Composer Kevin Volans was born in South Africa but has made his home in Ireland since the mid-1980's, and the musical influences of each culture are evinced in his works. Volans has journeyed through several compositional techniques, including those rooted in African tradition, and says of categorization: "In the sense that modernism is not a style, but a tenet — nothing is given and there is no received language — I consider myself a committed modernist."
view WNYC's music playlists dating back to 2001
view WNYC's music playlists dating back to 2001
String Quartet No. 1, "White Man Sleeps"
Kevin Volans' White Man Sleeps was commissioned in 1982 by the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, and went through significant revisions in 1986. The piece received its premiere in that year by the Kronos Quartet; we hear it tonight with the Smith Quartet.
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