Kronos Quartet: Caravan

As its name suggests, Caravan, released in 2000, takes its listeners on a journey across Europe, alighting at the Middle East before continuing on to Asia. The Kronos Quartet play with a passion clearly born of intense cultural curiosity, whether playing simply as a quartet, or alongside traditional musicians including Hindustani tabla player Zakir Hussain and the Romanian Romani folk ensemble Taraf de Haïdouks. This is a thrilling album, full of wild spontaneity and many, many moments of beguiling beauty. David Harrington, founder and first violin of Kronos Quartet, first had the inspiration to record Caravan after hearing Taraf de Haïdouks, translated literally as “band of brigands”. “When I first heard them, I just thought, this is so great. I love this band,” he tells Apple Music Classical. “We had to figure out a way to play with them.” And, of course, they did. You can hear the combustible results on Track 5, Turceasca (Turkish Song), music that testifies to the Ottoman influence on Eastern Europe. Even as the music grows ever more frenetic, Taraf de Haïdouks and Kronos stay the course with an impressive blend of impeccable control and uninhibited swagger. “We were trying to play faster than each other,” remembers Harrington. “It was so much fun.” Canção Verdes Anos (Song of the Green Years) by the Portuguese composer Carlos Paredes typifies Kronos’ approach to repertoire. “There was an album of Paredes’ music that came out on Nonesuch Records, and it was Bob Hurwitz [then president of Nonesuch] that made sure I had that album,” says Harrington. “When I heard Carlos Paredes’ music, I just thought, this is so beautiful. Somehow we need to bring this work into our world. You use your imagination, you use your hands, you use your tools, and you try to find a sound that you’ve never made before. And Canção Verdes Anos brought that sound out of Kronos, I think.” Elsewhere on Caravan, Kronos explore the music of Iran in a vibrant traditional piece evoking galloping horses, and pay a visit to the San Francisco Bay area through Terry Riley’s otherworldly Cortejo Fúnebre en el Monte Diablo, a touching homage to Harrington’s son Adam who died at just 16 while walking on Mount Diablo.