Kronos Quartet Pieces of Africa
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Justinian Tamusuza, Hamza El Din, Dumisani Maraire, Hassan Hakmoun, Kevin Volans, Obo Addy, Foday Musa Suso
Label: Nonesuch
Magazine Review Date: 11/1992
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 67
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 7559-79275-2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Mai Nozipo (Mother Nozipo) |
Dumisani Maraire, Composer
Dumisani Maraire, Composer Kronos Qt |
Kutambarra (Spreading) |
Dumisani Maraire, Composer
Dumisani Maraire, Composer Dumisani Maraire, Vocalist/voice Kronos Qt Terrence Kelly, Conductor Terrence Kelly, Conductor |
Saade (I'm happy) |
Hassan Hakmoun, Composer
Hassan Hakmoun, Vocalist/voice Hassan Hakmoun, Composer Kronos Qt Radouane Laktib, Oud Radouane Laktib, Vocalist/voice Said Hakmoun, Bandar |
Tilliboyo (Sunset) |
Foday Musa Suso, Composer
Foday Musa Suso, Kora Foday Musa Suso, Composer Kronos Qt |
Ekitundu Ekisooka (First movement) |
Justinian Tamusuza, Composer
Justinian Tamusuza, Composer Kronos Qt |
Escalay (Waterwheel) |
Hamza El Din, Composer
Hamza El Din, Tar Hamza El Din, Composer Kronos Qt |
Wawshishijay (Our beginning) |
Obo Addy, Composer
Kronos Qt Obo Addy, Composer Obo Addy, Percussion |
String Quartet No. 1, 'White Man Sleeps' |
Kevin Volans, Composer
Kevin Volans, Composer Kronos Qt |
Composer or Director: Justinian Tamusuza, Hamza El Din, Dumisani Maraire, Hassan Hakmoun, Kevin Volans, Obo Addy, Foday Musa Suso
Label: Nonesuch
Magazine Review Date: 11/1992
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 7559-79275-4
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Mai Nozipo (Mother Nozipo) |
Dumisani Maraire, Composer
Dumisani Maraire, Composer Kronos Qt |
Kutambarra (Spreading) |
Dumisani Maraire, Composer
Dumisani Maraire, Composer Dumisani Maraire, Vocalist/voice Kronos Qt Terrence Kelly, Conductor Terrence Kelly, Conductor |
Saade (I'm happy) |
Hassan Hakmoun, Composer
Hassan Hakmoun, Vocalist/voice Hassan Hakmoun, Composer Kronos Qt Radouane Laktib, Oud Radouane Laktib, Vocalist/voice Said Hakmoun, Bandar |
Tilliboyo (Sunset) |
Foday Musa Suso, Composer
Foday Musa Suso, Composer Foday Musa Suso, Kora Kronos Qt |
Ekitundu Ekisooka (First movement) |
Justinian Tamusuza, Composer
Justinian Tamusuza, Composer Kronos Qt |
Escalay (Waterwheel) |
Hamza El Din, Composer
Hamza El Din, Tar Hamza El Din, Composer Kronos Qt |
Wawshishijay (Our beginning) |
Obo Addy, Composer
Kronos Qt Obo Addy, Percussion Obo Addy, Composer |
String Quartet No. 1, 'White Man Sleeps' |
Kevin Volans, Composer
Kevin Volans, Composer Kronos Qt |
Author:
For my part the initial thrill of the Kronos and everything they stand for has worn off. Certainly they are fine players, and certainly they have succeeded in drawing a different audience to the quartet medium. But the price has been that their concerts tend to degenerate into cabaret acts, and the music composed for them has been for the most part either jokey or pretentious, occasionally both (maybe the quartet under way from Giya Kancheli will prove an exception).
Not that that necessarily applies to this latest issue. The problem this time is that the four strings give the impression of tourists in a realm which would be far more attractive without them—rather as a grand piano would be in an Indian raga, or a sitar in a symphony orchestra. This should hardly be surprising, given that the essence of most of the pieces is rhythmic repetition and simple single-line melody, whereas the quartet medium thrives on flexible texture and conversational interplay.
For me there are just two successful pieces. One is Kevin Volans's five-part White Man Sleeps composed for the Kronos in 1985, and whose most interesting movements were already included in a previous compilation (2/89). The other is Escalay (''Water-wheel'') by the Sudanese composer, Hamza el Din; here you do not need to know the music's origins, in the sadness of a village lost after the creation of the Aswan High Dam, to appreciate its depth of feeling and inventive resourcefulness.
Is there something fundamentally misguided in the whole enterprise, or is it held back simply by the musical limitations of the other African composers? Maybe a further venture on similar lines will bear richer fruit. But in this case, far from breaking down barriers I fear the results serve only to prove how intractable the barriers are. Should we be worried about that?'
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