War and death in the music of George Crumb : a crisis of collective memory /

Call Number:

Keywords:

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.Analysing Memory and Trauma in the Music of Crumb -- Collective Haunting and the Civil War -- Winds of Destiny and the Musical Grotesque -- Black Angels, The Things They Carried, and the Vietnam War -- Place and Subjectivity in Black Angels -- Conclusion. Ongoing Crisis."This book studies George Crumb's Winds of Destiny (2004) and Black Angels (1970) as artefacts of collective memory and cultural trauma. It situates these two pieces in Crumb's output and unpacks the complex methodologies needed to understand these pieces as contributions and challenges to traditional narratives of the Civil War and the Vietnam War. Winds of Destiny is shown to be a critical commentary on the legacy of American wars and militarism, both concepts crucial to American identity. Winds of Destiny also acts as an ironic war memorial as a means of critiquing such concepts. Black Angels has long been associated with the Vietnam War. This book shows how this association began and how it endures through connections to iconic Vietnam War media, including films and books. Together these analyses show the legacy of trauma in American collective memory, which is in a continuous crisis. Crumb's musical critiques point to a need to resist conventional narratives and to begin to heal trauma on a collective level. This book will be of interest to students of contemporary American music, American studies, and memory studies. It benefits readers by newly situating Crumb's music within these three fields of study"--Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher.