Canon
Where to start with Crumb
Essential works to know this composer by — spread across their styles-
ChamberBlack Angels, for electric string quartet
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VocalFederico's Little Songs for Children, for soprano, flute, piccolo, alto flute, bass flute, and harp
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Keyboard5 Pieces for Piano
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Chamber11 Echoes of Autumn, for alto flute, clarinet, violin, and piano
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Chamber4 Nocturnes, for violin and piano
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KeyboardA Little Suite for Christmas, for piano, AD 1979
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ChamberAn Idyll for the Misbegotten, for amplified flute and 3 percussionists
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KeyboardCelestial Mechanics, for amplified piano 4-hands
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ChamberCello Sonata
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KeyboardGnomic Variations, for piano
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VocalLux Aeterna, for soprano and ensemble
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VocalMadrigals, for soprano and chamber ensemble, Books 1-4
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ChamberMusic for a Summer Evening, for 2 amplified pianos and 2 percussionists
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KeyboardProcessional, for piano
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ChamberQuest, for guitar, soprano sax, harp, bass, and 2 percussionists
Listening guide
Hand-curated paths into Crumb's catalogueMost Popular
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Black Angelselectric string quartet
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Ancient Voices of Children
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Voice of the Whale (Vox Balaenae)
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Makrokosmos Vol. 1
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A Haunted Landscape
Most Acclaimed
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Makrokosmos Vol. 2
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Star-Child
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Music for a Summer Evening (Makrokosmos III)
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Apparition
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American Songbook I
Most Weird
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Night Music Iplayers move around the hall in darkness
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Night of the Four Moonsrequires a Tibetan prayer stone and a banjo
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An Idyll for the Misbegottenthe amplified flute imitates loons
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Questguitar, soprano, harp, contrabass — score notated in spirals
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Unto the Hillsscore pages are shaped like mountains
Similar composers
Same era, overlapping styles — by genre & period affinityIn your library
| Crumb | 2016 | Rock | |
| Locket | 2017 | Bedroom Pop | |
| Jinx | 2019 | Dream Pop | |
| Ice Melt | 2021 | Psychedelic Rock | |
| AMAMA | 2024 | Bedroom Pop |
Works 17
- Chamber
- Black Angels, for electric string quartet
- 11 Echoes of Autumn, for alto flute, clarinet, violin, and piano
- 4 Nocturnes, for violin and piano
- An Idyll for the Misbegotten, for amplified flute and 3 percussionists
- Cello Sonata
- Music for a Summer Evening, for 2 amplified pianos and 2 percussionists
- Quest, for guitar, soprano sax, harp, bass, and 2 percussionists
- Vox Balaenae, for 3 masked players: electric flute, electric cello, and electric piano
- Vocal
- Federico's Little Songs for Children, for soprano, flute, piccolo, alto flute, bass flute, and harp
- Lux Aeterna, for soprano and ensemble
- Madrigals, for soprano and chamber ensemble, Books 1-4
- Songs, Drones and Refrains of Death, for baritone, electric guitar, and double bass, amplified piano, harpsichord, and 2 percissionists
- Keyboard
- 5 Pieces for Piano
- A Little Suite for Christmas, for piano, AD 1979
- Celestial Mechanics, for amplified piano 4-hands
- Gnomic Variations, for piano
- Processional, for piano