Kronos Quartet Discography - Studio Albums

Studio Albums

Year Album details Notes
1982 In Formation
  • Released: 1982
  • Label: Reference
  • Format: LP, CD
  • "In imaging, transient accuracy and timbre, one of the finest string quartet discs ever issued."
1985 Monk Suite: Kronos Quartet Plays Music of Thelonious Monk
  • Released: 1985
  • Label: Landmark
  • Format: LP, CD, MP3
  • Compositions by Thelonious Monk. With Ron Carter (bass improvisation). Re-released in 2005 as CD, on Savoy. Re-issued with Music of Bill Evans on 2CD as 32 Jazz: The Complete Landmark Sessions.
1985 Terry Riley: Cadenza on the Night Plain
  • Released: 1985
  • Label: Gramavision
  • Format: 2LP, CD
  • Collaboration between composer Terry Riley and the Quartet. "Charming music that grows on one, in really committed performances." Rereleased on CD (Gramavision #18-7014-2), 1 August 1992; rereleased on CD (Hanibal #1509), 31 January 2006.
1986 Music of Bill Evans
  • Released: 1986
  • Label: Landmark, Savoy
  • Format: LP, CD
  • Compositions written by or associated with Bill Evans. With Jim Hall (guitar) and Eddie Gomez (bass). Leonard Feather gave the album five stars; Stephen Holden, for the New York Times, named it "Jazz Album of the Week." Reissued with Monk Suite on 2CD as 32 Jazz: The Complete Landmark Sessions.
1986 Kronos Quartet
  • Released: 15 August 1986
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: LP, CD, MP3
  • Music by Peter Sculthorpe, Aulis Sallinen, Philip Glass, Conlon Nancarrow, and an arrangement of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze." "The best recorded anthology yet to capture the heady diversity of musical idioms that this San Francisco quartet espouses."
1987 White Man Sleeps
  • Released: 15 July 1987
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: LP, CD, MP3
  • Ten compositions, by Kevin Volans and others.
1988 Winter Was Hard
  • Released: 30 September 1988
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: LP, CD, MP3
  • Music by Aulis Sallinen, Terry Riley, Arvo Pärt, Anton Webern, John Zorn, John Lurie, Ástor Piazzolla, Alfred Schnittke, and Samuel Barber. Listed at #11 in the Los Angeles Times Classical Top 25 of 1989.
1989 Steve Reich: Different Trains/Electric Counterpoint
  • Released: 3 March 1989
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: LP, CD, MP3
  • Two Steve Reich compositions. Kronos Quartet play tracks 1–3 (Different Trains); Pat Metheny (guitar) plays tracks 4–6 (Electric Counterpoint). Different Trains written for the quartet. Listed at #16 in the Los Angeles Times Classical Top 25 of 1989. Reich won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Composition, with Kronos Quartet as performing artist.
1989 Kronos Quartet Plays Terry Riley: Salome Dances for Peace
  • Released: 27 October 1989
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: 2LP, 2CD, MP3
  • Collaboration between the composer and the quartet, nominated for a Grammy.
1990 Black Angels
  • Released: 29 June 1990
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: LP, CD, MP3
  • Includes George Crumb's Black Angels, the inspiration for David Harrington to found the Kronos Quartet.
1991 Witold Lutosławski: String Quartet
  • Released: 25 January 1991
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD single, MP3
  • Compositions by Witold Lutosławski. "Integrates notated music with chance performance."
1991 Kevin Volans: Hunting:Gathering
  • Released: 27 January 1991
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD single, MP3
  • Composition by South-African composer Kevin Volans, commissioned by the quartet.
1991 Five Tango Sensations
  • Released: 25 January 1991
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • Written for the quartet by Ástor Piazzolla (bandoneón). Piazzolla's last studio recording.
1991 Henryk Mikolaj Górecki: Already It Is Dusk/"Lerchenmusik"
  • Released: 28 May 1991
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD
  • Two compositions by Polish composer Henryk Mikolaj Górecki. "Already It Is Dusk" (String Quartet No. 1, Op. 62, 1988) played by Kronos Quartet; "Lerchenmusik" (Recitatives & Ariosos, Op. 53, for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, 1984) by the London Sinfonietta.
1992 Pieces of Africa
  • Released: 21 February 1992
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • Music written for the quartet by seven African composers. Reached #1 in Billboard's "Top World Albums", and spent 29 weeks on the chart.
1993 Short Stories
  • Released: 5 March 1993
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • With Steven Mackey (guitar), Pran Nath (voice), Krishma Bhatt (tabla), Terry Riley, and John Constant (tamboura).
1993 Henryk Górecki: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2
  • Released: 25 June 1993
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • Two string quartets "rooted in Polish folk song."
1993 At the Grave of Richard Wagner
  • Released: 24 September 1993
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • Works by Alban Berg and Anton Webern. With Aki Takahashi (piano) and Marcella DeCray (harp).
1993 Morton Feldman: Piano and String Quartet
  • Released: 24 September 1993
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • One of Morton Feldman's final works, recorded with pianist Aki Takahashi.
1993 Bob Ostertag: All the Rage
  • Released: 22 October 1993
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD single, MP3
  • Composition by Bob Ostertag, condemning California governor Pete Wilson's veto of pro-gay legislation in 1991; proceeds for AIDS research.
1994 Night Prayers
  • Released: 2 September 1994
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • Composers of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. With Throat Singers of Tuva, Dawn Upshaw (soprano), Djivan Gasparian (duduk), and Mikhail Alexandrovich (cantor).
1995 Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass
  • Released: 3 February 1995
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • "An ideal combination of composer and performers." Reached #9 in Billboard's "Top Classical Albums," and spent 12 weeks on the "Billboard Classical 50" chart.
1996 Howl, USA
  • Released: 31 May 1996
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl set to music, and other Cold War pieces. With the voices of Allen Ginsberg, J. Edgar Hoover, and I.F. Stone.
1997 Osvaldo Golijov: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind
  • Released: 14 March 1997
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • Collaboration with Argentina-born Osvaldo Golijov. With David Krakauer (clarinet).
1997 Tan Dun: Ghost Opera
  • Released: 14 March 1997
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • Composition for strings and pipa by Tan Dun, performed by Kronos Quartet and Wu Man.
1997 Early Music (Lachrymæ Antiquæ)
  • Released: 12 September 1997
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • 21 compositions, from the 9th to the 20th century. Critic's Choice in The New York Times.
1998 Kronos Quartet Performs Alfred Schnittke: The Complete String Quartets
  • Released: 15 May 1998
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: 2CD, MP3
  • "Kronos can play like demons."
1998 John Adams: John's Book of Alleged Dances
  • Released: 21 April 1998
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • Besides John's Book of Alleged Dances, also contains John Adams' Gnarly Buttons by the London Sinfonietta.
2000 Caravan
  • Released: 7 April 2000
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • With Zakir Hussain, Taraf de Haïdouks, Kayhan Kalhor, Ziya Tabbassian, Ali Jihad Racy, Souhail Kaspar, and Martyn Jones. Music by ten different composers incl. Carlos Paredes. Reached #4 in Billboard's "Top Classical Albums" and stayed on the chart for 15 weeks.
2001 Terry Riley: Requiem for Adam
  • Released: 4 September 2001
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • Written by Terry Riley in memory of Adam Harrington, David Harrington's son. Also includes "The Philosopher's Hand", piano improvisation by Riley.
2001 Steve Reich: Triple Quartet
  • Released: 16 October 2001
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • With Dominic Frasca (guitar), Alan Pierson, and the Ossia ensemble (Eastman School of Music).
2002 Nuevo
  • Released: 9 April 2002
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • Music by Mexican composers: "A full-throttled celebration of the multitextured sounds of Mexico." Reached #8 in Billboard's "Top Classical Crossover Albums" and stayed on the chart for 14 weeks.
2003 Pēteris Vasks: String Quartet No. 4
  • Released: 19 August 2003
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD single, MP3
  • Written by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks for the quartet; achieves "both feverish intensity and active rumination as the piece requires."
2003 Alban Berg: Lyric Suite
  • Released: 19 August 2003
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD single, MP3
  • Complete recording of Alban Berg's Lyric Suite. Grammy winner for Best Chamber Music Performance, 2004; proves "that the quartet is indeed the 'real thing,' an excellent, multifaceted classical ensemble." With restored setting of Baudelaire's poem "De profundis clamavi", sung by Dawn Upshaw, soprano.
2003 Harry Partch: U.S. Highball
  • Released: 19 August 2003
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD single, MP3
  • Ben Johnston's arrangement of Harry Partch's recollections. "Performed with pitch-perfect spirit."
2005 Mugam Sayagi: Music of Franghiz Ali-Zadeh
  • Released: 11 January 2005
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • Four works by the Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, three of which ("Oasis" (1998), "Apsheron Quintet" (2001), and "Mugam Sayagi" (1993)) commissioned by the Quartet. Fourth track is Ali-Zadeh's "Music for Piano", which is performed by the composer, who also plays piano on "Apsheron Quintet." Reached #14 in Billboard's "Top Classical Albums."
2005 You've Stolen My Heart: Songs From R.D. Burman's Bollywood with Asha Bhosle
  • Released: 23 August 2005
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • Recorded with Bollywood playback singer Asha Bhosle; tribute to Rahul Dev Burman., nominated for 46th Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary World Music Album.
2007 Henryk Górecki: String Quartet No. 3 ('...songs are sung')
  • Released: 20 March 2007
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
  • "Editor's Choice" for Strings magazine: "a solemn, spiritual, and revolutionary work." Entered at #6 in Billboard's "Top Classical Albums" on 30 March 2007.
2007 Kronos Quartet Plays Sigur Rós
  • Released: 4 September 2007
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: MP3
  • Two "audience favorites": "Flugufrelsarinn" (by Sigur Rós) and "The Star-Spangled Banner" (trad., arr. S. Prutsman after Jimi Hendrix).
2008 Terry Riley: The Cusp of Magic
  • Released: 4 February 2008
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
 *Written for the quartet, with Wu Man (pipa). Reached #3 in Billboard's "Top Classical Albums" and stayed on the chart for 10 weeks.
2009 Floodplain
  • Released: 19 May 2009
  • Label: Nonesuch
  • Format: CD, MP3
 Music written or arranged for the quartet, "from cultures based in areas surrounded by water and prone to catastrophic flooding." Includes long piece by Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov.
2010 Rainbow: Music of Central Asia Vol. 8
  • Released: 2010
  • Label: Smithsonian Walkways
  • Format: CD, MP3
 With Alim and Fargana Qasimov (tracks 2-6) and Homayun Sakhi (track 1)
2011 Uniko
  • Released: 1 February 2011
  • Label: Ondine
  • Format: CD, MP3
 Features Kronos Quartet, Finnish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen (live electronics). Seven-part suite for string quartet, accordion and live electronics composed by Pohjonen and Kosminen.

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