#5168, String Quartet, Plus...

A string quartet can often sound like one entity – almost a singular instrument even. Introduce another voice or instrument into that family, and the sonic palette instantly expands. On this episode of New Sounds, we’ll hear several examples of the string quartet accompanied by the prepared piano, the bass clarinet, the vibraphone, the tenor saxophone, and vocals with electronics.  

In John Adam’s “Judah to Ocean”, Kronos Quartet is the star, but it’s hard to imagine the piece without the sampled textures of the prepared piano. Bass clarinetist Jeff Anderle plays alongside Friction Quartet in Marc Mellits’s suite “Titan” so fluidly that when the string plucks disrupt the legato motions, the trickling notes feel like a breath of fresh air. Later, Kronos Quartet makes another appearance in an entirely different context, entering Laurie Anderson’s “Dreams” to provide the backdrop for a surreal story that draws the listener in.

Robert Honstein’s “Continuous Interior” transforms into an otherworldly soundscape in the hands of percussionist Abby Fisher and Bergamot Quartet, when the sustain pedal of the vibraphone provides the harmonic context for plucked strings. But the sense of urgency becomes overpowering eventually, with rhythmically intricate arpeggios growing in intensity.

That feeling of intensity is even more amplified by Caroline Shaw and Attaca Quartet in “Other Song” when mind-bending glides of the strings collide with Shaw’s swelling vocals. Before we reach the end, Brooklyn Rider with Joshua Redman on tenor saxophone play the complex compositions of Patrick Zimmerli, titled “Soft Focus” and “Between Dog and Wolf Reprise”, bringing a touch of jazz into this neoclassical music-centered episode. - Sırma Munyar

Program #5168, String Quartet, Plus... (First aired 7/29/26)

ARTIST: Jeff Anderle, Friction Quartet
WORK: Titan: Velvet Kickbox Hydroxy [1:29]
RECORDING: Marc Mellits: Warp & Weft
SOURCE: New Focus Recordings
INFO: https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/marc-mellits-warp-weft

ARTIST: Kronos Quartet
WORK: John Adams: John’s Book of Alleged Dances: Judah to Ocean [2:00]
RECORDING: John’s Book of Alleged Dances
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records
INFO:https://kronosquartet.org/recordings/detail/kronos-quartet-25-years-ten-cd-box-set/

ARTIST: Jeff Anderle, Friction Quartet
WORK: Titan: Vänern Kivu Hammar [3:03]
RECORDING: Marc Mellits: Warp & Weft
SOURCE: New Focus Recordings
INFO: https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/marc-mellits-warp-weft

ARTIST: Jeff Anderle, Friction Quartet
WORK: Titan: Harada [2:17]
RECORDING: Marc Mellits: Warp & Weft
SOURCE: New Focus Recordings
INFO:https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/marc-mellits-warp-weft

ARTIST: Jeff Anderle, Friction Quartet
WORK: Titan: Hyperion Choroid [2:43]
RECORDING: Marc Mellits: Warp & Weft
SOURCE: New Focus Recordings
INFO: https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/marc-mellits-warp-weft

ARTIST: Jeff Anderle, Friction Quartet
WORK: Titan: Dispersed Retina [2:34]
RECORDING: Marc Mellits: Warp & Weft
SOURCE: New Focus Recordings
INFO:https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/marc-mellits-warp-weft

ARTIST: Jeff Anderle, Friction Quartet
WORK: Titan: Velvet Kickbox Hydroxy [1:50]
RECORDING: Marc Mellits: Warp & Weft
SOURCE: New Focus Recordings
INFO: https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/marc-mellits-warp-weft

ARTIST: Kronos Quartet, Laurie Anderson
WORK: Dreams [4:01]
RECORDING: Landfall (with Laurie Anderson) 
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records
INFO: https://kronosquartet.bandcamp.com/album/landfall-with-laurie-anderson

ARTIST: Abby Fisher, Bergamot Quartet
WORK: Robert Honstein: Continuous Interior - I. Flickering, light [5:45]
RECORDING: Horizon Line 
SOURCE: New Focus Recordings
INFO: https://roberthonstein.bandcamp.com/album/horizon-line

ARTIST: Abby Fisher, Bergamot Quartet
WORK: Robert Honstein: Continuous Interior: II. Languid, dreamy [5:37]
RECORDING: Horizon Line
SOURCE: New Focus Recordings
INFO:https://roberthonstein.bandcamp.com/album/horizon-line

ARTIST: Abby Fisher, Bergamot Quartet
WORK: Robert Honstein: Continuous Interior: III. Urgent, breathless [5:46]
RECORDING: Horizon Line
SOURCE: New Focus Recordings
INFO: https://roberthonstein.bandcamp.com/album/horizon-line

ARTIST: Caroline Shaw, Attaca Quartet
WORK: Other Song [3:42]
RECORDING: Evergreen
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records
INFO:https://carolineshaw.bandcamp.com/album/evergreen

ARTIST: Brooklyn Rider, Joshua Redman, and Patrick Zimmerli 
WORK: Soft Focus [5:22]
RECORDING: Sun on Sand
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records
INFO: https://www.joshuaredman.com/sun-on-sand

ARTIST: Brooklyn Rider, Joshua Redman, and Patrick Zimmerli 
WORK: Between Dog and Wolf Reprise [0:57]
RECORDING: Sun on Sand
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records
INFO:https://www.joshuaredman.com/sun-on-sand