Recordings

2014_04_ExplorerBox

Kronos Explorer Series (Box Set)

Kronos Quartet

2014

“For 40 years now, the Kronos Quartet have been forcing audiences to revise their expectations of the string quartet. They have, almost singlehandedly, overhauled the mainstream perception of chamber music, transforming it from light luncheon entertainment into a challenging, experimental genre… The Kronos Explorer Series is comprised of five quintessential Kronos Quartet releases… The amalgamation of these seemingly disparate collections provides a great ‘beginners guide’ to Kronos… This release offers an insight into the palette of rhythms and timbres that have coloured the quartet’s output for four decades, displaying a broad selection of the many musical paths that the group has trodden in its long, fruitful career. The diversity in the collection is astounding.”

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Kate Travers, The Line of Best Fit

About the album

Nonesuch Records, the Kronos Quartet’s longtime label, celebrated the group’s 40th anniversary year with the release of the Kronos Explorer Series five-CD box set that collected Pieces of Africa (1992), Night Prayers (1994), Caravan (2000), Nuevo (2002) and Floodplain (2009) with new liner notes that include an in-depth interview of Kronos’ artistic director, founder, and violinist David Harrington by author Jonathan Cott.

SELECT CREDITS

Kronos Quartet:
David Harrington, violin
John Sherba, violin
Hank Dutt, viola

Joan Jeanrenaud, cello (1978–1999)
Jennifer Culp, cello (1999–2005)
Jeffrey Zeigler, cello (2005–2013)

Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

(See individual albums for additional musician and production credits)

Disc 1: Pieces of Africa (1992)

  1. Mai Nozipo (feat. Dumisani Maraire, ngoma, hosho)
    Composed by Dumisani Maraire
  2. Saade (I’m Happy) (feat. Hassan Hakmoun, lead vocal, sintir; Radouane Laktib, oud, vocal; Said Hakmoun, bander, vocal)
    Composed by Hassan Hakmoun, realized by Itaal Shur and Richard Horowitz
  3. Tilliboyo (Sunset) (feat. Foday Musa Suso, kora)
    Composed by Foday Musa Suso
  4. Ekitundu Ekisooda (First Movement)
    Composed by Justinian Tamusuza
  5. Escalay (Water Wheel) (feat. Hamza El Din, tar)
    Composed by Hamza El Din, relaized by Tohru Ueda
  6. Wawshishijay (Our Beginning) (feat. Obo Addy, donno, brekete, pretia, aketse, gidi, vocal)
    Composed by Obo Addy, realized by Chris Baum
  7. White Man Sleeps: I.
  8. White Man Sleeps: II.
  9. White Man Sleep: III.
  10. White Man Sleep: IV.
  11. White Man Sleep: V.
    Composed by Kevin Volans
  12. Kutambarara (Spreading) (feat. Dumisani Maraire, lead vocal, mbira; Dan Pauli, hosho; Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir [Terrence Kelly, director])
    Composed by Dumisani Maraire

Disc 2: Night Prayers (1994)

  1. Kongerei (feat. Throat Singers of Tuva: Kaigal-ool Khovalyg, Anatoly Kuular, Kongar-ool Ondar)
    Traditional, arr. S. Mackey
  2. Lacrymosa (feat. Dawn Upshaw, soprano)
    Composed by Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky
  3. Mugam Sayagi
    Composed by Franghiz Ali-Zadeh
  4. Quartet No. 4
    Composed by Sofia Gubaidulina
  5. A Cool Wind Is Blowing (feat. Djivan Gasparian, duduk)
    Composed by Tigran Tahmizyan
  6. K’Vakarat (feat. Mikhail Alexandrovich, cantor)
    Composed by Osvaldo Golijov
  7. Night Prayers
    Composed by Giya Kancheli

Disc 3: Caravan (2000)

  1. Pannonia Boundless
    Composed by Aleksandra Vrebalov
  2. Cancão Verdes Anos (Song of the Green Years)
    Composed by Carlos Paredes, arr. Osvaldo Golijov
  3. Aaj Ki Raat (Tonight Is the Night) (feat. Zakir Hussain, tabla)
    Composed by Rahul Dev Burman, arr. Osvaldo Golijov
  4. La Muerte Chiquita (The Little Death)
    Composed by Enrique Rangel, arr. Osvaldo Golijov
  5. Turceasca (Turkish Song) (feat. Taraf de Haïdouks)
    Composed by Sapo Perapaskero, arr. Osvaldo Golijov
  6. Szomorú Vasárnap (Gloomy Sunday)
    Composed by Rezsö Seress, arr. Osvaldo Golijov
  7. Cortejo Fúnebre en el Monte Diable (Funeral March on Mount Diablo)
    Composed by Terry Riley
  8. Responso (Responsory)
    Composed by Aníbal Troilo, arr. Osvaldo Golijov
  9. Romance No. 1
    Composed by Carlos Paredes, arr. Osvaldo Golijov
  10. Gallop of a Thousand Horses (feat. Kayhan Kalhor, kamancheh; Ziya Tabassian, tombak)
    Composed by Kayhan Kalhor
  11. Ecstasy (feat. Ali Jihad Racy, nay; Souhail Kaspar, tar)
    Composed by Ali Jihad Racy
  12. Misirlou Twist (feat. Martyn Jones, drums)
    Composed by Nicholas Roubanis, inspired by Dick Dale, arr. Osvaldo Golijov

Disc 4: Nuevo (2002)

  1. El Sinaloense (The Man from Sinaloa)
    Composed by Severiano Briseño, arr. by Osvaldo Golijov
  2. Se Me Hizo Fácil (It Was Easy for Me) (feat. Luanne Warner, marimba)
    Composed by Agustín Lara, arr. Osvaldo Golijov
  3. Mini Skirt
    Composed by Juan García Esquivel, arr. Osvaldo Golijov
  4. El Llorar (Crying) (feat. Alejandro Flores, vocals, violin; Efrén Vargas, vocals)
    Composed by Traditional (Son Huasteco), arr. Osvaldo Golijov
  5. Perfidia (Perfidy) (feat. Carlos Garcia, musical leaf)
    Composed by Alberto Domínguez, arr. Stephen Prutsman
  6. Sensemayá (feat. Tambuco Percussion Ensemble)
    Composed by Silvestre Revueltas, arr. Stephen Prutsman
  7. K’in Sventa Ch’ul Me’tik Kwadulupe (Festival for the Holy Mother Guadalupe) (feat. Luanne Warner, marimba; Rominko Patixtan Patixtan, arpa; Pegro Lunes Tak’il Bek’et, vob; Carmen Gomez Oso, Xun Perez Hol Cotom, Rominko Mendez Xik, vocals)
    Composed by Osvaldo Golijov
  8. Tabú (feat. Luis Conte, percussion)
    Composed by Margarita Lecuona, arr. Osvaldo Golijov
  9. Cuatro Milpas (Four Cornfields)
    Composed by Belisario García de Jesús and José Elizondo, arr. Stephen Prutsman
  10. Chavosuite (feat. Gustavo Santaolalla, toys, percussion)
    Medley of somgs composed by Ludwig van Beethoven, El Chapulín Colorado, and Roberto Gómez Bolaños, arr. Ricardo Gallardo
  11. Plasmaht (feat. Ariel Guzik, plasmaht)
    Composed by Ariel Guzik, arr. Kronos Quartet
  12. Nacho Verduzco
    Composed by Chalino Sánchez, arr. Osvaldo Golijov
  13. 12/12 (feat. Café Tacuba)
    Composed by Café Tacuba, arr. Osvaldo Golijov
  14. El Sinaloense (Dance Mix)
    Remix by Plankton Man

Disc 5: Floodplain (2009)

  1. Ya Habibi Ta’ala (My Love, Come Quickly) (feat. Jamie Papish, riqq)
    Composed by Midhat Assem, arr. Osvaldo Golijov and Kronos Quartet
  2. Tashweesh (Interference) (feat. Ramallah Underground, electronics)
    Composed by Ramallah Underground, arr. Kronos Quartet and Jacob Garchik
  3. Wa Habibi (Beloved)
    Traditional, arr. Stephen Prutsman
  4. Getme, Getme (Don’t Leave, Don’t Leave) (feat. Alim Qasimov Ensemble)
    Composed by Said Rustamov, arr. Alim Qasimov, string arr. Jacob Garchik
  5. Raga Mishra Bhairavi: Alap (feat. Terry Riley, tambura; Wu Man, electric sitar)
    Composed by Ram Narayan, arr. Kronos Quartet, transc. Ljova
  6. Oh Mother, the Handsome Man Tortures Me
    Unknown, arr. Ljova and Kronos Quartet
  7. Mugam Beyati Shiraz
    Composed by Rahman Asadollahi, arr. Kronos Quartet, transc. Ljova
  8. Lullaby
    Traditional, arr. Kronos Quartet and Jacob Garchik
  9. Nihavent Sirto (feat. Jamie Papish, darbukka)
    Composed by Tanburi Cemil Bey, arr. Stephen Prutsman
  10. Kara Kemir
    Composed by Kuat Shildebaev, arr. Kronos Quartet
  11. Tèw semagn hagèré (Listen to Me, My Fellow Countrymen)
    Composed by Alèmu Aga, arr. Jacob Garchik
    Instruments designed and constructed by Walter Kitundu
  12. … hold me, neighbor, in this storm …
    Composed by Aleksandra Vrebalov

Released by Nonesuch Records

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