Kronos Quartet

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Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet with Paul Wiancko.jpg
Kronos Quartet at the Musical Instrument Museum, 2020
Background information
Origin Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres Contemporary classical, minimalism
Occupation(s) Chamber ensemble
Years active1973–present
Labels
Members
  • David Harrington (violin)
  • John Sherba (violin)
  • Hank Dutt (viola)
  • Paul Wiancko (cello)
Past members
  • Jim Shallenberger (violin, 1973-1975)
  • Tim Killian (viola, 1973-1976)
  • Walter Gray (cello, 1973-1978)
  • Roy Lewis (violin, 1975-1977)
  • Michael Jones (viola, 1976-1978)
  • Ella Gray (violin, 1977-1978)
  • Joan Jeanrenaud (cello, 1978-1999)
  • Jennifer Culp (cello, 1999-2005)
  • Jeffrey Zeigler (cello, 2005-2013)
  • Sunny Yang (cello, 2013-2022)
Website www.kronosquartet.org

The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical music. More than 1,000 works have been written for it.

Contents

History

The quartet was founded by violinist David Harrington in Seattle, Washington. Its first performance was in November 1973. [1] Since 1978, the quartet has been based in San Francisco, California. The longest-running combination of performers (from 1978 to 1999) had Harrington and John Sherba on violin, Hank Dutt on viola, and Joan Jeanrenaud on cello. In 1999, Jeanrenaud left Kronos because she was "eager for something new"; [2] she was replaced by Jennifer Culp, [3] who, in turn, left in 2005 and was replaced by Jeffrey Zeigler. In June 2013, Zeigler was replaced by Sunny Yang. [4] In February 2023, cellist and composer Paul Wiancko became the quartet's newest cellist. [5] In March 2024, Kronos Quartet announced that Sherba and Dutt will retire in June of that year, being replaced by violinist Gabriela Díaz and violist Ayane Kosaza. [6]

With over 40 studio albums to its credit and having performed worldwide, the Kronos Quartet has been called "probably the most famous 'new music' group in the world" [7] and been praised in philosophical studies of music for the inclusiveness of its repertoire. [8]

By the time the quartet celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1999, it had a repertoire of over 600 works, including 400 quartets written for it, more than 3,000 performances, seven first-prize ASCAP awards, Edison Awards in classical and popular music, and had more than 1.5 million record sales. [9]

30th anniversary

When Kronos turned 30, in 2003, it decided to commission new pieces from composers under age 30, in hopes of encouraging talented young composers. The program, called the Under 30 Project, is now run in cooperation with Carnegie Hall, Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Montalvo Arts Center. The first recipient was Alexandra du Bois (at the time a student at Indiana University, later a Juilliard School graduate), [10] followed by Felipe Perez Santiago (born in Mexico in 1973), [11] and Dan Visconti (born in Illinois in 1982); [12] in 2007, Israeli composer Aviya Kopelman became the fourth. [13]

40th anniversary

To celebrate its 40th year, the Kronos Quartet returned to Seattle, the city in which it first played, and worked in collaboration with Seattle's Degenerate Art Ensemble to create a piece incorporating music, dance and video. [1] It celebrated its 40th anniversary with a sold-out performance at Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley, in December 2013. The same year, Michael Giacchino, a soundtrack composer who often names his pieces with puns, published a piece named after Kronos, "The Kronos Wartet", as a part of the soundtrack to Star Trek Into Darkness for a scene that takes place on the fictional planet "Kronos". [14] (also spelled "Qo'noS").

Members

Kronos Quartet

New music, contemporary classical

On stage with Laurie Anderson, after performing LANDFALL at the Harris Theater on March 17, 2015 Laurie Anderson amidst the Kronos Quartet in Chicago after performing LANDFALL 2015-03-17 20.53.41 (16851029595).jpg
On stage with Laurie Anderson, after performing LANDFALL at the Harris Theater on March 17, 2015

Over 1,000 pieces have been created for the Kronos Quartet, [15] which has a long history of commissioning new works. [16] It has worked with many minimalist composers, including John Adams, Arvo Pärt, George Crumb, Henryk Górecki, Steve Reich, Roberto Paci Dalò, Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Peter Sculthorpe and Kevin Volans; collaborators hail from a diversity of countries—Kaija Saariaho from Finland, Pēteris Vasks from Latvia, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh from Azerbaijan, Homayun Sakhi from Afghanistan, Hamza El Din from Egypt, Victoria Vita Polevá from Ukraine and Fernando Otero, [17] Astor Piazzolla, [18] and Osvaldo Golijov from Argentina. Some of Kronos's string-quartet arrangements were published in 2007. [19]

Diverse genres

I've always wanted the string quartet to be vital, and energetic, and alive, and cool, and not afraid to kick ass and be absolutely beautiful and ugly if it has to be. But it has to be expressive of life. To tell the story with grace and humor and depth. And to tell the whole story, if possible.

—David Harrington [20]

Kronos covers a very broad range of musical genres: Mexican folk, experimental, pre-classical early music, movie soundtracks ( Requiem for a Dream , Heat , The Fountain ), jazz and tango. Kronos has also recorded adaptations of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze", Sigur Rós's "Flugufrelsarinn", Television's "Marquee Moon", Raymond Scott's "Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals", and Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right".

Kronos has also worked with a variety of global musicians, including Bollywood playback singer Asha Bhosle; [21] Mexican-American painter Gronk; American soprano Dawn Upshaw; jazz composer/performer Pat Metheny; Mexican rockers Café Tacuba; Azerbaijani mugam singer Alim Qasimov; and the Romanian gypsy band Taraf de Haïdouks among others.

Kronos has performed live with the poet Allen Ginsberg, Astor Piazzolla, The National, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Tom Waits, David Bowie, Paul McCartney and Björk, and has recorded with Nelly Furtado, Rokia Traoré, Joan Armatrading, Brazilian electronica artist Amon Tobin, Texas yodeler Don Walser, Faith No More, Tiger Lillies and David Grisman.

In 1984, Frank Zappa wrote "None of the Above" for Kronos, of which it performs the first movement in the 2020 documentary Zappa, directed by Alex Winter. Kronos's artistic director, founder, and violinist David Harrington is also interviewed in the film. [22]

On the 1998 Dave Matthews Band album Before These Crowded Streets , Kronos Quartet performed on the tracks "Halloween" and "The Stone". It also recorded for the 2007 Nine Inch Nails remix album, Year Zero Remixed doing a rendition of the track "Another Version of the Truth"". The group performed Lee Brooks's score for the short film 2081 , based on the Kurt Vonnegut short story "Harrison Bergeron".

In 2009, Kronos contributed an acoustic version of Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night" for the AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night produced by the Red Hot Organization.

In 2017, the quartet performed as featured artists on the songs "Lost Light" and "Journey" on the soundtrack to the videogame Destiny 2 .

Awards and recognition

Greeting the audience after a 2005 performance Kronos Quartet.jpg
Greeting the audience after a 2005 performance

Le Diapason d'Or de Mai

Rolf Schock Prize

Musical America

Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance

Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance

Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Classical

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

Polar Music Prize

WOMEX Awards

Edison Classical Music Awards (Edison Klassiek)

Kronos Quartet recording at BBC Radio, 2012 Kronos Quartet (on In Tune, BBC Radio, 2012).jpg
Kronos Quartet recording at BBC Radio, 2012

Recordings

Published music

Films

Related Research Articles

Osvaldo Noé Golijov is an Argentine composer of classical music and music professor, known for his vocal and orchestral work.

<i>Black Angels</i> (album) 1990 studio album by Kronos Quartet

Black Angels is a 1990 album by the string quartet Kronos Quartet. It includes, and was named after, George Crumb's 1970 composition Black Angels, the composition which had inspired David Harrington to found the Kronos Quartet in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kronos Quartet discography</span> Band discography

The discography of the Kronos Quartet includes 43 studio albums, two compilations, five soundtracks, and 29 contributions to other artists' records. The Kronos Quartet plays classical, pop, rock, jazz, folk, world and contemporary classical music and was founded in 1973 by violinist David Harrington. Since 1978, they are based in San Francisco, California. Since 1985, the quartet's music has been released on Nonesuch Records.

<i>Terry Riley: Requiem for Adam</i> 2001 studio album by Kronos Quartet

Terry Riley: Requiem for Adam is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet. The music was composed by Terry Riley, commissioned by the quartet; the album is a requiem for Adam Harrington, the son of Kronos co-founder David Harrington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Jeanrenaud</span> American cellist

Joan Jeanrenaud is an American cellist. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, she played with the Kronos Quartet from 1978 until 1999, when, after a sabbatical, she left to pursue a solo career and collaborations with other artists, in part due to being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She has staged and recorded solo performance pieces, playing the cello in tandem with electronic instruments. Her first solo album, Metamorphosis, was described by Greg Cahill in Strings as "visceral, hypnotic, and often compelling."

<i>Kronos Quartet Performs Alfred Schnittke: The Complete String Quartets</i> 1998 studio album by Kronos Quartet

Kronos Quartet Performs Alfred Schnittke: The Complete String Quartets is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet. The double CD contains all four of Russian composer Alfred Schnittke's "startling" string quartets. String Quartet No.3 was recorded and released in 1988; the other three were recorded between 1994 and 1996 and released in 1998.

<i>Terry Riley: Cadenza on the Night Plain</i> 1985 studio album by Kronos Quartet

Terry Riley: Cadenza on the Night Plain is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet, the first album-length recording of a collaboration between the quartet and American composer Terry Riley.

<i>Kronos Quartet</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Kronos Quartet

Kronos Quartet is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet, the first of their albums on Nonesuch Records. It contains compositions by Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe, Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen, American composer Philip Glass, and American/Mexican composer Conlon Nancarrow. The last track is Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze."

<i>Five Tango Sensations</i> 1991 studio album by Kronos Quartet & Astor Piazzolla

Five Tango Sensations is a suite of works (Asleep—Loving—Anxiety—Despertar—Fear) for bandoneón and string quartet written in 1989 by Argentine composer Ástor Piazzolla. It was premiered in New York that year and recorded immediately afterwards by the Kronos Quartet and the composer, who played the bandoneón. The record was one of a set of three internationally tinged albums released simultaneously, the Argentine music of this album being accompanied by the music of South-African composer Kevin Volans on Kevin Volans: Hunting:Gathering and the music of Polish composer Witold Lutosławski on Witold Lutosławski: String Quartet.

<i>Pieces of Africa</i> 1992 studio album by Kronos Quartet

Pieces of Africa is a 1992 studio album by the Kronos Quartet, containing works commissioned by the quartet, written by seven African composers.

<i>Henryk Mikolaj Górecki: Already It Is Dusk/"Lerchenmusik"</i> 1991 studio album by Kronos Quartet

Henryk Mikolaj Górecki: Already It Is Dusk/"Lerchenmusik" is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet and the London Sinfonietta. The two compositions are by Polish composer Henryk Górecki. The Kronos Quartet play "Already It Is Dusk," which they would reissue on Henryk Górecki: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2.

<i>Witold Lutosławski: String Quartet</i> 1991 studio album by Kronos Quartet

Witold Lutosławski: String Quartet is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet, containing String Quartet by Polish Witold Lutosławski composed in 1964 and first performed in 1965. This string quartet is an example of aleatory music, that is, music in which some element of the composition is left to chance, and/or some primary element of a composed work's realization is left to the determination of its performer(s). As Gerald Gold noted in a review of the Kronos album in The New York Times, "the Lutoslawski composition integrates notated music with chance performance."

<i>Henryk Górecki: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2</i> 1993 studio album by Kronos Quartet

Henryk Górecki: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2 is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet, with two compositions by Polish composer Henryk Górecki. The Kronos Quartet had recorded "Already It Is Dusk", his first string quartet, in 1990 and released it on Henryk Mikolaj Górecki: Already It Is Dusk/"Lerchenmusik". The Kronos Quartet recorded and released all three of Górecki's string quartets, the third and last in 2007, on Henryk Górecki: String Quartet No. 3 .

<i>Terry Riley: The Cusp of Magic</i> 2008 studio album by Kronos Quartet

Terry Riley: The Cusp of Magic is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet and Wu Man, an album-length recording of a collaboration between the quartet and American composer Terry Riley.

<i>Early Music (Lachrymæ Antiquæ)</i> 1997 studio album by Kronos Quartet

Early Music is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet, containing 21 compositions, many of which were written, arranged, or transcribed for the quartet. The subtitle is from Dowland's Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares of 1604.

<i>Dracula</i> (album) 1999 soundtrack album by Kronos Quartet

Dracula is a soundtrack performed by the Kronos Quartet, with music composed by Philip Glass, for the 1931 film Dracula.

<i>Henryk Górecki: String Quartet No. 3 (...songs are sung)</i> 2007 studio album by Kronos Quartet

Henryk Górecki: String Quartet No. 3 is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet, containing the last string quartet by Polish composer Henryk Górecki. The Kronos Quartet had recorded Górecki's other string quartets on Henryk Mikolaj Górecki: Already It Is Dusk/"Lerchenmusik" (1991) and on Henryk Górecki: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2 (1993).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Wiancko</span> American cellist and composer (born 1983)

Paul Wiancko is an American composer and cellist of the Kronos Quartet.

Aviya Kopelman is an Israeli composer and pianist.

<i>Nuevo</i> (album) 2002 studio album by Kronos Quartet

Nuevo is a 2002 album by the Kronos Quartet composed entirely of music of Mexican origin.

References

  1. 1 2 Graves, Jen (November 13, 2013). "The Ultimate Collaboration". The Stranger. Seattle, United States. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  2. ↑ Templeton, David (March 2004). "Flight of Fancy: The sky is the limit for ex-Kronos cellist Joan Jeanrenaud". Strings. 18 (7). String Letter Publishing: 122.
  3. ↑ "News and Notes: People". Strings. 14 (4). String Letter Publishing: 18. November–December 1999.
  4. ↑ "Kronos Quartet Welcomes New Cellist, Sunny Jungin Yang" (Press release). Kronosquartet.org. February 28, 2013. Archived from the original on July 15, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  5. ↑ ""Kronos Quartet names Paul Wiancko as new cellist"". The Strad. September 29, 2022.
  6. ↑ Kosman, Joshua. "Exclusive: Two longtime members of Kronos Quartet plan a joint retirement". Datebook. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  7. ↑ McCalla, James (2003). Twentieth-century Chamber Music: Routledge Studies in Musical Genres. Routledge. p. 259. ISBN   978-0-415-96695-5.
  8. ↑ Bruce Ellis, Benson (2003). The improvisation of musical dialogue: a phenomenology of music. Cambridge University Press. p. 189. ISBN   978-0-521-00932-4.
  9. ↑ Richardson, Derk (January 1999). "Portrait of a Quartet: The Kronos reaps the rewards of 25 years of not fitting the mold". Strings. 13 (5). String Letter Publishing: 49–57.
  10. ↑ Cahill, Greg (January 2003). "Kronos@30". Strings. 17 (5). String Letter Publishing: 14.
  11. ↑ Sisario, Ben (August 19, 2003). "Arts Briefing". The New York Times . Retrieved January 13, 2009.
  12. ↑ Martini, Tiffany (June–July 2006). "Sonic Youth: Kronos Quartet gears up for new round of composition contest". Strings. 21 (1). String Letter Publishing: 18.
  13. ↑ "Aviya Kopelman Commissioned Through Kronos: Under 30 Project". MusicalAmerica. March 15, 2007.
  14. ↑ "Film Music Friday: Michael Giacchino on Star Trek: Into Darkness" . Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Kronos Quartet's fifth member operates with care and savvy behind the scenes".
  16. ↑ "Kronos' David Harrington: 'There Is No Such Thing As Easy Music'". Thought Catalog. April 5, 2016. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  17. ↑ Vivian Schweitzer (February 25, 2008). "Music Review: Kronos Quartet – Premieres Range in Palette From Balkans to Argentina". The New York Times .
  18. ↑ Adam Greenberg (February 2001). "Five Tango Sensations-Kronos Quartet Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards All Music". All Music Guide .
  19. ↑ Silberman, Daryl (October 2007). "First Edition: Kronos finally publishes its highly coveted string-quartet arrangements". Strings. 22 (3). String Letter Publishing: 90.
  20. ↑ Yaple, Carol. "Four Hundred Candles: The Creation of a Repertoire". Kronos Quartet. Archived from the original on July 12, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  21. ↑ Kettle, David (December 2005). "Kronos Quartet/Asha Boshle (singer)". The Strad . 116 (1388): 86.
  22. ↑ "Contact Kronos and Frequently Asked Questions". Kronos Quartet. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  23. ↑ Mattison, Ben (December 13, 2002). "Kronos Quartet Named Musical America's Musicians of the Year for 2003". Andante. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
  24. ↑ "Kronos Quartet / Polar Music Prize". May 3, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
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