “orchestra” consisting of a quartet of percussionists (who play a number of rather unconventional instruments in addition to the more common ones) and amplified piano … If my settings of these wonderful songs will enhance the listener’s enjoyment, I would feel that my creative efforts were truly rewarded.”
For American Songbook II: A Journey Beyond Time, Crumb set eight well-known spirituals. The instruments create a variety of accompaniments tailored to each song: ethereal tapestries of sound (Swing Low, Steal Away, Motherless Child, and Nobody Knows de Trouble I See); evocations of battle, including the sounding of the shofar (ram’s horn), in Joshua; flustered anticipatory agitation in Sit Down, Sister, and the awesome power of Moses, echoed by the percussion instrument known as a lion’s roar, demanding the release of the Israelites in Go Down, Moses.
© Elizabeth Schwartz
Artists
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Sandbox Percussion
Percussion Ensemble
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Described as “exhilarating” (The New York Times) and “utterly mesmerizing” (The Guardian), Grammy-nominated ensemble Sandbox Percussion is dedicated to artistry in contemporary chamber music. The ensemble was brought together in 2011 by a love of chamber music and the simple joy of playing together. Today, Sandbox Percussion captivates worldwide audiences with visually and aurally stunning performances.
Sandbox Percussion’s 2021 album, Seven Pillars, was nominated for two Grammy Awards—Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance and Best Contemporary Classical Composition. The ensemble performed the piece more than 15 times throughout the United States and Europe last season, including at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
In the 2023-24 season, Sandbox Percussion performs Seven Pillars at the VIVO Music Festival (Columbus, OH), the New School (New York), APERIO, Music of the Americas (Houston), the Frost School of Music (Miami), Brown University (Providence, RI), and the Peace Center (Greenville, SC), among other venues.
This season, Sandbox Percussion also releases their fourth album, Wilderness, featuring the piece of the same name by experimental composer Jerome Begin. Other season highlights include two performances at the Park Avenue Armory (New York), featuring premieres by Chris Cerrone and Viet Cuong, a performance at the 92nd Street Y with pianist and new-music champion Conor Hanick featuring the New York premiere of two works composed for them by Christopher Cerrone and by Tyshawn Sorey, and an appearance at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Sandbox Percussion will also continue to champion Viet Cuong’s acclaimed concerto for percussion quartet, Re(new)al, including performances with the Des Moines Symphony and with the Albany Symphony, which commissioned the piece.
Besides maintaining an international performance schedule, Sandbox Percussion holds the position of Ensemble-in-Residence and percussion faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and The New School’s College of Performing Arts. In 2016, Sandbox Percussion founded the Sandbox Percussion Seminar, introducing percussion students to the leading percussion chamber music of the day.
Sandbox Percussion endorses Pearl/Adams musical instruments, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Remo drumheads, and Black Swamp accessories.
Upcoming Concerts & Events
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Kenneth Overton
Baritone
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Kenneth Overton is lauded for blending his opulent baritone with magnetic, varied portrayals that seemingly “emanate from deep within body and soul.” Kenneth Overton’s symphonious baritone voice has sent him around the globe, making him one of the most sought-after opera singers of his generation. Kenneth is a 2020 GRAMMY AWARD WINNER for Best Choral Performance in the title role of Richard Danielpour’s The Passion of Yeshua with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by JoAnn Falletta.
This season, engagements for Kenneth include his Metropolitan Opera debut in the fall of 2021 as Lawyer Frazier in Porgy and Bess, a reprisal of the role of Ralph Abernathy in I Dream with Opera Carolina, The Homecoming Soldier in Zach Redler’s The Falling and The Rising with Opera Carolina, and Germont in La Traviata for Fort Worth Opera.
He will also appear with the National Philharmonic as a soloist for Mozart’s Requiem as well as Hailstork’s A Knee on the Neck, Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses with the Harlem Chamber Players, Handel’s Messiah with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Mozart’s Requiem with the National Chorale, a solo recital at The Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University, a recital with the American Composers Orchestra, and will debut Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem with the Oregon Symphony with subsequent performances at the Kennedy Center with the Choral Arts Society of Washington.
Future seasons include a return to the title role of Porgy and Bess with Opera Carolina, North Carolina Opera, and in concert with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra Hamburg. He will also sing the role of Mr. Maguire in Tobias Picker’s Emmeline for Tulsa Opera.
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Ellen Hwangbo
Piano
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Lauded as an “excellent pianist” (Daily Gazette) and “amazing … young talent” (Silicon Valley Insider), Ellen Hwangbo is known for her “harmony, energy and elegance” and her ability to deliver “truly potent and dramatic” experiences (Rutland Herald) that leave her audiences “wanting to hear more” (Times Union). A top-prize winner of the Music Teachers National Association’s National Young Artist Competition in 2006, she has performed to great acclaim across Asia, Europe, and North America.
As a spirited chamber musician, Ellen is renowned for her “wonderful interplay” with colleagues (Rye News), and broad range of expression from “moody sobriety” (Boston Musical Intelligencer) to “bold exuberance” (Daily Gazette). She has performed with world-renowned musicians such as Anthony Marwood, Richard Lester, Soovin Kim, Roger Tapping, Colin Carr, William Sharp, Eduardo Leandro, and Lucy Shelton, among others. Ellen’s passion for sparking new and exciting connections through chamber music led her to found Constellations Chamber Concerts, a DC-based concert series, where she has served as Artistic Director since 2019. As an engaged advocate for new music, she has worked directly with composers David Ludwig, William Bolcom, Stefano Gervasoni, Jörg Widmann, Brett Dean, and many others, including for several world premieres and recordings.
Ellen began her piano studies with Peter Cooper and continued with Logan Skelton at the University of Michigan, graduating summa cum laude. She received her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from SUNY Stony Brook, where she studied under luminary pedagogue Gilbert Kalish.