Wired

‘Friday the Thirteenth, March 1970’ American composer George Crumb wrote on his score the moment he had completed Black Angels. The subtitle Thirteen Images from the Dark Land refers to the Vietnam War of that time. The work hit like a bomb. The electrically amplified strings are like a force of nature. They grab you and pull you in, enveloping you in a wave of sound. Never before did a string quartet sound so hellish and heavenly at the same time.

Way before, Henry Cowell was already changing existing sound paths and as a pianist, his tone clusters caused quite a stir. For John Cage, Cowell was the inspiration for his prepared-piano pieces. Composer Julia Wolfe took the traditional folk song Pretty Little Girl With A Blue Dress On and transformed it for string quartet, using folk-like elements to create a cheerful, hyper energetic piece of music.