The American experimental composer George Crumb, who has died aged 92, came to prominence in the mid-1960s with a series of ground-breaking compositions scored for unusual instrumental combinations, using then still-novel performing techniques. One of the most remarkable works to come out of these departures was the haunting Ancient Voices of Children (1970), setting five poems by Federico García Lorca. As well as singing, its solo soprano is called upon to intone softly over the strings of the piano in order to set up sympathetic vibrations; breathe and whisper through a paper funnel; and screech.
Elsewhere Crumb required players to sing, whistle or double up on percussion, or play the piano directly on the strings with paper clips. In the trio Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) (1971), the flautist sings and groans through the instrument as well as playing it conventionally, and the ranges of the cello and piano are similarly expanded.
