Kronos Quartet’s Nonesuch Records debut album

From Gregory Sandow’s liner notes: “For the Kronos Quartet, the music of today is an explosion of varied sounds, each with its own intriguing voice, some bearing messages that until recently might not have been welcome inside the concert hall. This record – in effect, a model Kronos concert – begins, characteristically, with two composers belong to no known school. …Purple Haze brings the performance to an end, serving a double function as the closing work and as something like a built-in encore… [it] adds an important thought to any discussion of the nature and function of of contemporary music. Much of the most characteristic music of our time is not ‘classical.’ By bringing an exuberant Jimi Hendrix tune into the concert hall, Kronos also in effect performs the same service in reverse, placing contemporary classical music in the midst of the world most of its audience lives in.”

SELECT CREDITS

Kronos Quartet
David Harrington, violin
John Sherba, violin
Hank Dutt, viola
Joan Jeanrenaud, cello

Produced by Thomas Frost
Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz