Kronos Quartet
“This collection focuses on music from the former Soviet Union, specifically the republics in Central Asia and the Caucusus. Having said that, one of the highlights of the record is K’vakkarat, a work for cantorial singing on tape with quartet from the Argentine-born, American-based composer Osvaldo Golijov. This was Kronos’s first collaboration with this now celebrated composer – though it would be far from the last… Actually, they’re almost all notable moments – the album is dark and moody but a winner throughout.”
Kronos’ David Harrington on the album: “The feeling of the pieces on Night Prayers, taken all together, come from a very mysterious, almost unknowable place. Mugam Sayagi by Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, for example, is based on a musical tradition that is about hidden or secret love, and this particular mugam is a way for lovers to secretly communicate with each other… Night Prayers is filled with all kinds of shimmering, shivering sounds, and the pieces on the album are in a way like constellations that attract each other – the pieces pull themselves together to form a kind of fresco.”
SELECT CREDITS
Kronos Quartet
David Harrington, violin
John Sherba, violin
Hank Dutt, viola
Joan Jeanrenaud, cello
with
Throat Singers of Tuva: Kaigal-ool Khovalyg, Anatoly Kuular, Kongar-ool Ondar
Dawn Upshaw, soprano
Djivan Gasparian, duduk
Mikhail Alexandrovich, cantor
Night Prayers recordings of male choir and soprano singer provided by Giya Kanchelli.
Produced by Judith Sherman and the Kronos Quartet
Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz
Released by Nonesuch Records
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