Kronos Quartet Floodplain Album
The Avant Garde Ensemble Visits the Cradle of Civilization
Jul 21, 2009
The Kronos Quartet's latest album Floodplain is about destruction and creation, dying and being born. As a sweeping force, floodwaters eliminate everything in their path and yet leave behind a fertile floodplain in their wake.
According to The Kronos Quartet, the avant garde ensemble was intrigued by the double-sided nature of catastrophe and decided to record music by composers located in the famous floodplains of the Middle East, India and the Balkans, where civilization was born.
Floodplain: Music from Palestine, Serbia, Turkey, Iran, India, Egypt and Azerbaijan
Released in May 2009, Floodplain features new works composed by the Ramallah Underground, a Palestinian hip-hop group, and by Aleksandra Vrebalov, a composer from the former country of Yugoslavia, now Serbia.
The album also includes traditional works from Lebanon, Turkey, and Iran as well as arrangements of some classical music from Azerbaijan and India. Getme, Getme (Don't Leave, Don't Leave) highlights the Azerbaijani singer Alim Qasimov and his daughter Fargana Qasimov.
Not ones to leave any style out, the Kronos Quartet also records popular music from Egypt and Iraq, including a song from the 1940s by the Egyptian musician Midhat Assem.
The Kronos Quartet: Ties to Avant Garde Composers Terry Riley and Stephen Prutsman
The Kronos Quartet consists of David Harrington and John Sherba on violins, Hank Dutt on viola and Jeffrey Zeigler on the cello. Maintaining their long-standing relationship with the avant garde classical music world, the group recruits American composer Terry Riley to play the tambura on Raga Mishra Bhairavi: Alap. The choice is fitting, given Riley's own fascination with world music: he was inspired by Indian raga as he developed minimalist composition techniques.
The ensemble also collaborates again with arranger Stephen Prutsman. A pianist, composer, conductor and master of many styles of music, Prutsman has arranged several pieces for the quartet, including music by the Icelandic group Sigur Rós.
Track Listing
Released by Nonesuch Records, Floodplain is approximately 1 hour and 24 minutes in length (including the bonus track) and contains the following tracks:
- Ya Habibi Ta'ala (My Love, Come Quickly): composed by Midhat Assem and arranged by O. Golijov and Kronos
- Tashweesh (Interference): composed by Ramallah Underground and arranged by Kronos and J. Garchik
- Wa Habibi (Beloved): Traditional, arranged by S. Prutsman
- Getme, Getme (Don't Leave, Don't Leave): featuring Alim and Fargana Qasimov, composed by Said Rustamov, arranged by A. Qasimov, with string arrangements by J. Garchik
- Raga Mishra Bhairavi: Alap: composed by Ram Narayan and arranged by Kronos, with transcription by Ljova
- Oh Mother, the Handsome Man Tortures Me: Unattributed, arranged by Ljova and Kronos
- Mugam Beyati Shiraz: composed by Rahman Asadollahi and arranged by Kronos, transcription by Ljova
- Lullaby: Traditional, arranged by Kronos and J. Garchik
- Nihavent Sirto: composed by Tanburi Cemil Bey and arranged by S. Prutsman
- Kara Kemir: composed by Kuat Shildebaev and arranged by Kronos
- Tèw semagn hagèré (Listen to Me, My Fellow Countrymen): composed by Alèmu Aga and arranged by J. Garchik
- ...hold me, neighbor, in this storm...: composed by Aleksandra Vrebalov
- (BONUS TRACK) Awakening: composed by Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky
Music for Traveling: Floodplain's Inward and Outward Journeys
For classical music fans wishing to experience sounds from the other side of the world, Floodplain is the perfect way to do so without leaving the house. But the album is also perfect for taking a journey of a different kind. From meditative ragas to plaintive Lebanese hymns to celebratory pop songs, the album also spans the breadth of human emotion, allowing inward discoveries. For fans and newcomers alike, The Kronos Quartet's latest album will not disappoint.
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