After months of thought, planning, and listening, we four Spektrals finally began rehearsing George Crumb’s “Black Angels” last week. We couldn’t be more excited about the event it’s a part of, Theatre of War, but in rehearsal it’s all about the piece itself, not our grand plans for how it will be presented.
Crumb immediately takes you out of your comfort zone with his notation. It’s clear from the way things are organized in such a painterly manner on the page that Crumb has a vision of sound that isn’t moored to the traditional means of feeling rhythm and meter that we’re accustomed to. However, that’s not to say his music is all dreamy clouds of sound. As we flailed at the Danse Macabre with mixed results that was all too apparent.
Beyond the imagination of the score itself, the sounds Crumb seeks require some extreme measures. Before rehearsals could begin, we had to acquire metallic thimbles, metal plectrums (old election buttons…anyone for a Mondale/Ferraro pin?) and glass rods to play our instruments with. Suffice it to say, my pitch accuracy with a glass rod has not yet reached the fluidity of my left hand technique.
In my opinion, though, the greatest and most unusual challenge lies in learning to play what Crumb calls “in the style of a Viol”. The violins and viola put the instruments in our laps and we all play behind our fingers. Yes, we are learning to play our instruments backwards. My goals is to be able to play Erlkönig in this style by the time we’re done learning Black Angels.
I hope you enjoy some pictures of us looking silly while trying out this technique.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
