Crumb: Five Pieces for Piano

Composed in 1962, these Five Pieces for Piano demonstrate Crumb's radical approach to timbre and require a fearsome range of extended techniques (including pizzicato, glissando and martelato directly on the strings of the instrument). The whole work is in the form of an arch, of which the third piece (Notturno) forms the centerpiece. The work was premiered by David Burge in 1963.