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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

 The Kronos Quartet will perform at the Lied Center on the University of Kansas' Lawrence campus on April 13th and I had the good fortune to speak with first violinist, David Harrington recently about their upcoming performance, collaborations with composers and his views on what will be appearing on music's horizon in the near future.

Lee Hartman: Hello David Harrington! We are very much looking forward to your upcoming performance in Lawrence at the Lied Center.  The main bulk of the program consists of works by Terry Riley.  Could you speak about those pieces and the collaborative process you've experienced with Terry?

David Harrington: Our relationship with Terry Riley goes back 30 years, more than that actually. Over those years Terry has written 26 new pieces for us.  Most recently we played the premiere of a piece of his called Another Secret Equation.  I feel all his works for Kronos have created this amazing spectrum of possibilities of how Kronos might sound, of how Kronos might approach music and even approach life.  So we're opening our show at the Lied Center with a piece of his called "Good Medicine."  "Good Medicine" is the final movement of his two-hour plus mega-quartet called Salome Dances for Peace.  There's probably not another string quartet ever written that has as much good cheer as "Good Medicine."  It's truly good medicine!

LH: That's like his "In C" which a lot of people refer to as "happy music"

DH: Well "Good Medicine" takes the joyousness of In C and just shoots it into space


LH: Well that handily transitioned us into the NASA commissioned piece!

DH: [Laughs] Yeah well that's true! "One Earth, One People, One Love" from Sun Rings opens with one of the NASA astronauts, Eugene Cernan, basically talking about what it's like to view the earth from space and to view his life on earth from space.  It's like one of the most amazing prayers that I've ever heard.  Really, it's just fantastic.  That's how this piece begins.  It also includes Alice Walker, the great American poet, who was chanting on September 12, 2001.  She was chanting on the radio, "one earth, one people, one love..." and Terry happened to hear that.  That was right during - not only was it the day after September 11, 2001 - it was also right in the middle of the composition of Sun Rings.  And so, with Alice Walker's permission, her chant becomes part of this amazing cello solo.  It's kind of like the "Earth mother sound" in music.  It's just beautiful, incredible music.  ... Also we're playing "At the Summit" from The Ecstacy.  I know for a fact it's some of Terry's favorite music he's ever written for us.  There will be quite a spectrum of the music of Terry Riley

LH: Do you think that's a driving force behind Terry's music?  This almost religious notion of universality?

DH: My first instinct is to say yes. It's something that permeates Terry's approach to life.  If you have a meal with him in his home there's kind of a shared prayer that is said.  In the end, I feel his religion is a very personal one that is very, very hard to define. But it definitely would include the idea that every being of the universe is part of the fabric of everything, and that we're all connected.  And that way there is this responsibility that is implicit on all of us to take care of one another.

LH: Since you've had such a long working relationship with Riley, have you noticed a change in his style? Do you feel that your playing has influenced his writing?

DH: Definitely. I know for a fact he's influenced Kronos and he's told me that we influenced him. So I suspect that's true! [Laughs] That's what you look for in any kind of a relationship-something that is mutually beneficial.  I feel like I can learn so much from him and his sense of life.  His music is so individual, so special.  He's a very generous man.  He's introduced me to some great musicians that have later written pieces for us-La Monte Young, Pandit Pran Nath (Terry's longtime Raga teacher) Jon Hassell, Hamza El Din-the list goes on and on. Not only is he a great musician, but he's also a very generous spirit.

LH: As you're working with Terry you're also working with other artists like Björk, Nine Inch Nails, Sigur Rós, ... And on this upcoming program you'll be playing a piece by Bryce Dessner, the guitarist from the Nationals.  How do you see your efforts of pulling rock music into the "classical" music arena or vice versa?

DH: I don't really recognize categories and I don't think my ear does either.  There's not a little man standing outside each of my ears controlling what goes in. Basically we don't have any control over that.  The airwaves belong to all of us.  What actually penetrates inside of us is very personal.  You know what I mean?  I don't think we have control over that.  What I try to do is remain open, and available, and alert to music and people, instrumental colors, and voices, and approaches that might be wonderful to explore.

LH: So the uniqueness of individual artists really speaks to you and that draws you to their music in these collaborations?

DH: It wouldn't have anything to do with what category someone decided they should be in.  For me that's just not how music works. It's made up of notes.  The people that I admire the most are those deeply involved with making... notes. [Laughs] They can fill each note they make with as much knowledge and information and energy as they possibly can.  If you make a note that you're happy with - and believe it or not that doesn't happen very often - when it does happen it's a pretty memorable moment.  And what happens is it creates a new bar - almost like a high-jump bar.  That bar goes up a bit when you make a note your really love.  It resonates somehow.  That becomes the point that you reference all the other notes that you make.

LH: That has to be gratifying to you as a performer to play those informed notes, those impassioned notes.

Yeah! And it might happen once a year if you're really thinking about it!  Yet, the fact that it does happen occasionally, gives you a lot of hope and a sense of challenge.  My teacher once said to me, "the great thing about music is that it can always be better." I will always remember that because it's kinda true.  The best note has never been played.

LH: [Laughing] The potentiality of music...

DH: Yep!

LH: So music didn't die with Beethoven in other words.

DH: Oh, definitely not, definitely not!  If there's anything that Kronos is about, it's to ensure that the art form of the string quartet is well and alive and energetic and [laughing] making cosmic explorations into the twenty-first century.  That's really what I want to do. There isn't any question about that.

LH: In terms of exploration with Kronos, you've toured all over the world and your upcoming performance has pieces by Palestinian, Serbian, and Israeli composers.  Do you find any cultural tropes that are similar? Ones that the audience should listen for while hearing these different composers?

DH: I delight in the variety of how amazingly prolific nature is and human nature as well.  Going to a concert is a great thing to do. It allows you a moment to step back and appreciate how creative the human spirit - the human mind - can be.  One thing that I've been noticing for a long time now is we never know where the next amazing musical experience might come from - where in the world. Working with people as young as 19 and as old as ... wow, I guess Terry is one of the oldest! But he seems like one of the youngest people you've ever met.

LH: Kronos has been on the forefront of musical ambassadorship of western musical style being influenced by other cultures like China and the Asian subcontinent.  Any idea of where we should be looking next or are you just listening with open ears? 

DH: I think there are big things coming from all over the place.  That's what's so incredible about the time that we're sharing right now.  I'm fully expecting the Palestinian group Ramalla Underground['s] next piece for Kronos will be off the charts of wonderfulness.  We're working with men and women from many different parts of the world. [...]  I'm anticipating that so many wonderful things will develop, even six months from now.  The world of music will just seem like a more incredible world to be a part of.

LH: Well David, I thank you for taking the time to speak with me and I'm looking forward to your performance in Lawrence!

PREVIEW:
Lied Center of Kansas University
Kronos Quartet -Works by Terry Riley and more
April 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Lied Center at KU
For tickets call 785-864-2787 or online at www.lied.ku.edu/events/kronos-quartet.shtml


Top photo by Jay Blakesberg

By Lee Hartman

Editor-in-Chief; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Lee Hartman holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (D.M.A., M.M.) and the University of Delaware (B.M.). At the University of Delaware, he received a Dean's Scholar position enabling him to pursue an individually designed academic program combining music education and composition. At the University of Missouri-Kansas City he served for three years as the Assistant Director to Musica Nova, the conservatory's new music ensemble, while teaching a variety of composition classes.

In 2007 he was invited to both the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík, Iceland and the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China to give lectures and master classes in composition. In the summer of 2009, Hartman served as an orchestra manager for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Aspen Opera Theater Center for various performances. He serves on the National Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc. as Submissions Coordinator. His primary composition instructors include James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Paul Rudy, John Beall, and Jennifer Margaret Barker. He currently teaches music theory at the University of Central Missouri and general music classes at Park University having previously taught at UD (2007–08) and UMKC (2006–07).

His compositions can be found at http://www.leehartmanmusic.com