George Crumb

George Henry Crumb Jr. was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical language which "range[s] in mood from peaceful to nightmarish". Crumb's compositions are known for pushing the limits of technical prowess by way of frequent use of extended techniques. The unusual timbres he employs evoke a surrealist atmosphere which portray emotions of considerable intensity with vast and sometimes haunting soundscapes. His few large-scale works include Echoes of Time and the River (1967), which won the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for Music, and Star-Child (1977), which won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition; however, his output consists of mostly music for chamber ensembles or solo instrumentalists. Among his best known compositions are Black Angels (1970), a striking commentary on the Vietnam War for electric string quartet; Ancient Voices of Children (1970) for a mixed chamber ensemble; and Vox Balaenae (1971), a musical evocation of the humpback whale, for electric flute, electric cello, and amplified piano.

24 October 1929

Born on the same birth date (24 October 1929): Hubert Aquin • Rachel Douglas-Home, 27th Baroness Dacre • Sos Sargsyan • Yordan Radichkov

Born on the same birth day (24 October): Bettye Swann • Brad Sherman • Fran Zwitter • Gilda Gray • Jaylen Brown • Jerry Edmonton • Kerrin McEvoy • Laura Veirs • Marianne North • Melvin Purvis • Moses Montefiore • Peng Dehuai • Peter O'Connor (athlete) • Sanger D. Shafer • Tarek Hamed • Yossi Sarid

Born in the same month (October 1929): Bernard Mayes • Betty Boothroyd • Fritz Hollaus • Herb Levinson • Hubert Aquin • Joan Plowright • John E. Mack • John Hollander • Lev Yashin • Lewis Wolpert • Michel Knuysen • Mário Wilson • Peter Rühmkorf • Pierre Bellemare • Sos Sargsyan