String Trio for George Crumb

for violin, viola and cello in three movements

Also available in an arrangement for string orchestra

Duration: ca. 10 minutes

You will enjoy this work immensely and want to hear more by this 'youthful' (50 years old!) composer.
          — Paul Shoemaker reviewing the Langroise Trio CD Volante, Music Web International, Feb. 2009

Performance History · Purchase Sheet Music · Buy the CD

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.

The String Trio for George Crumb was recorded by the Langroise Trio in December 2007 for their CD, Volante. You may buy the CD here. The videos below are from the October 5, 2014, performance by Lucia Conrad, Marissa Winship and Diane Chaplin.

1st Movement:

2nd Movement:

3rd Movement:

Purchase Sheet Music

Sheet music for the String Trio for George Crumb is available from Art of Sound Music.

Sheet music for the Suite for String Orchestra is available from J.W.Pepper and Sheet Music Plus.

Performance History

Premiered July 3, 2004, by the Third Angle New Music Ensemble, Eugene, Oregon

April 10, 2005, by the Accessible Contemporary Music Ensemble, Chicago, Illinois

March 8, 2007, by the Langroise Trio, Esther Simplot Performing Arts Academy, Boise, Idaho

March 10, 2007, by the Langroise Trio, Langroise Recital Hall, Caldwell, Idaho

February 8, 2008, by Teo Benson, violin, Sarah Bass, viola, & Brendan Kellogg, cello, Seattle

January 15, 2010, by the Langroise Trio, Esther Simplot Performing Arts Academy, Boise, Idaho

January 16, 2010, by the Langroise Trio, Langroise Recital Hall, Caldwell, Idaho

October 5, 2014, by Lucia Conrad, Marissa Winship and Diane Chaplin on the Celebration Works Concert Series at the First Presbyterian Church of Portland, Oregon

October 2, 2015, by the Langroise Trio, Esther Simplot Performing Arts Academy, Boise, Idaho

October 3, 2015, by the Langroise Trio, Langroise Recital Hall, Caldwell, Idaho

October 21, 2015, by the Langroise Trio, Port Angeles, Washington