Attacca Quartet: Plucked from the Field

The Attacca Quartet is known for innovative programming that defies categorisation—and even confounds notions of the string quartet itself. No surprise, then, the group tells Apple Music Classical, that “Plucked from the Field” is ripe with “colourful, fresh, new sounds that bend and break preconceptions, that surprise and delight and, who knows, perhaps unlock new meaning or inspiration from unexplored corners of your inner world.” Among the contemporary gems on display is the thrilling final movement from LIFT, composed in 2016 by the Kronos Quartet’s cellist Paul Wiancko, who describes it as a “fervent, celebratory investigation into joy itself”. “Paul sounds like no other composer on the planet right now,” says the Attacca Quartet. “LIFT inspired us so much that we will be programming it extensively in our upcoming season.” There’s choral music, too, by Attacca friend and collaborator Caroline Shaw. Shaw’s The Isle is a playful setting of three excerpts from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and its third movement, “Caliban”, is performed here by Shaw’s vocal group, Roomful of Teeth. It comes from the album Rough Magic which, says the Attacca Quartet, “shows Caroline Shaw’s range as a composer for the voice in addition to her close association with strings, and how she brings inspiration from one soundworld to another, always with a nod and a wink to something classic.” “Plucked from the Field” also includes an Attacca favourite, the infectiously joyous “Junun”, bringing together composers Shye Ben Tzur and Jonny Greenwood, and the Indian ensemble the Rajasthan Express (who appeared as the opening act of Radiohead’s 2018 Moon Shaped Pool tour). “Who said folk musicians, rock musicians and Sufi mystics can’t make a banger?” says the Attacca Quartet. “‘Junun’ is proof that epically groovy music exists in all cultures.”