Kronos Quartet Performs Alfred Schnittke: The Complete String Quartets

Kronos Quartet Performs Alfred Schnittke: The Complete String Quartets
Studio album by Kronos Quartet
Released	15 May 1998 (1998-05-15)
Genre	Contemporary classical
Length	106:45
Label	Nonesuch (#79500)
Producer	Judith Sherman
Kronos Quartet chronology
Tan Dun: Ghost Opera (1997) Kronos Quartet Performs Alfred Schnittke: The Complete String Quartets (1998) John Adams: John's Book of Alleged Dances (1998)

Kronos Quartet Performs Alfred Schnittke: The Complete String Quartets is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet. The double CD contains all four of Russian composer Alfred Schnittke's "startling" string quartets.[1] String Quartet No.3 was recorded and released in 1988; the other three were recorded between 1994 and 1996 and released in 1998.[2]

Track listing

All music is composed by Alfred Schnittke

Disc one: String Quartet No.1 (1966)—tracks 1–4; String Quartet No.2 (1980)—tracks 5–8; String Quartet No.3 (1983)—tracks 9–11

No.	Title	Length
1.	"I. Sonata"	7:32
2.	"II. Canon"	3:30
3.	"III. Cadenza"	5:33
4.	"Canon in Memory of I. Stravinsky (1971)"	5:21
5.	"I. Moderato"	3:12
6.	"II. Agitato"	5:36
7.	"III. Mesto"	6:41
8.	"IV. Moderato"	6:22
9.	"I. Andante"	5:41
10.	"II. Agitato"	5:44
11.	"III. Pesante"	7:37

Disc two: String Quartet No.4 (1989)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"I. Lento"	9:03
2.	"II. Allegro"	7:00
3.	"III. Lento"	5:51
4.	"IV. Vivace"	3:21
5.	"V. Lento"	9:15
6.	"Collected Songs Where Every Verse Is Filled with Grief (1984–85)" (from Concerto for Mixed Choir, arr. Kronos Quartet)	8:13

Critical reception

The music of Alfred Schnittke became very popular in the United States in the 1990s, and the Kronos Quartet were among many "influential international figures" who played his music.[3] They had recorded a Schnittke composition (String Quartet No.3) as early as 1988; all four of Schnittke's string quartets had been on the Kronos repertoire at least since 1991.[4] Critics responded quite positively to this recording of the quartets. Lawrence Johnson, writing for the New York Times, said, "As the new Schnittke survey attests, the Kronos can play like demons. . . . The Kronos Quartet has delivered a performance in which every phrase is filled, if not with grief, with profound and resonant meaning."[2] The album was nominated for Grammy Awards in two categories, "Best Classical Album" and "Best Chamber Music Performance."[5][6]

Personnel

Musicians

• David Harrington – violin
• John Sherba – violin
• Hank Dutt – viola
• Joan Jeanrenaud – cello

Production

• Recorded August 1994 – August 1996 at Skywalker Sound, Nicasio, California
  • Craig Silvey – Engineer
  • Chris Haynes – Assistant engineer (String Quartet No.1, "Canon")
  • Steve Limonoff – Assistant engineer (String Quartet No.2)
  • John Klepko – Assistant engineer (String Quartet No.4)
  • Jeanne Velonis – Editing assistance (String Quartet No.1 and String Quartet No.4, "Canon")
• String Quartet No. 3 recorded November 1987 at Methuen Memorial Music Hall, Methuen, Massachusetts
  • John Newton – Engineer
  • Mastering of original release: Robert C. Ludwig
  • Previously released on Kronos Quartet, Winter Was Hard

See also

• List of 1998 albums

References

1. Swed, Mark (1999-01-06). "The 41st Annual Grammy Nominations; Classical; A Sophisticated Balance of the Unusual and the Popular". Los Angeles Times. p. 7.
2. Johnson, Lawrence B. (1998-08-30). "A Quartet All Over The Map? Not Here". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
3. Davis, Peter G. (1994-02-28). "Un-Easy Listening Music". New York Magazine. pp. 125–26. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
4. "Hotline; Music & Dance". New York Magazine. 1991-02-11. pp. 28, 90. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
5. "The 41st Annual Grammy Nominations; Academy's Complete List of Nominees". Los Angeles Times. 1999-01-06. p. 4.
6. "Kronos Quartet". David Lieberman. Archived from the original on March 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-27.