George Crumb wrote this manuscript so that a photographic facsimile (which does not reproduce the blue grid lines and white correction fluid) could serve as the published score. “Voice of the Whale,” for three masked players, is infused with threes. Its eight movements unfold in three sections; the middle one is a set of variations that employ three distinct variation procedures. At the opening of the first movement, seen here, the flutist sings into the instrument while playing. The two sounds unite to evoke a third: the voice of a humpback whale, a recording of which inspired Crumb when he heard it in 1969.
George Crumb (b. 1929), Vox Balaenae, autograph manuscript, 1971. Gift of Howard Phipps, Jr., 1978. The Morgan Library & Museum, Department of Music Manuscripts and Printed Music. © 1972 by C.F. Peters Corporation.