Terry Riley: Requiem for Adam

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Terry Riley: Requiem for Adam
Studio album by
Kronos Quartet
Released4 September 2001 (2001-09-04)
RecordedApril 1999, August 2000
Genrecontemporary classical
Length47:46
LabelNonesuch (#79639)
ProducerRobert Hurwitz
Kronos Quartet chronology
Caravan

(2000) 		Terry Riley: Requiem for Adam
(2001) 		Steve Reich: Triple Quartet
(2001)

Terry Riley: Requiem for Adam is a studio album by the Kronos Quartet. The music was composed by Terry Riley, commissioned by the quartet; the album is a requiem for Adam Harrington, the son of Kronos co-founder David Harrington.

Genesis and composition

Adam Harrington, age 16, died of heart failure caused by a blood clot, sustained while hiking with his family on

Easter Sunday, 1995. Riley finished the three-movement composition in 1998,[1] and it was first performed in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on 28 June 1999;[2] David Harrington recalls that this performance was "the most powerful in his memory."[3] The requiem has been in the quartet's repertoire ever since.[4][5]

As Terry Riley explains in the liner notes, the first movement has a rising sequential four-note

Ensoniq TS 12) is the background for the strings, in what Riley calls a "New Orleans Dixieland" kind of funeral march. The third movement is an A-B-C-A-B coda, in which a two-note motif opens and closes the composition, two notes representing the two syllables of Adam's name. The fourth track, "The Philosopher's Hand," is a solo piano improvisation by Riley inspired by the late Pandit Pran Nath; Riley at the time was working on Atlantis Nath, a tribute to the Indian master.[3] Pran Nath had been at Adam's memorial service and taken David Harrington's hand; Harrington remarked later that it was the softest hand he'd ever held.[6][7]

Terry Riley and the Kronos Quartet

Terry Riley and the Kronos Quartet have been collaborating since 1978, when Riley taught

minimalism of his early period."[2]
Riley has composed many works for the quartet, including Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector, G-Song, and Cadenza on the Night Plain, released on Cadenza on the Night Plain (1988); and the four compositions on the 1989 double-CD Salome Dances for Peace.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic
(Positive)[8]

Rob Cowan in The Independent called it "humbling but ultimately life-affirming," praising its "silvery harmonics, quiet yet flowing and as unsentimental as late Beethoven," and its "inconsolable glissandos."[9] John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune assigns it first place in his top-10 of 2001 recordings.[10] Allen Gimbel, reviewing works by Riley in the American Record Guide, says the requiem is "undeniably quirky" but "quite effective and exhibit[ing] a substantial emotional range": "it's hard not to be moved."[7] Peter Lavezzoli says "it has been regarded as the most compelling recording by either Riley or the Kronos Quartet."[3]

Track listing

All music is composed by Terry Riley

No.TitlePerformerLength
1."Ascending the Heaven Ladder"Kronos Quartet13:24
2."Cortejo Fúnebre en el Monte Diablo"Kronos Quartet7:05
3."Requiem for Adam"Kronos Quartet21:18
4."The Philosopher's Hand"Terry Riley, solo piano5:57

Personnel

Musicians

  • David Harrington – violin
  • John Sherba – violin
  • Hank Dutt – viola
  • Jennifer Culp – cello
  • Terry Riley – piano

Production

  • "Ascending the Heaven Ladder," "Requiem for Adam," and "The Philosopher's Hand" recorded August 2000 at Skywalker Sound, Nicasio, California[3]
    • Leslie Ann Jones – engineer
    • Dann Thompson – assistant engineer
    • Jeanne Velonis – editing assistant
  • "Cortejo Fúnebre en el Monte Diablo" recorded April 1999 at Skywalker Sound
    • Craig Silvey – engineer
    • Bob Levy – assistant engineer

See also

  • List of 2001 albums

References

  1. Atlanta Journal-Constitution
    . 2001-11-11. p. L2.
  2. ^ a b Gillmore, Bob (2001). Terry Riley: Requiem for Adam (Media notes). Kronos Quartet. Nonesuch.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8264-1815-9
    .
  4. ^ Davidson, Justin (1998-10-04). "Music: The World on Their Strings; As the Kronos Quartet marks its 25th year, it's busy living in the present rather than admiring its laurels". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  5. ^ Longley, Martin (1999-02-25). "The chronology of Kronos and a date with Dracula". Birmingham Post (England). Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  6. ^ Riley, Terry (2001). Terry Riley: Requiem for Adam (Media notes). Kronos Quartet. Nonesuch.
  7. ^ a b Gimbel, Allen (January–February 2002). "Riley: In C / Requiem for Adam; Philosopher's Hand". American Record Guide. 65 (1): 157–58.
  8. ^ Allmusic review
  9. ^ Cowan, Rob (2001-10-26). "The Compact Collection: This week's best CD releases". The Independent.[dead link]
  10. ^ Von Rhein, John (2001-12-11). "Classical: Important recordings still being made". Chicago Tribune.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Terry_Riley:_Requiem_for_Adam&oldid=1139734384"