KRONOS QUARTET | 5 Decades

Jun 30

There is not much that we could say about the Kronos Quartet that hasn’t already been said by others or themselves after 50 years of performing.

At 14, Kronos founder David Harrington realized that “all the quartets I’d played up until that point—by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert—had been written by four white guys who all lived in a tiny geographical area.” He thought that there must be more.

For nearly 50 years following its creation—the Kronos Quartet has been about the “more.” In 2017, Gramophone did an interview with the musicians:

“Last summer, Kronos played for the first time at the Esterházy Place in Eisenstadt, Austria. Their concert included, amongst others, music by Terry Riley (US), Aleksandra Vrebalov (Serbia), Franghiz Ali-Zadeh (Azerbaijan), N Rajam (India), and Lassana Diabaté (Mali).

“‘I was so proud to be able to play there,’ says Harrington. ‘To play for Haydn’s great great great great grandchildren. And we were saying thanks to Haydn not by playing his music, but by playing things that absolutely could not have existed without his music. I imagined we were pole vaulting our medium into the future.’”

After thousands of performances worldwide, more than 70 recordings, three Grammys, countless other awards, and commissioning of more than 1,000 new works, including many by Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and Terry Riley, the Kronos has arguably drawn more people to chamber music than any other ensemble working today. Last year it was named to the BBC Music Magazine’s list of the Ten Greatest String Quartet Ensembles of All Time.

The non-profit Kronos Performing Arts Association has recently completed 50 for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire, commissioning 50 new works for string quartets—with recordings, scores, and parts distributed free online for students and emerging professionals, written by composers from around the world.

The Strad observed, “Their ability to inhabit completely different musical and cultural worlds within minutes of each other betrays the Quartet’s depth of study, musical and technical prowess, and devotion to a variety of musical cultures and styles.”

About the Kronos’ October 10 program with us

The program will come from works long associated with the quartet, from 50 for the Future (above), and from new works. The following links take you to videos about Kronos, to some of the 1,000 Kronos works commissioned for Kronos, and to other videos in four categories:

1. ABOUT THE KRONOS QUARTET

"Meet Kronos Quartet," 2014 5:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km2K0DVvH3k

A Thousand Thoughts: A Live Documentary with Kronos Quartet (Promo) 2:36

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ta4pTDukPA

2. STEVE REICH: TWO WORKS WRITTEN FOR KRONOS

Reich is one the composers most associated with Kronos, along with Terry Riley and Philip Glass, among others. Also included are interviews with Reich on creating two of his most famous works, Different Trains and WTC 9/11.

1990 Grammy Award: Best Contemporary Composition (Steve Reich for Different Trains, written for the Kronos Quartet) https://open.spotify.com/album/3i8ojYITZwfiZilo8ShpxQ?si=7Y9Fb1k6Rt2gKAoQNNwdPQ&nd=1&flow_id=fc4ec0db-24e5-48ac-aea5-365703421178%3A1686210822#login (May require free Spotify account)

How Steve Reich’s “Different Trains” was created.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r-kxJqjrws

WTC 9/11 – Steve Reich, written for the Kronos Quartet (2009-10)

“One of the 25 best classical music works of the 21st century.” - Guardian

I. – 9/11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWhTkOMue70

II. – 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imUvhpj8Hu4

III. – WTC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEjmczo7iDc

Steve Reich - The making of WTC 9/11

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpRwOnZebOQ

Kronos Founder David Harrington on Steve Reich's WTC 9/11

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB6p121ke3Q

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zI7E7t1A-Y

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfUIUlFF804

Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtZdZaI5XTk

Part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvO6iLKMqSM

3. 50 FOR THE FUTURE

50 for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire contains 50 new works for string quartets—with recordings, scores, and parts distributed free online for students and emerging professionals, commissioned from composers around the world, including Cincinnati’s Bryce Dessner. You can listen to all 50 works free at https://50ftf.kronosquartet.org/

In Amsterdam on May 6 and 7, the Kronos Quartet and other ensembles performed all 50 compositions in a single weekend. The links below feature participants discussing the 50 for the Future (50FTF) project.

50 for the Future Weekend - Episode 1 8:48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaIIJ1aX4Nc

50FTF Episode 2 - String Quartet in the 21st Century 8:32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMOkgCnp9nE

50FTF Episode 3 - A Kaleidoscopic Adventure of Human Creativity 8:56

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcKZcZ8Zdxg

50FTF Episode 4 - Musical Revolutionaries 8:09

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gj36UFOYMU&t=22s

50FTF Episode 5 - Musical Journey of the Next Generation 7:45

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5FOnCH6uZY

50FTF Episode 6 - For the Future 7:35

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-izwSH9Dk