This disc will bring Crumb to a wider audience with two substantial works, one early and one late. Songs, Drones and Refrains of Death was completed in 1968 and has all the hallmarks of Crumb's magical sound world. It's one of several pieces stemming from the poetry of Federico García Lorca. Nicholas Isherwood, after many live performances, is totally in command of this spooky territory and delivers his lines with great clarity (full texts of the four poems are available online). 'The Song of the Rider' is a spine-chilling counterpart to Schubert's Erlkönig – both scenarios end in death, a consistent presence throughout both in the poems and in the movements called 'Death-Drones'.
Written in 1994, Quest shows Crumb still finding unusual sonorities for his six players with prominent guitar. So we hear the Appalachian hammer dulcimer, the African talking drum, the Mexican rainstick, and sometimes the guitar and harp are interwoven. Crumb admits that he had some trouble in finding a final form for Quest: there is no programme but he pondered a couple of gloomy phrases from Dante and Lorca.
Alexander Swete plays electric guitar in Songs, Drones and acoustic guitar in Quest, which becomes a showpiece for him (it was written for David Starobin). It's now good to have both these works together, well recorded, with notes by the composer.

Songs, Drones and Refrains of Death was completed in 1968 and has all the hallmarks of Crumb's magical sound world. It's one of the several pieces stemming from the poetry of Federico García Lorca. Nicholas Isherwood, after many live performances, is totally in command of this spooky territory and delivers his lines with great clarity... Written in 1994, Quest shows Crumb still finding unusual sonorities for his six players with prominent guitar.