Kronos Quartet Performs Alfred Schnittke: The Complete String Quartets | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 15 May 1998 | |||
Genre | Contemporary classical | |||
Length | 106:45 | |||
Label | Nonesuch (#79500) | |||
Producer | Judith Sherman | |||
Kronos Quartet chronology | ||||
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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. [1] String Quartet No.3 was recorded and released in 1988; the other three were recorded between 1994 and 1996 and released in 1998. [2]
All music is composed by Alfred Schnittke.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "I. Sonata" | 7:32 |
2. | "II. Canon" | 3:30 |
3. | "III. Cadenza" | 5:33 |
4. | "Canon in Memory of I. Stravinsky (1971)" | 5:21 |
5. | "I. Moderato" | 3:12 |
6. | "II. Agitato" | 5:36 |
7. | "III. Mesto" | 6:41 |
8. | "IV. Moderato" | 6:22 |
9. | "I. Andante" | 5:41 |
10. | "II. Agitato" | 5:44 |
11. | "III. Pesante" | 7:37 |
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "I. Lento" | 9:03 |
2. | "II. Allegro" | 7:00 |
3. | "III. Lento" | 5:51 |
4. | "IV. Vivace" | 3:21 |
5. | "V. Lento" | 9:15 |
6. | "Collected Songs Where Every Verse Is Filled with Grief (1984–85)" (from Concerto for Mixed Choir, arr. Kronos Quartet) | 8:13 |
The music of Alfred Schnittke became very popular in the United States in the 1990s, and the Kronos Quartet were among many "influential international figures" who played his music. [3] They had recorded a Schnittke composition (String Quartet No.3) as early as 1988; all four of Schnittke's string quartets had been on the Kronos repertoire at least since 1991. [4] Critics responded quite positively to this recording of the quartets. Lawrence Johnson, writing for the New York Times , said, "As the new Schnittke survey attests, the Kronos can play like demons. . . . The Kronos Quartet has delivered a performance in which every phrase is filled, if not with grief, with profound and resonant meaning." [2] The album was nominated for Grammy Awards in two categories, "Best Classical Album" and "Best Chamber Music Performance." [5] [6]
The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical music. More than 900 works have been written for it.
William Edward Childs is an American composer, jazz pianist, arranger and conductor from Los Angeles, California, United States.
Kenneth Daniel Fuchs is a Grammy Award-winning American composer. He currently serves as Professor of Music Composition at the University of Connecticut (Storrs).
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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.
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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."
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Judith Dorothy Sherman is an American audio engineer, and record producer. She has been nominated for 18 Grammy Awards and won 14 including for Producer Of The Year, Classical seven times. She has worked with contemporary composers on recordings including Steve Reich, Elliot Carter, John Adams, John Corigliano, and Philip Glass. Notable artists she has worked with include the Alexander String Quartet, Kronos Quartet (Nuevo), Pacifica Quartet, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Cleveland Quartet.