| Pieces of Africa | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 1992 | |||
| Genre | Contemporary classical | |||
| Label | Nonesuch (#79275) | |||
| Kronos Quartet chronology | ||||
| ||||
Pieces of Africa is a 1992 studio album by the Kronos Quartet, containing works commissioned by the quartet, written by seven African composers.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mai Nozipo" ("Mother Nozipo") | Dumisani Maraire (Shona, Zimbabwe) | 6:58 |
| 2. | "Saade" ("I'm Happy") | Hassan Hakmoun (Moroccan) | 3:23 |
| 3. | "Tilliboyo" ("Sunset") | Foday Musa Suso (Mandinka, Gambia) | 4:23 |
| 4. | "Ekitundu ekisooka" ("First Movement") | Justinian Tamusuza (Uganda) | 5:41 |
| 5. | "Escalay" ("Waterwheel") | Hamza El Din (Nubia, Egypt) | 12:20 |
| 6. | "Wawshishijay" ("Our Beginning") | Obo Addy (Ghana) | 4:56 |
| 7. | "White Man Sleeps, Mvt. I" (original, unrevised) | Kevin Volans (South Africa) | 4:02 |
| 8. | "White Man Sleeps, Mvt. II" | 5:05 | |
| 9. | "White Man Sleeps, Mvt. III" | 3:24 | |
| 10. | "White Man Sleeps, Mvt. IV" | 6:17 | |
| 11. | "White Man Sleeps, Mvt. V" | 3:22 | |
| 12. | "Kutambarara" ("Spreading") | Dumisani Maraire | 7:09 |
According to AllMusic, the Quartet avoids cultural imperialism or appropriation and, "Pieces of Africa teems with beguiling melodies, making it one of this quartet's more accessible projects and also one of its best." [1] A review in Gramophone argues that only Escalay and White Man Sleeps are successful compositions for string quartet. [2]
It was inducted into the National Recording Registry on April, 16, 2024. [3]
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States | — | 85,000 [4] |
| Summaries | ||
| Worldwide | — | 300,000 [5] |
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.
Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records, and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Nonesuch has developed into a label that records critically acclaimed music from a wide range of genres. Robert Hurwitz was president of the company from 1984 to 2017.
The Del Sol Quartet is a string quartet based in San Francisco, California that was founded in 1992 by violist Charlton Lee.
Fernando Otero is a Grammy-award-winning Argentine pianist, vocalist, and composer.
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.
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.
At the Grave of Richard Wagner is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet, containing works by Alban Berg and Anton Webern, and a brief "romantic elegy" by Franz Liszt.
Kevin Volans: Hunting:Gathering is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet, containing works by South African composer Kevin Volans composed especially for the quartet.
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.
Floodplain is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet released in 2009. All twelve compositions were written or arranged for the 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."
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 .
Piano and String Quartet is a composition by American avant-garde composer Morton Feldman. It was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet and pianist Aki Takahashi, who premiered the piece at the 7th annual New Music America Festival in Los Angeles and released a studio recording in 1993.
Bob Ostertag: All the Rage is an experimental album by the Kronos Quartet and Eric Gupton (reading). It is a composition by Bob Ostertag, whose loops and samples are alternated with music by the quartet. Ostertag composed the piece as a response to California governor Pete Wilson veto of pro-gay legislation in 1991. Proceeds went to AIDS research.
Night Prayers is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet. It contains commissioned pieces with music from former Soviet republics in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and includes performances by Throat Singers of Tuva, Dawn Upshaw (soprano), Djivan Gasparyan (duduk), and Mikhail Alexandrovich (cantor).
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.
Dracula is a soundtrack performed by the Kronos Quartet, with music composed by Philip Glass, for the 1931 film Dracula.
You've Stolen My Heart is a 2005 studio album from the Kronos Quartet, featuring arrangements of the music of Indian composer Rahul Dev Burman, with vocals by Asha Bhosle, she sang the original versions of the album's songs and was married to Burman until his death in 1994. The album features keyboards, autoharp, and various percussion instruments in addition to the Kronos Quartet's core string quartet instruments. The recordings also feature Indian percussionist Zakir Hussain and Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man.
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.
Nuevo is a 2002 album by the Kronos Quartet composed entirely of music of Mexican origin.
