The String Trio for George Crumb was commissioned by the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium in honor of American composer George Crumb on the occasion of his 75th birthday.

The work is in three movements. The first movement is constructed almost exclusively from the four pitches corresponding to the initial and final letters in Crumb's name: G, E, C and B. The second movement is based on the Sarabanda theme from Crumb's well-known work for electric string quartet, Black Angels, which is quoted in the middle of that movement. Both the second and third movements each fill 75 measures, marking Crumb's 75 years. The pitches G, E, C and B recur as a motif in the final movement (this time as G# and C#), as the piece concludes with a bit of fun.

You may listen to three recordings of the piece at gregbartholomew.com:

1) The 'PREMIERE' performance by The Third Angle New Music Ensemble, recorded on Saturday, July 3, 2004, at Beall Hall, at the University of Oregon, Eugene.

2) The 'STUDIO' recording made in October 2006 by Teo Benson, violin, Brianna Atwell, viola, and Dylan Rieck, cello.

3) A live concert recording performed by Teo Benson, violin, Sarah Bass, viola, and Brendan Kellogg, cello, at the Pleasure for the Ear concert in Seattle on February 8, 2008.

The String Trio for George Crumb has been recorded by the Langroise Trio for release on their upcoming CD. Expected release date: April 2008.

This information is editable. It has been created and modified by CompositionToday.com users. If any facts are incorrect, or you would like to add or edit the information shown, please edit this page.