Terry Riley: Sun Rings

by Kronos Quartet

Overview

Terry Riley's collaborations with the Kronos Quartet have gained substantial audiences and continue to develop in interesting ways, even into Riley's old age. They can't be called minimalist even under a broad definition of the term, for they incorporate a wide range of influences. Perhaps none of those influences has been at once as exotic and yet as directly accessible as the use of actual electronic sounds from outer space in Sun Rings, recorded during missions of the Voyager and Galileo space probes. The work was composed in 2001 and 2002 and has been tweaked periodically since then. Riley sums up the work's appeal neatly: "the intention [is] to let the sounds of space influence the string quartet writing and then to let there be an interplay between live 'string' and recorded 'space' sound." Sun Rings is thus a part of the larger genre of works that combine analog and electronic sounds, but it's a unique example that has a pictorial aspect any listener can grasp. As Riley indicates, the relationship between the string quartet and the space sounds has two modalities: the string quartet can either become part of outer space or represent the human element. A chorus enters later on, and the finale has some abstract intoned texts of a vaguely astrological nature; these, Riley says, are "to further emphasize that this work is largely about humans as they reach out from earth to gain an awareness of their solar system neighborhood." They detract from the focus though: the string quartet is capable of representing the human element by itself. You can sample anywhere to hear the work's characteristic mixture of spooky and calmly warm. Highly recommended. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	08/30/2019
Label:	Nonesuch
UPC:	0075597925869

Tracks

1. Sun Rings, for String Quartet, Chorus and Pre-Recorded Spacescapes~Sun Rings Overture
2. Sun Rings, for String Quartet, Chorus and Pre-Recorded Spacescapes~Hero Danger
3. Sun Rings, for String Quartet, Chorus and Pre-Recorded Spacescapes~Beebopterismo
4. Sun Rings, for String Quartet, Chorus and Pre-Recorded Spacescapes~Planet Elf Sindoori
5. Sun Rings, for String Quartet, Chorus and Pre-Recorded Spacescapes~Earth Whistlers
6. Sun Rings, for String Quartet, Chorus and Pre-Recorded Spacescapes~Earth/Jupiter Kiss
7. Sun Rings, for String Quartet, Chorus and Pre-Recorded Spacescapes~The Electron Cyclotron Frequency Parlour
8. Sun Rings, for String Quartet, Chorus and Pre-Recorded Spacescapes~Prayer Central
9. Sun Rings, for String Quartet, Chorus and Pre-Recorded Spacescapes~Venus Upstream
10. Sun Rings, for String Quartet, Chorus and Pre-Recorded Spacescapes~One Earth, One People, One Love

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Kronos Quartet   Primary Artist,Ensemble,String Quartet
Volti   Vocal Ensemble
Professor Don Gurnett   Vocals

Technical Credits

Laird Rodet   Project Development
Janet Cowperthwaite   Producer
Jeanne Velonis   Post Producer,Editing Assistant
Evan Gaffney   Design
Professor Don Gurnett   Liner Notes,Project Coordinator
Reshena Liao   Project Supervisor
Laurence Neff   Lighting Design
Wojciech Wandzel   Photography
Eugene A. Cernan   Poetry
Robert C. Ludwig   Mastering
Brian H Scott   Lighting Supervisor
William Williams   Visual Design
Joan Morris   Cover Art
David Harrington   Mixing,Liner Notes
John Kilgore   Mixing
Leslie Ann Jones   Engineer
Dann Thompson   Assistant Engineer
Terry Riley   Composer,Liner Notes
Mark Grey   Sound Design
Judith Sherman   Mixing,Producer
Brian Mohr   Engineer,Technical Assistance
Mark Swed   Liner Notes
Sidney Chen   Session Coordinator
Scott Fraser   Engineer
Lenny Gonzalez   Photography