The complete title of this record is Kronos Quartet Plays The Music Of Bryce Dessner. You may not know of the classical vestiges of the Kronos Quartet despite their history spanning some 40 years and their work with the likes of David Bowie and Tom Waits. More likely, you are familiar with the work of Bryce Dessner in his guise as the guitarist for The National. Yet Dessner is a qualified composer, having completed a Masters degree in music at Yale University and being the composer in residence at Muziekgabouw Frits Philps in the Netherlands. So the Kronos Quartet is a likely pairing in the circumstances and comes after his collaborations with Phillip Glass and Steve Reich.
Aheym, keeping with the theme, features four pieces. The title work, Yiddish for “homeward”, is dedicated to the travels of Dessner’s grandparents from Poland to New York. Given the fraught reason for embarking on this journey, Aheym commences at a frantic pace. It then settles into a tranquil state over the duration and has several distinct shifts in tempo and style. After the turbulence comes the serenity. Duelling strings give way to parallel calm.
Forward to Little Blue Something sees Dessner paying homage to a pair of Czech musicians and their recording bearing the same name and a little appropriation of its structure. This signifies the ability of music to transcend political and national boundaries. Hailing from the Eastern Bloc, a chance encounter whereby Dessner’s sister heard them playing on a street in Denamrk and being inspired enough to purchase their record, set Dessner on a compositional path. It makes you wonder how much superb music never the East-West divvied during the Cold War.
Tenebre was designed for Steve Reich’s 75th birthday and is suitably fit for purpose. And features the voice of Sufjan Stevens. The closing piece, Tour Eiffel jumps to another continent, the Americas – this time the South American type. Interestingly, it uses a poem of a Chilean poet and is sung in both French and English. You feel like you need a visa just to listen to it. The learned folk passing around the truffles would get their rocks off utilising this as background music. But the younger set can obtain boundless kudos should they put this on their smart phone.
BY BRONIUS ZUMERIS
Best Track: Tour Eiffel
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Fourplay, Balanescu Quartet, Michael Nyman
In A Word: Cerebral
