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Kronos Quartet
Golijov: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac The Blind
Composer Osvaldo Golijov calls his piece, featuring clarinetist David Krakauer alongside Kronos, "a kind of epic, a history of Judaism." The Boston Globe praised it as spiritual, earthly—and earthy: “It is music of prayer, celebration, mysticism, and practicality.”
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Kronos Quartet
Tan Dun: Ghost Opera
Chinese composer Tan Dun melds Eastern and Western influences and explores spiritual themes in this five-movement piece for string quartet and pipa, featuring pipa virtuoso Wu Man. The Los Angeles Times calls it a “broad-minded, culture-bending opus.”
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Kronos Quartet
Howl, U.S.A.
These pieces incorporate the recorded/sampled voices of politically charged figures Allen Ginsberg, J. Edgar Hoover, and I.F. Stone. The Chicago Sun-Times says Howl, U.S.A. is “adventurous and provocative and dances on the edge of a whole new form.”
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Kronos Quartet
Released 1985-1995
This two-disc set offers highlights from Kronos Quartet’s first decade on Nonesuch. The “supercharged group of musical pioneers” (Los Angeles Times) displays astonishing stylistic breadth, interpreting work by composers ranging from Terry Riley to Jimi Hendrix, Raymond Scott to Steve Reich.
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Kronos Quartet + Philip Glass
Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass
Among these four performances is Quartet No. 5, the first piece Glass wrote especially for Kronos. “It contains some of Mr. Glass's best music since Koyaanisqatsi,” says the New York Times. “His ear for sumptuous string sonorities is undeniable.”
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Kronos Quartet
Night Prayers
Composers from Eastern Europe / Central Asia offer work reflecting upon Jewish, Islamic, and Christian spiritual traditions. Guests include Dawn Upshaw, Djivan Gasparian, and the Throat Singers of Tuva. The seven tracks, says the Washington Post, “make a cohesive, contemplative whole.”
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Kronos Quartet
Ostertag: All the Rage
Political activist / sound experimentalist / composer Bob Ostertag addresses the AIDS crisis in his collage piece, with documentary-style text and taped samples from a San Francisco riot over gay rights. The New York Times called it “a devastating roar of gay anger.”
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Kronos Quartet
At the Grave of Richard Wagner
Works from Austrian composers Alban Berg and Anton Webern are prefaced by “a rare Liszt miniature” that, says the Chicago Tribune, reveals the Quartet's goal: to “convey the influence of Wagner down to the pupils of Arnold Schoenberg.”
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Kronos Quartet
Feldman: Piano & String Quartet
Morton Feldman composed this meditative 79-minute piece for Kronos and Japanese pianist Aki Takahashi. The Los Angeles Times declared it “a classic in the modern chamber repertory.” The Chicago Tribune hailed the performers' “miraculous control, dedication, and concentration.”
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Henryk Górecki + Kronos Quartet
Górecki: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
Kronos Quartet performs Górecki's fist two string quartets for an album Time describes as “sanguine in its magisterial technique and confident in its calm, unmannered directness of expression.” Both pieces were commissioned by Lincoln Center and dedicated to Kronos, marking a renewal of the composer’s interest in instrumental music during a decade of writing mainly for the voice.