"Finally Mundus Canis, four ingenious pieces by George Crumb composed as portraits of family dogs. George Crumb contributed with precision and aplomb on a portable kit of percussion instruments, including maracas and a small gong lowered into a bucket of water. This unusual duo worked well, and the pieces could stand by themselves and enjoy a good performing life. I do wonder, however, if Crumb might have been better advised to keep the source of the inspiration as his own secret? The requirement for the percussionist to call out 'Yoda' and say 'bad dog' in the last one was something of a turn-off. "

Peter Grahame Woolf, Seen & Heard, December 1999

"Crumb's piece was really lighthearted and funny, and was a great hit with the audience. The five sketches (Tammy, Fritzi, Heidel, Emma-Jean and Yoda) were very brief, as were almost all the pieces played in the recital. As the paper mentioned, the sketches portrayed the idiosyncracies of five dogs Crumb has owned, and involved a lot of skittering and scratching effects. I admit to barely noticing the guitar part, as I was too busy watching Crumb play percussion (gong, marimbas, gourd, rasp, small gong in tub of water, etc). His playing was strong, his stage manner was deadpan, and his small vocal part on 'Yoda' was greeted with delight (and repeated as an encore). I wish I could say more about the music, but recommend seeing the piece performed if you get a chance ..."

Anonymous, rec.music.classical.contemporary, October 1998

"The concert proper ended with a new work for guitar and percussion by George Crumb, in which Mr. Crumb played percussion. Listeners who know Mr. Crumb from the weird sonorities of 'Black Angels' or the spooky, otherworldly vocal settings in 'Ancient Voices of Children' may have been puzzled by the lightheartedness of 'Mundus Canis' (1998). Each of its five movements is a portrait of a dog that Mr. Crumb owned, the characteristics of each were conveyed through differences in percussion instruments (maracas for 'Tammy,' a frame drum for 'Fritzi,' a gourd for 'Yoda' and so on) and in the character of the guitar line, which included everything from bottleneck slide (for 'Heidel') to various kinds of quick scampering (for just about all of them)."

Allan Kozinn, New York Times, October 6, 1998