Kronos Quartet's 1990 Album Black Angels on 2LP. Released on Vinyl in the U.S. for the First Time. Includes a Etching on Side D.
Kronos Quartet's award-winning 1990 album, Black Angels, gets its first-ever U.S. vinyl release in celebration of the group's 50th anniversary. The two-LP set includes George Crumb's title piece, which inspired David Harrington to found the quartet, and works by Charles Ives, István Márta, Thomas Tallis, and Dmitri Shostakovich; the vinyl's fourth side is an etching of an illustration Matt Mahurin - whose work is featured on the original album cover - created especially for this purpose. Crumb's title piece, called "an unusually elevated and searing Vietnam War protest" by the New York Times, sets a dark, powerful tone for the collection, which addresses the political/physical/spiritual consequences of war. The Evening Standard includes the album among its "100 Definitive Classical Albums of the 20th Century."
Side A:
- Black Angels: I. Departure
- Black Angels: II. Absence
- Black Angels: III. Return
Side B:
- Spem in Alium
- Doom. A Sigh
- They Are There! Fighting for the People's New Free World
Side C:
- Quartet No. 8: I. Largo
- Quartet No. 8: II. Allegro molto
- Quartet No. 8: III. Allegretto
- Quartet No. 8: IV. Largo
- Quartet No. 8: V. Largo
Side D:
Etching