I never met George Crumb; he was kind enough to reply to my questions in writing (see fig. 4). At the time I approached him, he was one of the most popular American composers in Europe. His Eleven Echoes of Autumn (1966), Ancient Voices of Children (1970), and Black Angels (1970), in particular, were staple fares on concert programs. While in recent years I have not been seeing his name much in print, a quick search on Google produces 526,000 visits to his site, and 55,700 to Black Angels alone. Thankfully, interest in his music is still very much alive.

His reply to the first question shows a rare awareness of influences which have shaped his thinking. The rest of the text, too, presents him as a tone poet (to translate a German synonym for “composer,” which appears to me apt in describing George Crumb) with a sober and objective attitude to his art.

I.

In my own case, I must say I have been very much influenced by turn of the century composers Claude Debussy and Gustav Mahler. I am quite sure my music sounds nothing like the music of either of those composers and yet I think the influence is something of the order you are suggesting in your question. There is certainly something evocative in the music of these composers and this has suggested obliquely a certain kind of music to me.

In regard to the influence of Debussy and Mahler on my music, I could itemize the following special features:

1. 1. Mahler’s use of long pedal tones (as in the beginning of his first Symphony); in my music I would cite the last page of my “Night of the Four Moons” or, again, my use of long drones in “Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death.”

2. 2. Mahler’s predilection for the genre of “Night Music” (as in his Seventh Symphony) and his use of birdsong (in several works); I would mention my “Night Music I” and Four Nocturnes and also my frequent use of bird-song motifs.

3. 3. Mahler’s extremely slow tempos in certain movements (last movements of Symphonies #3 and #9, for example), which suggest a “suspension of time”; I have used something similar in several works (e.g., in “Eleven Echoes of Autumn”).