We met a perfect string group after a movie in 2000. Requiem for a Dream is a great movie that it made us to meet with a great band Kronos Quartet. Actually, we were very late to know the great quartet plays more than 35 years. Kronos Quartet has about 43 studio albums, 5 soundtrack albums, 2 compilation albums, 3 video albums. They also have around 29 contributions in some albums from famous groups and artists. A musical treasure makes you feel very good to meet with a great band. They do not follow any genre that we could watch their performance in many genres from rock to classical music. They also use ethnic and world music elements in some of their albums. Although some of reviewers say, Kronos Quartet is not successful to perform world music, ignore their ideas and hear these world music experts. You could find different tastes in their different albums. Sometimes, they perform tangos from Astor Piazolla; sometimes, they perform Purple Haze from Jimi Hendrix. You will enjoy hearing Kronos Quartet’s Grammy awarded music.
Kronos Quartet’s current lineup is John Sherba (violin), Jeffrey Zeigler (cello), David Harrington (violin), and Hank Dutt (viola). The band has founded by David Harrington in 1973. Since early 80’s, Kronos Quartet has collaborations with artists such as Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado, Nine Inch Nails, The Tiger Lilies, and Joan Armatrading. They have contribution in more than 30 albums from reputed musicians. The band also has five soundtrack albums. They recorded Requiem for a Dream, Dracula, The Fountain, Mishima a Life in Four Chapters and 2081 soundtracks. Many authorities awarded the band. They won Musician of the Year award from Musical America, Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance in 2004, Polar Music Prize 2011 and many awards from different authorities.
Kronos Quartet is a band that they some interesting and creative projects in world music. They have collaborations with some world music performers from Azerbaijan, Finland, China and many countries. They have an album with Finish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen named in Uniko. It is a great project suggested extremely. Especially their performance in Plasma should be heard. The band also has collaboration with Azerbaijani world music performer Alim Qasimov. You could get more information about projects from Kronos Quartet’s official website. You should see their performance in Music from 4 Fences. It is an interesting idea to show music’s different face. Kronos Quartet organized a contest to meet with young musicians and support their projects in 2003.
It is hard to list Kronos Quartet albums here. You could find a link to list of the band’s albums. You also could find more information about their collaborations with the other artists. Please, click here to see the list. You could find many albums from many genres. Requiem for a Dream soundtrack could be good start, although it is a bit sad. Uniko album released in 2011 is another extremely suggested album. Terry Riley: Cadenza on the Night Plain (1985), Pieces of Africa (1992), and At the Grave of Richard Wagner (1993) albums are also my favorite albums. You could find more Kronos Quartet performances from world’s reputed musicians in their albums.
Kronos Quartet provides a musical treasure to us. Every albums of the group should be listened in my humble opinion. If you like classical music, if you like world music from different origins, do not lose the band. You will hear music of world with stringed instruments. You could visit the band’s official website to get to know more about their interesting projects and buy their albums.
Bye for now!
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