Product Description

With Floodplain, Kronos Quartet draws together work from the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and Eastern Europe in particular from those nations whose external conflicts and internal divisions have, for many westerners, often overshadowed their rich musical legacies. With these twelve specially commissioned tracks, Kronos Quartet explore centuries-old traditions while also presenting adventurous new music by young composers who sample and reinterpret aspects of their indigenous cultures. Some of these pieces have been adapted from the religious, folk, classical and popular music of Egypt, Lebanon, Azerbaijan and Iraq, among other places. Others were written for Kronos Quartet by such contemporary artists as the Palestinian electronic / hip hop collective Ramallah Underground, who Kronos founder David Harrington discovered via myspace, and the Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov.

Track Listing

1. Ya Habibi Ta'ala (My Love, Come Quickly)
2. Tashweesh (Interference)
3. Wa Habibi (Beloved)
4. Getme, Getme (Don't Leave, Don't Leave)
5. Raga Mishra Bhairavi: Alap
6. Oh Mother, The Handsome Man Tortures Me
7. Mugam Beyati Shiraz
8. Lullaby
9. Nihavent Sirto
10. Kara Kemir
11. Tew Semagn Hagere (Listen To Me, My Fellow Countrymen)
12. Hold Me Neighbor, In This Storm...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24451 in Music
• Released on: 2009-05-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .27 pounds

Customer Reviews

beauty and intensity, music from Muslim lands...
...mainly Muslim lands, that is. This is overwhelmingly folk-inflected world music, and the songs come from Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Iran, Turkey, India and Serbia. Every one of the 12 pieces was commissioned and either written, or in most cases arranged, specifically for Kronos. Most have a very traditional sound, despite their translation into string quartet arrangements. The main exceptions are "Tashweesh (Interference)," by the Palestinian group the Ramallah Underground, which features electronics, and the 22-minute "...hold me, neighbor, in this storm..." by the 39-year-old Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov, which concludes the album. It is by far the longest piece, and the only one which falls into the category of contemporary classical -- it is a quintessential example of postmodern pastiche, with church bells, Islamic calls to prayer, and disparate elements representing the cultural diversity of Serbia.

The title FLOODPLAIN refers to the central role of rivers in many of the cultures of Eurasia and Africa -- the Nile, the Tigris & Euphrates, and the Indus, just to name a few. But the unifying theme is also the wars America has been waging in the Middle East and Southwest Asia and the desire of the musicians to transcend the cultural barriers that exist among all the peoples involved by sharing the stunningly beautiful music. The feelings expressed in the music reveal the common humanity of those who play, and those who hear.

Some highlights of the album for me include Hank Dutt's viola solo in "Raga Mishra Bhairavi: Alap" (the alap is the opening of a raga), David Harrington's violin in the Azeri song "Mugam Beyati Shiraz," John Sherba's violin solo in the Turkish "Nihavent Sirto," Jeffrey Ziegler's cello played in the style of a Kazakh horsehair fiddle in "Kara Kemir," and the soulful melodies throughout. The Ramallah Underground piece is quite powerful, as is the 1970s Iraqi song "Oh Mother, the Handsome Man Tortures Me."

This is a superb album! It is probably the most similar to NIGHT PRAYERS (see my review) of all those in the now extensive Kronos catalog. It would be wonderful if it contributed to the goal of breaking down barriers of hatred and stereotypes and hostility. Short of that FLOODPLAIN can bring some probably unfamiliar beauty into your life.

Peace, shalom, salaam, namaste.