White Man Sleeps

Kronos Quartet (Artist), Charles Ives (Artist), Jon Hassell (Artist), Thomas Oboe Lee (Artist), Ornette Coleman (Artist), Ben Johnston (Artist), Bela Bartok (Artist), Kevin Volans (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000005IYJ
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #175,220 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #76 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Modern, 20th, & 21st Century > Composers > Ives, Charles

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Kronos's second Nonesuch record combines seemingly unrelated work into a fairly seamless whole. From the off-kilter jazz of Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman" to the strains of Bela Bartók's String Quartet No. 3, this is an album of blues-tinged music. Kevin Volans, the South African composer, lends the disc its title and its opening track, which melts hesitantly familiar folk melodies into a racing quartet. Volans's technique is not far removed from that of Bartók, more than 70 years his senior. Kronos slow the intonations of Bartók's quartet to about a minute and a half longer than the Emerson Quartet's take--long enough to contribute to a kind of defamiliarization. Speaking of which, Ben Johnston's arrangement of "Amazing Grace" is what makes this CD a real keeper. He tests the mettle of this beloved melody by playing it against itself in numerous different ways, and the tune never succumbs to the tinkering. --Marc Weidenbaum

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice discoveries, especially Hassell and Johnston, July 18, 2010

By 

Discophage (France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: White Man Sleeps (Audio CD)

Let's start with the carp: no liner notes (at least in my copy, which must date from when the disc was originally released, back in 1987). OK, sure, let the music speak for itself without any preconceived ideas (maybe that was the rationale behind this apparent stinginess), but still: after listening to the music, I would have liked to know more about the pieces and composers. For instance, I thought I remembered a Ben Johnston as one of the main proponents of micro-tonal music, but that did not seem to stick with the composer who apparently wrote an arrangement of "Amazing Grace". Well, that's the Ben Johnston alright, and "Amazing Grace" is not exactly an arrangement of the old Christian Hymn. That's the way it starts, and Johnston makes it sound almost like Japanese music. It is sweet, not what you'd expect from a disciple of Harry Partch and a fervent advocate of "just intonation" systems. But after circa 4 minutes it grows more intricate and vehemently lyrical, with wonderful sonic invention, while retaining its great melodic appeal. The micro-tonal Johnston can be recognized in the unusual and sensuous melodies, with some vaguely Gipsy sounding flourishes. Makes me want to catch up with the music of Johnston and especially his other String Quartets (Ben Johnston String Quartets).

Jon Hassels's "Pano da Costa" ("Cloth from the Coast", title unexplained) is also a very fine work (and, at 19:21, the longest on the CD) and I had never heard of the composer. After an opening of great tonal subtlety and mystery, full of pent-up menace, it develops tremendous energy and beat, to the point of fury, alongside moments of contemplation and meditation, in a style that pays tribute both to World music (the moments of repose unfold bluesy melodies that could be Gipsy - the 3rd violin sonata of Enescu comes to mind - but are probably inspired by Indian raga) and to repetitive music but is never trite harmonically and always inventive in tone color. Thanks to the people's processed free on-line encyclopedia, now I know that Hassell, born March 22, 1937, is an American trumpet player (a member of the ensemble that made the premiere recording of Riley's seminal In C in 1968) and composer, known for his influence in the world music scene (like Riley he studied North Indian Raga with Pandit Pran Nath) and his unusual electronic manipulation of the trumpet sound. As with Johnston, his quartet makes me want to hear more of his music (as if I didn't have enough of a backlog of things to hear already).

The arrangement (by Mel Graves, written for Kronos) of Ornette Coleman's Lonely Woman has a furious energy that makes it closer to Jimmy Hendrix than Jazz, with wild slides that seem to evoke the electric guitar as much as the saxophone. Thomas Oboe Lee's "Morango... almost a Tango" indeed starts like a slow and sad tango, but then becomes more vehemently lyrical with more flourishes given to the first violin. It is very typical of the kind of crossover music Kronos has become a champion of.

"White Man Sleeps" was published in 1987 and was one of the first CDs of Kronos with Elektra/Nonesuch, after their recording of the soundtrack of Glass' Mishima (Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters (1985 Film)) and of a collection with works of Sculthorpe (8th Quartet), Sallinen, Glass ("Company"), Nancarrow (1st Quartet) and and arrangement of Hendrix' Purple Haze (Kronos Quartet: Sculthorpe, Sallinen, Glass, Nuncarrow, Hendrix). It is the later Kronos disc "Pieces of Africa", recorded in 1992, that sent me back to this one. That later disc features the complete (five movements) "White Man Sleeps", the first String Quartet of Kevin Volans, written for Kronos. Why they played only two movements of the piece that gives its title to the earlier CD eludes me. Anyway, the omission is repaired in the later CD. It is a superb piece, although Volans wrote two even more beautiful string quartets for Kronos, "Hunting : Gathering" (No. 2) and Songlines (No. 3), although the ensemble recorded only the second:Kevin Volans: Hunting: Gathering (String Quartet No. 2) (1987) - Kronos Quartet. For the two, go to the Balanescu Quartet, a splendid recording: String Quartets 2 & 3.

I'll withold comments on the short Ives Scherzo and Bartok's 3rd Quartet. They don't need me to be recognized masterpieces, and I haven't done any comparative listening to allow me to assess the interpretive merits of Kronos. They are comparatively more difficult for the unprepared listener than the rest of the program - that's the way twentieth-century music evolved. Anyway the disc's appeal comes mainly from its discoveries - Hassell and Johnston foremost.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, June 10, 2008

By 

H. Patrick (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: White Man Sleeps (Audio CD)

This Bartok quartet # 3 is superior to the grammy winning Emerson Quartet rendition(I also own) both artistically & technically(sound recording/reproduction).
This is an emotionally bright, joyful CD.
The ONLY problem is deciding which tracks to skip if your listening time only permits 30-45 minutes.

9 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Weak Bartok kills this album, May 26, 2005

By 

chefdevergue (Spokane, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: White Man Sleeps (Audio CD)

I agree with the previous reviewer...the Kronos rendition of Bartok Quartet #3 is charitably described as anemic. Compared to any number of other recordings (most notably, in my opinion, the 1963 Juilliard version), it underscores my feeling that Kronos would be well-advised to avoid the standard repertoire and stick to works composed specifically for them.

Aside from the lousy Bartok, the only piece of note (for me) was the Kevin Volans piece, which earns this album the lofty 3 stars I have given it. The other pieces seem to be largely filler, and are so unmemorable as to be forgotten as soon as they are finished. Definitely not one of Kronos' better efforts.