Track Listing

1. Black Angels: I. Departure
2. Black Angels: II. Absence
3. Black Angels: III. Return
4. Spem In Alium (Sing And Glorify)
5. Doom. A Sigh
6. They Are There!
7. Quartet No. 8: I. Largo
8. Quartet No. 8: II. Allegro Molto
9. Quartet No. 8: III. Allegretto
10. Quartet No. 8: IV. Largo
11. Quartet No. 8: V. Largo

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59998 in Music
• Released on: 1990-06-21
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com essential recording
The title to Kronos's most bleak album comes from a nearly 20- minute-long composition by American composer George Crumb that unfolds over 13 distinct parts. That ominous number only hints at the horror Crumb intended as an ode to the Vietnam War. War informs the whole CD: Shostakovich's Quartet No. 8, composed near the height of the Cold War, in 1960, was dedicated "to the victims of fascism and war." "Doom. A Sigh," by Istvan Marta, incorporates field recordings of two Romanian women singing personal laments of fallen friends and relatives; their grief is so intense as to render listening incredibly difficult. The original text to 16th-century composer Thomas Tallis's "Spem in Alium" (originally a 40-voice motet) recalled a biblical battle. And late American composer Charles Ives is heard singing (yes, singing) "They Are There!"--a ditty he wrote during the Great War and revisited for World War II; he's joined here by the Kronos, half a century after his death, in an act of studio magic that is ingenious if not musically stimulating. --Marc Weidenbaum

Customer Reviews

Something to Be Said...
I haven't written a review for a product in an extremely long time here, but I felt that I needed to say something on this album.

I was looking for pieces of George Crumb to listen to and stumbled upon "Black Angels." I did not expect to hear what I did. First of all, I must say that the quartet is extremely talented in all matters; their renditions of the work of Crumb and Shostakovich are supremely beautiful (my favorites: "Allegro Molto" and "Allegretto" by Shostakovich.) The pieces from Crumb--"Black Angels: Thirteen Images from the Dark Land"--could not be more appropiately titled. It is at times gorgeous and yet terrifying, shocking and yet absorbing--but always haunting. (By the way, in case you did not know, Crumb's "Therenody I: Night of the Electric Insects", the first of all pieces heard on the album was used in some dramatic moments in "The Exorcist.")

Moving on, "Spem in Alium," was actually a pleasant surprise to me; I did indeed feel like I had been transported back to Elizabeth I's court, and while it lasts almost nine minutes, I believe this is something you can relax to (though I almost could smell incense burning in the background...) To make a long story short, I cannot get into "They Are There!", though this is just more testimony to the diversity of the projects that the group tackled on this album. But frankly, it is "Doom. A Sigh" that has troubled me the most. The Apocalyptic-like background effects coupled with the 1952 poorly-recorded crying and chanting of a woman in archaic Hungarian may be the most frightening piece of "music" I have yet heard. I will also admit that I did not make it through the 11 minute running time of it, however you may want to give it a try...

unspeakably awful: 5 stars
I am an amateur fan of classical music: I know enough to understand most of what people say when they talk about classical music, and enough to keep my mouth shut when that is going on.

So, speaking as a relatively normal person -

"Black Angels" is unspeakably awful.

I love it.

It is music in the sense that it is organized noise. There is melody, there is rhythm. And when I want to show my students how bad modern art music can be, this is what I play.

Unless that's what you're looking for, you will initially regret buying this. But if you listen to it, you will come to appreciate this.

Really, it's not that bad. No, it's even good. You can't expect to enjoy yourself (except perhaps ironically). This is not your great grandfather's string quartet. But listen to it. Pay attention. It makes sense. This is not supposed to be enjoyed. It's supposed to be heard and felt. Why must music make us feel good? This is a disturbing piece of music. And it's good.

If you want a more lyrical Crumb, I enjoy George Crumb: Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death. That is pretty much normal 20th century music. Nothing shocking like "Black Angels."

Shostakovich's 8th string quartet is a big step in the direction of traditional music. It too is disturbing, but it is also beautiful. I have one other recording -Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C minor - which is rumored to be the best by people who are supposed to know, and at $7 one has to try it - but at the risk of offending the better informed, I must admit I prefer the Kronos version. They play it as well, as far as I can tell, and at least as movingly.

The other pieces are interesting filler. I think they're fine bits of musical education. The Romanian women singing is a heartrending recording you will be happy to listen to occasionally, but you won't return to it over and over. Nor will the Ives piece make you run out and grab more, but it's curious.

The most notable thing is Tallis' "Spem et Alium," which is originally a vocal work. You would not want to miss the original - the one I have is Tallis: Spem in alium; Missa Salve intemerata [Hybrid SACD] and though surely better recordings are available I don't know which to recommend - and I find it mildly interesting to hear it arranged for string quartet. If fact, I enjoy it more than the vocal original, but that probably means I haven't heard a good enough recording (let alone a live performance).

All in all, once you've heard your Bach and Beethoven and Brahms and so on, it's time you heard your Shostakovich and Crumb. If that's you, brace yourself, and get this CD.

(Gratuitous personal story. In college, I had huge speakers that had been given to my father by a radio station he worked for - you know when they do those outdoor things and they need huge speakers. Well, one night the guys upstairs were playing their music loudly, and my roommate was pissed off. So I put on "Black Angels," and we covered our ears until we were outside the building. About 3 minutes later we turned it off, and we never heard their music again. IOW, if you want to punish someone, play this really loud!)

Kronos Quartet Black Angels
This is music to think by as it engages the intellect.

Black Angels has a menace which invites ideas and images into your mind.It will make you a little uncomfortable, but it will remain within you.

Doom.A Sigh has a remarkarble story behind it and invokes an emotional response because the recorded voices carry echoes of something lost. It works a strange magic,drawing you in and giving a glimpse of a forgotten world that perhaps still exists within all of us, somewhere.

The Shostakovich quartet ends this CD as Black Angels began it,completing a cycle, and you will be brought back to the point at which you started your journey but with a sense of something profound having occurred.

This is a CD that will become part of who you are and the only question you need ask yourself is, are you brave enough to listen?