Crumb/Golijov

Sun., March 13

Though the style of music to which they pledge faithfulness varies wildly, I don't know many people who don't worship at some particular musical altar. Oftentimes, in fact, bizarre musical loyalties reside in the same individual-a profound affection for the soul-altering lines of both Italian opera and death metal, for example.

Common among music fans is also that traceable moment back to the recording that started them on the road to addiction. It's fair to expect early tastes to be trivial and perhaps even embarrassing-my own childhood dedication to my mom's Barbra Streisand collection was brief but intense-yet somehow the records people actually acknowledge often demonstrate impeccable taste.

My first favorite album might not have been so sophisticated, but I do recall with particular clarity the day I brought home my copy of the Kronos Quartet performing George Crumb's harrowing Black Angels (Thirteen Images from the Dark Land). Penned in 1970, the work is filled with all manner of extended string technique, musical allusion and numerological symbolism. It was inspired by the Vietnam War, and though my 15-year-old self knew scandalously little of the actual events of that period, the music got the essentials across with frightening clarity-which is to say it scared me shitless.

Despite its impact, I've never heard the piece live. That chance will come this weekend on a program that also includes Crumb's haunting Ancient Voices of Children, a song cycle based on text by Federico Garcia Lorca. Works by Osvaldo Golijov, a student of Crumb's, will share the program. Golijov won my heart much later in life, but no less completely. His How Slow the Wind and Tenebrae for soprano, clarinet and string quartet will open and close the program.

I remember interviewing Golijov shortly after he picked up one of the $500,000 "Genius" MacArthur Fellowships in 2003. Considering the cash, I was curious if he'd ever doubted that music was his path in life.

"I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't write music. I mean, I don't play golf," he admitted with a laugh. "The interesting thing is that I still have insomnia. I thought sometimes that the insomnia was because of the lack of money, but obviously it's built in. I love to wake up early and work. It's what makes me happy."

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, 212-875-5788; 5, $27.50-$48.