KRONOS QUARTET – Black Angels (2024 Reissue with Etching) – 2LP – Vinyl

2LP – Black Vinyl.The fourth side of the vinyl edition is an etching of an illustration created especially for this purpose byMatt Mahurin, whose work is featured on the original album cover.

Nonesuch re-releases Kronos Quartets award-winning album Black Angels on vinyl to coincide with Kronos Quartet: Five Decades, a year-long celebration of the quartets 50th anniversary.

First released in 1990, the album features David Harrington (violin), John Sherba, (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), and Joan Jeanrenaud (cello) performing George Crumbs title piece, which inspired Harrington to found the quartet in 1973, and works by Charles Ives, Istvn Mrta, Thomas Tallis, and Dmitri Shostakovich.

Crumbs title piece, called an unusually elevated and searing Vietnam War protest by the New York Times, sets a dark, powerful tone for this collection, which addresses the political/physical/spiritual consequences of war. The fourth side of the vinyl edition is an etching of an illustration created especially for this purpose by Matt Mahurin, whose work is featured on the original album cover.

Stylishly packaged, intelligently programmed, superbly recorded and brilliantly performed, proclaimed Gramophone.

Tracklist:

Disc 1: Side A
1. Black Angels: I. Departure (George Crumb)
2. Black Angels: II. Absence (George Crumb)
3. Black Angels III: Return (George Crumb)

Disc 1: Side B
1. Spem In Alium (Thomas Tallis, Arr. Kronos Quartet)
2. Doom. A Sigh (Istvan Marta)
3. They Are There! Fighting For The People’s New Free World
(Charles Ives)

Disc 2: Side C
1. Quartet No. 8: I. Largo (Dmitri Shostakovich)
2. Quartet No. 8: II. Allegro Molto (Dmitri Shostakovich)
3. Quartet No. 8: III. Allegretto (Dmitri Shostakovich)
4. Quartet No. 8: IV. Largo (Dmitri Shostakovich)
5. Quartet No. 8: V. Largo (Dmitri Shostakovich)