Around the same time as Jethro Tull (and in a completely different concert hall), George Crumb’s “Vox Balaenae” had other flutists singing and playing simultaneously. This staple work in the repertoire of the Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winning composer will be featured Oct. 6 and 7 in Blacksburg, providing memorable, mesmerizing sounds. The program includes talents from Tech faculty members David Jacobsen, flute, Alan Weinstein, cello, and Tracy Cowden, piano, featuring not only Crumb’s piece, but also works by Jean-Michel Damase and Franz Joseph Haydn.

Like Crumb’s “Black Angels,” which reflects on the Vietnam War, “Vox Balaenae” (translated Voice of the Whale) is a work that goes beyond the page. “Voice of the Whale” came to life two years after the composer first heard the singing of the humpback whale in 1969. Influence from these discovered melodies floods the work, similar to Oliver Messiaen’s work with birdcalls.

Listeners should make their way to see and encounter this music the New Yorker called “a beautiful dream vision of the deep.” In the performance, each performer wears a mask eradicating the usual sense of human protrusion quite often found in the concert hall. This representation of the commanding and cold forces of nature is often augmented by a deep-blue light dawning over the stage. The work was originally scored flute, cello, and piano, specifying that they be “electric” (which in modern day terms just means they should be amplified). Tech’s Alan Weinstein brings us to 2007 with use of his electric cello, which is also altered from its traditional tuning for the piece. Aside from this and the previously referenced sing/play technique in the flute, the pianist plucks and strums the instrument, also making use of a glass rod, paper clip, and chisel on the strings. While this could send a quiver down the spine of a piano tuner’s back, for many others, pleasant surprises await with new colors and textures to enjoy.

The exemplary reason to see “Voice of the Whale” lies in its overall attainment. Along with the innovation, colors, and unique stage-presence, the work can grab the ears of even those new to such an experience. The last movement in particular, when Messiaen reference is at its height, moves from ethereal and serene beauty to a long fade, leaving the audience leaning forward in awe, wondering when sound stopped and silence began.

While the talents of Jacobsen, Weinstein, and Cowden coupled with three great works should be sufficient inspiration to go to this recital, the highly intriguing world of Crumb’s music marks this as a concert not to miss. Listeners should make their way to Squires Recital Salon (on the campus of Virginia Tech) on Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 7 at 3 p.m.

C.R. Kasprzyk is a classically trained composer and saxophonist and currently serves on faculty at Bluefield College.