Kreutzer Quartet: Four Premieres, Four Bold Voices

This album was a long time coming. The Kreutzer Quartet began recording it in 2018 and completed it four years later. The program features four world premier recordings from new and old composers.

Thomas Metcalf is in his thirties and has an impressive body of work. "Pixelating the River" (2022) was commissioned and premiered by the Kreutzer Quartet. The structure is extremely complex. But the quartet's playing makes sense of it all. Metcalf has broken his music down into it's smallest components. The Kreutzer's phrasing shows how it all fits together.   

Australian composer Sadie Harrison is another young artist with something to say. Many of her works address social injustice, as does the piece here. "10,000 Black Men Named George: The Multiple Burdens of Injustice" says it all in the title. Harrison uses African-American spirituals as the template for her work. The result is a moving and heartfelt lament that transcends race.

"On Blue" (2020) was another commission by the Kreutzer Quartet. Joel Jarventausta is concerned with texture. This work moves slowly, with the instruments gradually shifting in their interrelationships. The quartet does a masterful job of sustaining the intensity of the music.. 

Gloria Coates is probably the most familiar composer on the release. The Piano Quintet was her final completed work. Half of the quartet is tuned a quarter-tone higher. It gives the ensemble an eerie, otherworldly sound. From the ethereal sound clouds to the hammering tuttis, this is classic Coates. And it's an apt summation of her career. 

Four contemporary composers with four totally unique approaches to composition. Another fine album by the Kreutzer Quartet.

Kreuzter Quartet: Something So Transporting Bright
Music by Thomas Metcalf, Sadie Harrison, Joel Jarventausta,Gloria Coates
Metier MEX 77132