This exhibit features large sculptural instruments that were created for Kronos by Walter Kitundu, Victor Gama and others. Violinist David Harrington explains: “Composers and fellow musicians have learned about our fascination with the wide world of sounds and now, to our delight, frequently bring us instrumental gifts to add to our collection. As our palette of musical colors has grown bigger, we have attempted to make Kronos sound like many different instruments.”
Works included:
1) Phonoharp by Walter Kitundu. Made for the piece Cerulean Suite III by Walter Kitundu.
2) Toha by Victor Gama. Made for the piece Rio Cunene by Victor Gama.
3) Beguèna Maridhia by Walter Kitundu. Made for the piece Suite from the Repertoire of Alèmu Aga arranged by Jacob Garchik.
4) Pendulum by Alexander V. Nichols. Made for the piece Pendulum Music by Steve Reich.
5) Trimpin violin by Trimpin. Made for the piece 4 Cast: Unpredictable by Trimpin and the Kronos Quartet.
6) Stroh viola by Walter Kitundu. Made for the piece Transylvanian Horn Courtship by Terry Riley.
7) Pendulum by Alexander V. Nichols. Made for the piece Pendulum Music by Steve Reich.
8) Zeta Music Systems Inc. electric violin.
9) Wooden Laterna cylinder by Panos Ioannidis. Made for the piece Strophe in Antistrophe by Magda Giannikou.
“In the last forty years the members of Kronos have played many instruments in addition to our bowed four-stringed ones we each began playing as kids. We have played an assortment of drums, bells, and gongs from many cultures, a wide range of keyboards such as a toy piano, casios, omnichords and stylophones and instruments from India [shruti box, tambura], Serbia [gusle], Brazil [caxixi] and instruments from many other lands, too. An Apache violin was made especially for one of our pieces as were individual turntables for another and a harp-cello inspired by the ancient Ethiopian beguena for yet another. We’ve loved playing all kinds of kids toys from around the world. We’ve turned artillery shells used in wars in Vietnam and Angola into musical objects and we’ve bowed barbed wire fences as well as drift wood. Recently we were bowing inflated surgical gloves for a song about sea pigs.
“Discovering hidden relationships within the huge family of instruments has been a delight. Composers and fellow musicians have learned about our fascination with the wide world of sounds and now, to our delight, frequently bring us instrumental gifts to add to our collection. As our palette of musical colors has grown bigger, we have attempted to make Kronos sound like many different instruments.
“We have found that the most important instruments we possess are our ears and keeping them fresh, nourished and curious is an essential part of our work. It is amazing how our violins, viola, and cello can take on new lives. We have learned that music celebrates life and is found wherever people find themselves. Plinking, plonking, blowing and bowing is fun to do and music itself is becoming larger, more mysterious and more difficult to define as time goes on.”
David Harrington
10 December, 2013