Ancient Voices of Children

Ancient Voices of Children is a composition by the American composer George Crumb. Written in 1970, the work is scored for soprano, boy soprano, oboe, mandolin, harp, amplified piano (and toy piano), and percussion (three players), and was commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation. Ancient Voices of Children is subtitled “A Cycle of Songs on Texts by Federico García Lorca.” The piece was premiered at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C, on October 31, 1970, as part of the Coolidge Foundation's 14th Festival of Chamber Music. The initial performers of the "Ancient Voices of Children" are the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, which featured Gilbert Kalish (piano), Jan DeGaetani (mezzo-soprano), and Michael Dash (boy soprano).

Ancient Voices of Children is composed of five movements of which all but two are setting of fragments of longer poems by García Lorca. Two purely instrumental dance-interludes – "Dances of the Ancient Earth" and "Ghost Dance" – appear between vocal movements.

The Little Boy was Looking for his Voice

Highly virtuosic in style, Ancient Voices of Children is famous for its bizarre and often eerie vocal effects. Perhaps the most original of these is produced by the soprano singing a kind of fantastic vocalise (based on purely phonetic sounds) into an amplified piano. The singer's voice echoes as the piano strings reverberate sympathetically with the singer. In the last movement, a boy soprano joins the soprano. He briefly sings from off stage before coming on stage for the final vocalise. As with many of Crumb's compositions, Ancient Voices of Children includes a large number of experimental sounds and instruments. This includes prayer stones, Japanese temple bells, a musical saw, and a toy piano. All the performers are also asked to speak, whisper, or yell at times.

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