Kronos Quartet is one of my favorite music groups. I first saw them perform live in 1989 or 1990, and as the cliche goes, they changed my life.
I had studied music since I was a child. I am a classically trained pianist, and in high school and college, I played both oboe and horn. I knew classical music and could pronounce “Wagner” and “Chopin” correctly. But Kronos Quartet revealed the world of new music to me. And for that, I will be forever grateful.
I have since seen them perform multiple times, and I have many of their recordings. Sometimes I seek out a specific track or movement for a particular mood; other times I put on an album or my entire playlist and let what comes come, especially while I’m writing.
Here are my Top Ten tracks performed by Kronos Quartet according iTunes:
- White Man Sleeps #4, composer Kevin Volans
- Adagio, composer Samuel Barber
- The Beatitudes, composer Vladimir Martynov
- String Quartet #5, Movement I, composer Philip Glass
- Schubert-Quintet (Unfinished), Movement I, composer Vladimir Martynov
- Schubert-Quintet (Unfinished), Movement II, composer Vladimir Martynov
- String Quartet #5, Movement IV, composer Philip Glass
- String Quartet #5, Movement II, composer Philip Glass
- String Quartet #5, Movement V, composer Philip Glass
- String Quartet #5, Movement III, composer Philip Glass