VOX BALAENAE FOR THREE MASKED PLAYERS

George Crumb's "Vox balaenae for three masked players" (Voice of the Whale) is scored for electric flute, electric piano, and electric cello andfour antique cymbals (crotales). Inspired by the singing of the humpbac ked whale, the performance requires that each of the three players wear a black half-mask (vizor-mask). "The masks, by effacing a sense of humanprojection, will symbolize the powerful impersonal forces of nature (na ture dehumanized)" (Crumb). The stage is lit in a deep blue color.