Kronos Quartet released its Nonesuch Records debut album 30 years ago today, August 15, 1986. The self-titled album includes works by Peter Sculthorpe, Aulis Sallinen, Philip Glass, Conlon Nancarrow, and Jimi Hendrix. The Washington Post praised the group's "breadth of vision" throughout a collection "devoted to some of the most imaginative music of our time." The New York Times called it "the best recorded anthology yet to capture the heady diversity of musical idioms that this San Francisco quartet espouses."
Kronos Quartet released its Nonesuch Records debut album 30 years ago today, August 15, 1986. The self-titled album includes Peter Sculthorpe's String Quartet No. 8, Aulis Sallinen's String Quartet No. 3, Philip Glass's String Quartet No. 2 ("Company"), Conlon Nancarrow's String Quartet, and the group's now legendary interpretation of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" heard below.
The Washington Post praised the group's "breadth of vision" throughout a collection "devoted to some of the most imaginative music of our time." The New York Times called it "the best recorded anthology yet to capture the heady diversity of musical idioms that this San Francisco quartet espouses."
Kronos had been featured on the Nonesuch recording of Glass's soundtrack to Paul Schrader's film Mishima in December of the previous year. The group has since performed on nearly 50 Nonesuch releases, including the 2015 five-disc box set for composer Terry Riley's 80th birthday of his work composed for and performed by Kronos Quartet.
For more than 40 years, San Francisco's Kronos Quartet—David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), and Sunny Yang (cello)—has combined a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to continually re-imagining the string quartet experience. In the process, Kronos has become one of the world's most celebrated and influential ensembles, performing thousands of concerts, collaborating with many of the world's most eclectic composers and performers, and commissioning over 850 works and arrangements for string quartet. A Grammy winner, Kronos is also the only recipient of both the Polar Music Prize and the Avery Fisher Prize. With a staff of 11, the non-profit Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA) manages all aspects of Kronos' work, including the commissioning of new works, concert tours and home-season performances, and education programs. Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire, a new five-year commissioning and education initiative, will commission 50 new works (from 25 women and 25 men) designed to train students and emerging professionals, and be distributed online for free.
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