Iannis Xenakis

(1922-2001)

mode 209

Xenakis Edition 10: Complete String Quartets

$14.99$19.99

mode 209 Iannis XENAKIS: Complete String Quartets — Tetras, Tetora, ST-4/1,080262, Ergma. Performed by the JACK Quartet. 
96/24-bit DVD Video DVD Video

Xenakis Edition 10: Complete String Quartets - CD
Program notes by James Harley and biographical references in English, German, and French ([18] p.) linked to from resource. The 3rd work composed using a computer program. The Jack Quartet (Ari Streisfeld, Christopher Otto, violin ; John Pickford Richards, viola ; Kevin McFarland, cello). Recorded in 2008.

Tetras (1983)   (17:33)

Tetora (1990)   (13:41)

ST-4/1,080262 (1956-62)   (12:56)

Ergma (1994)   (8:30)

The JACK Quartet:
Christopher Otto and Ari Streisfeld, violins
John Pickford Richards, viola
Kevin McFarland, cello

2009: Ten Exceptional Recordings : Alex Ross, The New Yorker

2009’s Best (Mostly) ‘New Music,’ From Q2 : Nadia Sirota, WQXR/WNYC Radio, #1 “The JACK Quartet provides the first complete compilation of these stochastically composed works. They’re witty, eccentric, challenging and worth it.”

The Best Albums 2009, Steve Smith, Time Out New York : “JACK Quartet’s Xenakis String Quartets was a genuine event. A mix of audacity and assurance turned this confident young ensemble’s survey of thorny Xenakis compositions into a genuine event.”

Jeremy Eichler’s top classical albums of 2009, The Boston Globe : “The Jack Quartet brings out the exhilarating, visceral edge of this brainy and astringent music. For the most fearless new-music lover on your list.”

The first complete recording of Xenakis’ string quartets.

The first new recording of Xenakis’ first three quartets since 1994.

The only available recording of Xenakis’ last quartet, “Ergma”, from 1994.

The first commercial release by the JACK Quartet, a young New York/Boston based group that has been garnering high praise for their performances of complex and challenging new music. The members of the quartet met while attending the Eastman School of Music, New York. The quartet has since studied closely with the Arditti Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Muir String Quartet, and members of the Ensemble Intercontemporain.

“The Jack Quartet, an ensemble of young string players devoted to contemporary music, played the Le Poisson Rouge in October. I would never have expected to see a crowd at a downtown nightclub erupting with whoops after performances of four hypercomplex, cutting-edge string quartets by Iannis Xenakis. But in this setting these dense and kinetic works came across to this open-minded audience as just more hip, wild, out-there contemporary music.”
— Anthony Tommasini, “Classical Music That Dared To Be Different”, The New York Times, Sunday, December 21, 2008

High resolution 24-bit recording.

Liner notes by James Harley.

On Surround Sound DVD only:
The studio recording process was dynamically captured by a multiple camera shoot. Each quartet is given its own visual treatment.

Filmed in High Definition Video, widescreen format.

48khz/24-bit high resolution 5.1 surround sound recording.

Language : English.

Reviews

2009: Ten Exceptional Recordings
The Jack Quartet’s beautifully harsh Xenakis roared from my rented-car stereo during a drive into Death Valley.
– Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 3 December 2009

The Best of 2009
#5 JACK Quartet Xenakis String Quartets
(Mode). A mix of audacity and assurance turned this confident young ensemble’s survey of thorny Xenakis compositions into a genuine event.
– Steve Smith, Time Out New York, 31 December 2009

Top 10 of 2009
#9. JACK Quartet – Xenakis String Qua
rtets (Mode)
Nog zo’n briljant ensemble is het Amerikaanse JACK Quartet, dat de noestige strijkkwartetten van Iannis Xenakis met veel avontuur vertolkt.
(“The JACK Quartet is sharp and precise. They render Xenakis with passion — powerful and lyrical at the same time.”)
– Anthony Fiumara, Trouw, 24 December 2009

Jeremy Eichler’s top classical albums of 2009
…brings out the exhilarating, visceral edge of this brainy and astringent music. For the most fearless new-music lover on your list.
– Jeremy Eicher, Boston Globe, 20 December 2009

2009’s Best (Mostly) ‘New Music,’ From Q2

#1. The JACK Quartet provides the first complete compilation of these stochastically composed works. They’re witty, eccentric, challenging and worth it.
– Nadia Sirota, NPR Music

The JACK Quartet is an up-and-coming group on the new-music scene; its recent Mode recording of the complete Iannis Xenakis quartets is revelatory.
– Christian Carey, Musical America

Faces to Watch in 2010: Music — The JACK Quartet, String Quartet
You don’t know JACK? Then you’ve missed one of 2009’s most impressive recordings — that of a muscular, young New York-based string quartet playing the physically demanding, mathematically multifarious and otherworldly string quartets of Iannis Xenakis. Mode has released it both as a CD and a DVD. The DVD, with its great surround sound, is the way to go, especially since you can see the black T-shirted guys in startling action, unlike when they make their Los Angeles debut April 19 and 20 at Neighborhood Church in Pasadena.
– Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 24 December 2009


Links

JACK Quartet Profile

Iannis Xenakis Profile/Discography


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