Azica Records
Fellow Traveler - The Complete String Quartet Works Of John Adams / Attacca Quartet
$18.99
Details
- Composer
- ADAMS, JOHN
- Artist
- ATTACCA QUARTET
- Format
- CD
- Label
- Azica Records
- Released
- Mar 26, 2013
- Catalog #
- ACD-71280
- UPC
- 787867128022
About
The only collection of the complete string quartet works of American composer John Adams. Includes liner notes by John Adams.
“Hearing the Attaca Quartet play is to experience a mix of high energy technical skill and musical intelligence. They are an ensemble devoted to their mission with a future of unlimited potential.” – John Adams
The internationally acclaimed Attaca Quartet has become one of America’s premier young performing ensembles. Praised by Strad for possessing “maturity beyond its members’ years,” they made their professional debut in 2007 as part of the Artists International Winners Series in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.
“Fellow Traveler” [is] an exhilarating new CD devoted to the complete string quartet works of John Adams...the [Attacca Quartet's] playing is exuberant, funky and exactingly nuanced...[A] vivacious, compelling set. -- Steve Smith, New York Times [3/29/2013]
------
When it comes to composers broadly categorized under the heading of minimalism, it's rare to find works grouped by genre in the conventional way. But the Attacca Quartet, a young group out of New York's Juilliard School, shows what can be done with this set of three pieces by John Adams, entirely different in tone but clearly the products of the same composer. The best-known work on the program, John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994), has been recorded several times. It's a madcap work, full of humorous or satirical images and references to styles of music from the Baroque to rock, yet very tightly constructed. Its ten movements may be played in any order, and they do seem to suggest dance interpretation, even though Adams referred to them as "alleged dances" because the dance steps for them had not been invented yet. The String Quartet of 2008, by contrast, is in keeping with the general greater seriousness of the music of Adams' middle age. Its giant 20-minute first movement manages to weave sections of traditional sonata form together with a progression from the composer's basic minimalist style into more jazz-inflected music, and it's one of Adams' most ambitious structures. The Attacca Quartet does well with both these contrasting emotional worlds and is undaunted by the considerable technical challenges in the music. The small Fellow Traveler (the work is dedicated to opera director Peter Sellars and refers to his interest in physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, suspected of being a Communist or "fellow traveler" by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation) closes out the program with melodies related to those of Adams' operatic works. Adams operas like Doctor Atomic and especially Nixon in China are better known than any of the music here, but this crackling release might carve out a place for the two larger works in the general quartet repertory.
-- All Music Guide
“Hearing the Attaca Quartet play is to experience a mix of high energy technical skill and musical intelligence. They are an ensemble devoted to their mission with a future of unlimited potential.” – John Adams
The internationally acclaimed Attaca Quartet has become one of America’s premier young performing ensembles. Praised by Strad for possessing “maturity beyond its members’ years,” they made their professional debut in 2007 as part of the Artists International Winners Series in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.
“Fellow Traveler” [is] an exhilarating new CD devoted to the complete string quartet works of John Adams...the [Attacca Quartet's] playing is exuberant, funky and exactingly nuanced...[A] vivacious, compelling set. -- Steve Smith, New York Times [3/29/2013]
------
When it comes to composers broadly categorized under the heading of minimalism, it's rare to find works grouped by genre in the conventional way. But the Attacca Quartet, a young group out of New York's Juilliard School, shows what can be done with this set of three pieces by John Adams, entirely different in tone but clearly the products of the same composer. The best-known work on the program, John's Book of Alleged Dances (1994), has been recorded several times. It's a madcap work, full of humorous or satirical images and references to styles of music from the Baroque to rock, yet very tightly constructed. Its ten movements may be played in any order, and they do seem to suggest dance interpretation, even though Adams referred to them as "alleged dances" because the dance steps for them had not been invented yet. The String Quartet of 2008, by contrast, is in keeping with the general greater seriousness of the music of Adams' middle age. Its giant 20-minute first movement manages to weave sections of traditional sonata form together with a progression from the composer's basic minimalist style into more jazz-inflected music, and it's one of Adams' most ambitious structures. The Attacca Quartet does well with both these contrasting emotional worlds and is undaunted by the considerable technical challenges in the music. The small Fellow Traveler (the work is dedicated to opera director Peter Sellars and refers to his interest in physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, suspected of being a Communist or "fellow traveler" by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation) closes out the program with melodies related to those of Adams' operatic works. Adams operas like Doctor Atomic and especially Nixon in China are better known than any of the music here, but this crackling release might carve out a place for the two larger works in the general quartet repertory.
-- All Music Guide
Tracklist 13 tracks
-
1 Rag the Bone 03:03
- Track
- 1
- Title
- Rag the Bone
- Duration
- 03:03
- Composer
- John Adams
- Ensemble
- Attacca Quartet
-
2 Alligator Escalator 03:50
- Track
- 2
- Title
- Alligator Escalator
- Duration
- 03:50
- Composer
- John Adams
- Ensemble
- Attacca Quartet
-
3 Pavane: She's So Fine 06:31
- Track
- 3
- Title
- Pavane: She's So Fine
- Duration
- 06:31
- Composer
- John Adams
- Ensemble
- Attacca Quartet
-
4 Standchen: The Little Serenade 05:00
- Track
- 4
- Title
- Standchen: The Little Serenade
- Duration
- 05:00
- Composer
- John Adams
- Ensemble
- Attacca Quartet
-
5 Stubble Crotchet 02:39
- Track
- 5
- Title
- Stubble Crotchet
- Duration
- 02:39
- Composer
- John Adams
- Ensemble
- Attacca Quartet
-
6 Toot Nipple 01:10
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Toot Nipple
- Duration
- 01:10
- Composer
- John Adams
- Ensemble
- Attacca Quartet
-
7 Hammer and Chisel 01:14
- Track
- 7
- Title
- Hammer and Chisel
- Duration
- 01:14
- Composer
- John Adams
- Ensemble
- Attacca Quartet
-
8 Dogjam 02:28
- Track
- 8
- Title
- Dogjam
- Duration
- 02:28
- Composer
- John Adams
- Ensemble
- Attacca Quartet
-
9 Habanera 04:49
- Track
- 9
- Title
- Habanera
- Duration
- 04:49
- Composer
- John Adams
- Ensemble
- Attacca Quartet
-
10 Judah to Ocean 02:37
- Track
- 10
- Title
- Judah to Ocean
- Duration
- 02:37
- Composer
- John Adams
- Ensemble
- Attacca Quartet
-
11 I. — 19:56
- Track
- 11
- Title
- I. —
- Duration
- 19:56
- Composer
- John Adams
- Ensemble
- Attacca Quartet
-
12 II. — 08:38
- Track
- 12
- Title
- II. —
- Duration
- 08:38
- Composer
- John Adams
- Ensemble
- Attacca Quartet
-
13 Fellow Traveler 05:11
- Track
- 13
- Title
- Fellow Traveler
- Duration
- 05:11
- Composer
- John Adams
- Ensemble
- Attacca Quartet