George Crumb Autographs
George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical language which "range in mood from peaceful to nightmarish". Crumb's compositions are known for pushing the limits of technical prowess by way of frequent use of extended techniques. The unusual timbres he employs evoke a surrealist atmosphere which portray emotions of considerable intensity with vast and sometimes haunting soundscapes. His few large-scale works include Echoes of Time and the River (1967), which won the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for Music, and Star-Child (1977), which won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition; however, his output consists of mostly music for chamber ensembles or solo instrumentalists. Among his best known compositions are Black Angels (1970), a striking commentary on the Vietnam War for electric string quartet; Ancient Voices of Children (1970) for a mixed chamber ensemble; and Vox Balaenae (1971), a musical evocation of the humpback whale, for electric flute, electric cello, and amplified piano.
Born to a musical family, Crumb was acquainted with classical music at an early age and his affinity for Classical and Romantic composers in particular would stay throughout his life. He was especially influenced by composers such as Mahler, Debussy and Bartók; Crumb wrote his four-volume piano set Makrokosmos (1972–1979) in response to Bartók's earlier piano set Mikrokosmos. His compositions often contain musical quotations from wide range of composers including Bach, Chopin, Schubert, Strauss, and the jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk. The use of pastiche is also found in his music, as is text by Federico García Lorca, whose poetry Crumb set eleven times. Elements of theatricality appear in numerous compositions, inspiring choreographies from contemporary dance groups. To convey his unorthodox and complex musical style, Crumb's musical scores are facsimile manuscripts, using special notation "distinguished by astonishing clarity, precision and elegance, and by arresting graphic symbols in which staves are bent into arches, circles and other pictorial devices." Among his students were the composers Osvaldo Golijov, Jennifer Higdon, Christopher Rouse and Melinda Wagner.
George Henry Crumb Jr. was born in Charleston, West Virginia on 24 October 1929 to a musical family and he grew up playing chamber music with them. Both of Crumb's parents played in the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (CSO); his father George Henry Crumb Sr. was a clarinetist while his mother Vivian (née Reed) was a cellist. The elder Crumb was a multifaceted musician, with activities that included conducting theatre orchestra for the music of silent film, teaching clarinet privately and at the Mason College, and working as both a music copyist and arranger. George, Jr. began to compose at an early age and had two of his orchestral works performed by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra while he was still in his teens. He majored in music at the Mason College of Music and Fine Arts (subsequently subsumed into the University of Charleston), where he received his bachelor's degree in 1950. He obtained his M.Mus. at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1952 and then briefly studied as a Fulbright fellow at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin before returning to the United States to study at the University of Michigan, from which he received a D.M.A. in 1959.
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Traded items with a signature of George Crumb
The most expensive item with a signature of George Crumb (ELLEN BURSTYN+BLATTY+GEORGE CRUMB HAND SIGNED 8x10 PHOTO EXORCIST JSA) was sold in September 2021 for $450.00 while the cheapest item (INVENTORY CLEAN OUT: CONTEMPORARY COMPOSER GEORGE CRUMB SIGNED INDEX CARD) found a new owner for $0.99 in November 2012. The month with the most items sold (7) was April 2012 with an average selling price of $15.00 for an autographed item of George Crumb. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in September 2021 with $450.00 and the month that saw the lowest prices with $3.00 was October 2023. In average, an autographed item from George Crumb is worth $22.00.
Most recently, these items with a signature of George Crumb were sold on eBay - click here for more items.
| Picture | Item Title | Price | Store |
 | 2012 Famous Fabrics George Crumb Autograph 1/1. | $40.00 |  |
| Classical Music Composer GEORGE CRUMB (1929-2022) AUTOGRAPH INDEX CARD~ | $18.27 | |
| Composer George Crumb - Original 4x6 Signed Musical Quotation for Echoes of Time | $40.00 | |
| George Crumb Signed . Musical Quote, 3x5 Black Angels For String Quartet | $60.99 | |
| George Crumb Signed . Musical Quote, 4X6 Black Angels For String Quartet | $60.99 | |
| George Crumb Signed . Musical Quote, 4X6 Black Angels For String Quartet | $60.99 | |
| George Crumb (Pulitzer Prize Composer) Autographed Music Quotation Black Angels | $29.00 | |
 | George Crumb American Composer Autographed Signed Index Card AMCo COA 20200 | $25.98 | |
| George Crumb Autographed Card w/ Musical Notes American Composer D.22 | $11.57 | |
 | George Crumb Autographed CD Collection | $250.00 | |
| GEORGE CRUMB Composer Program Pulitzer Prize 1968 Signed CelebrityPhoto 6x8”/KSK | $35.25 | |
| George Crumb Composer Signed 4x5.25 Promo Page JSA Authenticated | $39.99 | |
| George Crumb The Exorcist Pulitzer Prize Composer Signed Autograph Photo W Quote | $99.99 | |
| George Crumb, autographed signed letter, Univ. of PA, Music Dept w/envelope 1994 | $50.00 | |
| RARE!! “Black Angels” George Crumb Hand Signed FDC Dated 1967 COA | $99.99 | |
Latest News about George Crumb
George Crumb, Eclectic Composer Who Searched for Sounds, Dies at 92 (02/06/2022): Mr. Crumb wrote startling works, sometimes with political themes, and challenged musicians to employ new techniques, vocalize and move about the stage.
