John Zorn - Cat O’ Nine Tails (Kronos Quartet) | from 'Kronos Quartet - In Accord' (5/12)

Since its inception in 1973, the San Francisco-based Kronos Quartet has emerged as a leading voice for new work. They have introduced new music and new composers to an international audience, assembling an eclectic body of work unparalleled in its range and scope of expression.
Responding to Kronos’s adventurous approach to performing, Manfred Waffender has produced "The Kronos Quartet: In Accord" – a recording that makes striking use of visual elements (lighting, video effects and Super 8 film) to add to the excitement of the music.

"The Kronos Quartet: In Accord" channels the quartet's history through its repertoire. It includes music pieces by contemporary composers who have collaborated closely with Kronos ("Cadenza on the Night Plain" by Terry Riley, "Cat 0’ Nine Tails" by John Zorn and "Four, For Tango" by Astor Piazzolla), an arrangement of Hendrix`s "Purple Haze" (the quartet's signature work from the early 1980s) and Hamza El Din's world music classic "Escalay", as well as two of Kronos's most recent commissions - selections from John Adams's "John 's Book of Alleged Dances" and Gabriela Ortiz's "Altar de Muetros". Additionally, the film also features a segment that juxtaposes quartet arrangements by Hildegard von Bingen and Henry Purcell with American sound pioneer Harry Partch and Russian avant-gardiste Alfred Schnittke. These performances are illustrated with footage drawn from Hildegard's birthplace, Westminster Abbey, abandoned Jewish cemeteries, and Orthodox iconography.

Kronos Quartet are:
David Harrington - violin
John Sherba - violin
Hank Dutt - viola
Joan Jeanrenaud - cello

Director: Manfred Waffender

© 1998, Licensed by Digital Classics Distribution