Customer Reviews

Black Angels

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Black Angels," the amazing string quartet written by George Crumb in 1970 in response to the Vietnam War, is what inspired the formation of the Kronos Quartet. They set it to disc in 1990, and unfortunately it has remained a timely testament to the ongoing terror and tragedy of war. According to Crumb, "[t]he work portrays a voyage of the soul. The three stages of this voyage are Departure (fall from grace), Absence (spiritual annihilation) and Return (redemption)." It is a resolutely modern work, not the sort of thing Haydn would ever have expected. The opening is called "Night of the Electric Insects," and that gives you an idea. Absolutely brilliant

"Black Angels" is 18 minutes long, and opens the disc, and Shostakovich's 8th quartet, at 20 minutes, is the closer. Kronos gives a hard-edged reading of the famous piece, dedicated to "the victims of war and fascism." It is strongest in the louder, faster sections, and not quite as effective in the slower sections, where the Borodin Quartet conveys more feeling, more poignancy (see my review of their 1990 recording of DSCH quartets 2, 3, 7, 8, 10 & 12). A fine performance, though, of a 20th century classic.

Unfortunately I don't have much good to say about the three shorter pieces in between. I've listened to this disc many times now, and I am just not won over by the Tallis, Marta or Ives. It's fun to hear a hoarse Charlie Ives shouting and ranting about the soldiers "Fighting for the People's New Free World," but it reminds you that he was probably a manic-depressive, and you want to tell him to take his medicine. Other than checking in now and then to see if these 3 have grown on me, I typically play either "Black Angels" or the 8th as stand-alone works, and so the 4 stars reflects the fact that the disc as a whole is less than satisfying.

Upon the initial listening, I felt that "Black Angels" was the only piece presented on this album that was worthwhile listening. Initially, I felt that the Tallis, Marta, and Ives pieces were useless filler tracks, and that Kronos simply didn't do a particularly good job with the Shostakovich (which, along with Black Angels, is one of the most important contributions to the string quartet this past century).

However, the entire CD begins to fall into place in one's mind. First, the Tallis piece "Spem in Alium"'s positioning in the album is fascinating and effective. After the emotionally disturbing and draining Black Angels, we hear this piece, which reaffirms much of the faith in people we lost upon hearing Black Angels.

The Istvan Marta piece is a good middle piece. It is in the same vein as Black Angels and String Quartet No 8 in that it is meant to disturb and provoke. The voice that we hear throughout the piece is not annoying, as some people have said. Listen more closely - it is a deeply moving and personal work.

The Ives lightens the mood slightly. On an album such as this, it's important to have at least one bright (ie happy) spot. Here it is in this scherzo-esque piece.

Now we come to the Shostakovich. Truthfully, I'm still not sure if I like Kronos's reading of it. Frequently it feels as though they missed the point, as though the pain and anguish never fully got through to them. It's an awfully fast reading, which is interesting in some respects. I'm still working on this, which is a good sign - it means their reading isn't bad, just different from what I'm used to.

That's sort of what this album is all about though - presenting you with a side of music you aren't generally used to. It's extremely dark and anguished, but it's important to hear this music. It's a reminder that life has a dark side.

'Nuts' and 'scary' are not words you use to describe classical music, but Black Angels do demand to be labeled as such. A friend once pushed this CD up my nose and challenged me to have a go at it at 3am. I obliged, though not at the appointed time, and it was more than enough for a novice classical critic like me. I tend to appreciate classical music so long if I can associate a particular piece with some universal theme, so soundtracks usually catch my attention easily. Concerning the theme of war, look no further than here. Black Angels contains musical structures that are more harrowingly depressive, manic and jarring than what you may hear in Platoon, guaranteed. "Doom. A Sigh" is the finest example, one that charges the hair around your neck with static. "Devil-music" of "Departure" from "Black Angels" by George Crumb is very effective at conjuring horrific mental images. It really SOUNDS like B-52s flying from afar and dropping their napalm, ending with a loud gong for explosion. I consider "Spem In Alium" most classically conventional...well, can't say much about it...perhaps Jerry 'The King' Lawler should adopt it as his new appearance theme, ha! The inclusion of "They Are There!" by Charles Ives is most disputable among reviewers here, but I think of it as an act of black humor. The sleeve notes say, "A black eye never reformed a drunkard, a czar never stopped a free thought." So this about sums up the vocals behind the song; Charles Ives must have been a darn drunkard to have sung so optimistically. The accompanying sometimes-a-bit-out-of-tune Kronos composition helps to amplify that perception, and I think the effect works. It brought a wry smile to my face. I have heard several renditions of Shostakovich's Quartet No.8. By far Kronos' is most stupendous, period. The way Kronos 'pulled' the sounds out for the 2nd stanza "Allegro molto" and as well as "Doom. A Sigh." is testament to their immaculate variation in the control of force and strength to bring music up to a required emotional level. Now I challenge you to listen to this most incredible work at 3am.

Perhaps I'm biased regarding this recording. After all, this CD switched my passion from large orchestral works to 20th Century Chamber Music. The two towers on this CD are "Black Angels" by Crumb and String Quartet No 8 by Shostakovich. Tallis, Ives, and Marta's works fill the track spaces between (quite well). The Shostakovich is...how should we say...an "American" view of this piece. They play it with fire and ornery-ness...for example, the 2nd movement, normally marked at a whole note = 120 bpm, is play much, much faster than that (which results in a few technical slips on the performers' parts, but that's here or there). Whether or not you like a "flashier" Shostakovich is just a question of personal aesthetics. For me, while I do like this version, I feel that the Borodin String Quartet has produced the definitive recordings of the Shostakovich String Quartets...period. However, Kronos provides a new and refreshing look.

Thus, we come to Black Angels, and incredibly powerful programmatic piece of George Crumb. This piece stretches what a string quartet can do more than anything else prior to it. The performers incorporate amplifiers, percussion, and their own voices. The opening explodes with screaming violins, which suddenly disappear into echoes only to explode yet again. The work is genuinely frightening and surprising in that respect. It is also strange...amidst all these extremely modern techniques we see musical quotations of.....Schubert. What? How did this happen? Listen to the piece, because, somehow, it makes sense.

This is among Kronos' better recordings, and includes perhaps their only performance of a standard-repertoire work that can stand up to comparison with other groups' performances (the Shostakovich).

Black Angels is an immensely powerful piece, and this is overall a fine performance of it. One major issue though: Crumb calls for an amplified string quartet, and if memory serves, specifically requests that the purpose of the electronics be only to amplify and not to distort or alter the string sound. Kronos' natural sound is somewhat thin and nasal, but levels here have been adjusted to give the group a more "electric" tone quality. They sound in many places less like a string quartet and more like a MIDI file. For more of the former sound, I'd recommend the Cikada Quartet's performance, though that disc also has its issues. Also, the quartet doesn't play the ossia version of the Death and the Maiden arrangement which opens the second section, in which the pitch lowers incrementally first from D minor to C# minor and then to C minor, as does the Concord Quartet (who recorded this work in collaboration with the composer). It's a nice effect, and sorely missed here.

Shostakovich's 8th string quartet is perhaps his most often heard piece, and there are excellent performances from several groups, notably the Fitzwilliam and Emerson quartets (the latter performance is live). To that short list I would tentatively add Kronos. Gone from their sound is the dark, brooding Russian depth of tone and color that make the above performances so powerful. Replacing that is a fiery energy, and at times a certain lack of clarity. The fast movements are gritty and rough, the slower movements not quite as stark as they could be. But it's a unique and moving recording, worth hearing.

The Ives is light, more of a curiosity than anything else. The Marta might be powerful to some, but I was yawning. The Tallis is a weak arrangement and is given a weak performance. Kronos' style of playing early music basically seems to consist of putting on practice mutes and playing everything non-vibrato and strictly in tempo. It's worth skipping.

Crumb's "Black Angels" blows me away every time I hear it. Written in protest of the Vietnam war, it captures the horror that many veterans associate with that war. However, if you are at all familiar with the work of George Crumb, you'll know that his music is not easily accessible to the casual listener. Get ready for amplified string quartet!

This emotional power of this disc is augmented by the inclusion of "Doom. A Sigh", by Istvan Marta, and Dmitri Shostakovich's eighth string quartet. The former selection conveys a sense of profound despair, while the latter was dedicated "to the victims of fascism and war."

In conclusion, this is not a light-hearted disc, with the exception of the Ives piece, but it is very much worth the effort, as well as the emotional toll it will take.

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...

The works of George Crumb are amazingly complex and require some work on the listener to comprehend the meaning and scope of the composition, Black Angels is a turbulent landscape, forever introducing variations and strict usage of extended technique in the electrified string ensemble... If you have never experienced George Crumbs music before, this album, and Ancient Voices of Children are MUST HAVES for a dynamic collection...

Kronos' selections are excellent, if a bit eccentric, although I am less excited by the Tallis and Ives...arrangements. How well the main pieces are done is another matter, one being decent, the other somewhat lacking.

Black Angels is a very exciting piece, as well as dark and disturbing. However I've played it, so it doesn't disturb me as much. Kronos is a bit fast sometimes, which can be a slight problem since the numerology is highly significant in this work. Pulling this piece off is not easy, as I can attest to. They do pretty well with it, but there is some "cheating" going on, as the DVD version reveals.

One of the most interesting effects in the piece is the "consort of viols" sections, images 6 and 8, which are trios in which each player plays behind his/her left hand--basically turning the whole technique of bowing and fingering upside down. This is difficult to do, however it is not actually very hard if you practice it for a few minutes. I find it strange that Kronos actually does away with this amazing effect and plays it with normal technique using heavy practice mutes--no big deal for most listeners, but it does alter the sound. So, Kronos doesn't stick to the score completely.

Anyway, the Shostakovich is the performance that is lacking. I like the Fitzwilliam cycle best, and their 8th is excellent, so you might get that one. If you don't mind the odd noises and variable sound the Borodin cycle is good too, but it is harder and harder to find, which is very sad indeed.

I'm amazed that not one of the preceding reviewers mentioned the Brodsky recording of the Crumb, and only two of them seemed to know about the Concord, who were, I believe, the first to record it. The Brodsky is sharp, clean, accurate. The Kronos is none of these. Their performance is fast and sloppy. If you want to hear all the details you have to listen to the Concord or the Brodsky. (I've not heard the Cikada or the new Mode disc with members of the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic.) The Brodsky is a more exciting performance and a better recording than the Concord, plus they couple the Crumb with the Schubert 14th, which makes that famous cameo in "Dark Angels."

That does not mean you shouldn't have this disc. I've heard many recordings of Shostakovich's music, the reverent "we're playing music by the great Soviet composer," the long-faced "we're playing music by a tortured soul," and the vastly superior "we're playing music." I'd put this Kronos performance in the latter category. Ironically, I like it because it's faster than most (and a little bit sloppy). Not so sloppy that details are blurred, though, and fast here means the piece is never allowed to get lugubrious, which too many performances of his music definitely are. (So many people seem unable to listen to music without thinking about nonmusical things, like politics or the composer's putative feelings, and so many performers of Shostakovich seem happy to accomodate them.)

I don't know of any other performance of the eighth that makes the quotations so clear, either. Shostakovich threw in references to several of his own pieces in this quartet, the first and fifth symphonies, the first cello concerto, and most deliciously, the second trio. Kronos plays the quotes from the trio better than anyone else I've heard.