Kronos Quartet - Black Angels

Award-winning 1990 album gets first-ever vinyl release!

2LP black vinyl with D-side etching

Celebrating the group's 50th anniversary!

Kronos Quartet's award-winning 1990 album Black Angels gets its first-ever vinyl release in celebration of the group's 50th anniversary. The 2LP set includes George Crumb's title piece, which inspired David Harrington to found the quartet, and works by Charles Ives, István Márta, Thomas Tallis, and Dmitri Shostakovich; the vinyl's fourth side is an etching of an illustration by Matt Mahurin — whose work is featured on the original album cover — created especially for this purpose.

Crumb's title piece, called "an unusually elevated and searing Vietnam War protest" by The New York Times, sets a dark, powerful tone for the collection, which addresses the political/physical/spiritual consequences of war. The Evening Standard includes the album among its "100 Definitive Classical Albums of the 20th Century."

Side A GEORGE CRUMB (1929-2022)

1. Black Angels: I. Departure

2. Black Angels: II. Absence

3. Black Angels: III. Return

Side B

THOMAS TALLIS (C. 1505-1585); ARR. KRONOS QUARTET

1. Spem in Alium

ISTVÁN MÁRTA (B. 1952)

2. Doom. A Sigh

CHARLES IVES (1874-1954)

3. They Are There! Fighting for the People's New Free World

Side C

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)

1. Quartet No. 8: I. Largo

2. Quartet No. 8: II. Allegro molto

3. Quartet No. 8: III. Allegretto

4. Quartet No. 8: IV. Largo

5. Quartet No. 8: V. Largo

Side D

Etching

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