Kronos Quartet Plays Sigur Rós
San Francisco String Ensemble's Post-Rock CD Features Jimi Hendrix
The Kronos Quartet just released a 2-track album, "Kronos Quartet Plays Sigur Ros," featuring their interpretations of ambient post-rock band Sigur Rós and psychedelic blues-rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. The tracks starkly contrast and complement each other.
The first track ebbs and flows with soothing sound washes and spacious textures. The second track writhes and twists in a distorted, amplified political gesture almost as difficult to listen to as the quartet’s own founding inspiration, 20th-century composer George Crumb.
Kronos String Quartet: Biography
This album is not the first time the Kronos String Quartet has performed Jimi Hendrix-inspired work. And besides recording Hendrix, the quartet has also recorded works by several other 20th-century musicians and composers such as Bartok, Part, Shostakovich, and Monk.
The quartet is composed of David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), and Jeffrey Zeigler (cello). George Crumb’s disturbing Black Angels inspired David Harrington to found the quartet in 1973.
New music still continues to be a high priority for the group. Not only does the Kronos String Quartet focus on performing innovative/avant garde works from the 20th and 21st centuries, but the Kronos Quartet/Kronos Performing Arts Association works to ensure that the string quartet repertoire is continually expanded: to date, the association has commissioned over 500 new works/arrangements for string quartet.
Other Notable Recordings
The Kronos String Quartet has collaborated with a variety of musicians and composers, recording with Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado, and DJ Spooky. They have also performed live with David Bowie, Tom Waits, and Allen Ginsberg. The quartet also records widely in world music projects, covering areas from Africa to Bollywood. And their interest in new music doesn't prevent them from taking a trip backwards in time to Medieval/Renaissance works. For a brief introduction to the diversity of their sound, please consult the following albums.
- Black Angels (Kronos String Quartet)
- Reich: Different Trains, Electric Counterpoint (Kronos String Quartet & Pat Metheny)
- Pieces of Africa (Kronos String Quartet)
- You’ve Stolen My Heart—Songs from R. D. Burman’s Bollywood (Asha Bosle & Kronos String Quartet)
- Early Music (Kronos String Quartet)
Recent Awards
The Kronos String Quartet has won the Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance (2004) and "Musicians of the Year" (2003) from Musical America.
Kronos Quartet Plays Sigur Rós (Album Specs)
Label: Nonesuch Records, Inc.
Released: Sept. 07, 2007
Performer: Kronos String Quartet
Track Listing:
- Flugufrelsarinn (Kronos version) (Sigur Rós, arr. Stephen Prutsman)
- Star-Spangled Banner (Kronos version, inspired by Jimi Hendrix) (Traditional, arr. Stephen Prutsman and Kronos)
For more information on the Kronos String Quartet, including a full listing of albums, please visit the Kronos website.
