CAL PERFORMANCES PRESENTS

Sunday, October 9, 2011, 7pm Hertz Hall Kronos Quartet

David Harrington violin John Sherba violin Hank Dutt viola Jeffrey Zeigler cello

Laurence Neff lighting designer Scott Fraser sound designer

PROGRAM

Steve Reich (b. 1936) Triple Quartet (1999)* In three movements (played without pause)

Reich Selections from The Cave (1993) Machpelah Commentary 2 Ephraim Isaac Chanting Interior Drone

Reich WTC 9/11 (2010)* Bay Area Premiere 1. 9/11/01 2. 2010 3. WTC

INTERMISSION

Reich Different Trains (1988)* America—Before the War Europe—During the War After the War

Program is subject to change.

* Written for Kronos

Cal Performances’ 2011–2012 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo.

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The Music of Steve Reich (b. 1936) two and three and then play the quartet one part the largely Arab town of Hebron in the West they would start from publicly accessible record- along with the prerecorded tape. Alternately, Bank, today the Cave is the only place in the ings by NORAD [North American Aerospace Recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for 2009, Steve the piece can be played by twelve players with world where both Jews and Muslims worship. Defense Command] and FDNY [the New York Reich’s music has been influential to composers no tape. The Cave is in three acts. Each act asks the same City Fire Department], and then from inter- and mainstream musicians all over the world. The piece is in three movements: fast– basic questions to a different group of people. views with former friends and neighbors who He is a leading pioneer of minimalism, having slow–fast. It is organized harmonically on four The basic five questions were: Who for you is lived or worked in lower Manhattan. in his youth broken away from the “establish- dominant chords in keys a minor third apart: Abraham? Hagar? Sarah? Ishmael? Isaac? “WTC” is also an abbreviation for “World ment” that was serialism. His music is known E minor, G minor, B-flat minor, C-sharp minor The music of The Cave is based on the sam- to Come,” as my friend composer David Lang for steady pulse, repetition and a fascination and then returning to E minor to form a cycle. pled speech of the interview subjects. Individual pointed out. After 9/11 the bodies and parts of with canons; it combines rigorous structures The first movement goes through this harmonic phrases—chosen for narrative content, compre- bodies were taken to the Medical Examiner’s of- with propulsive rhythms and seductive instru- cycle twice with a section about one minute long hensibility and the inherently melodious quality fice on the East Side of Manhattan. In Jewish mental color. It also embraces harmonies of on each of the four dominant chords. The result of speech—were transcribed into musical nota- tradition there is an obligation to guard the non-Western and American vernacular mu- is a kind of variation form. Rhythmically, the tion and used to generate the melodic material body from the time of death until burial. The sic, especially jazz. His studies have included first movement has the second and third quartet of the instruments and voices. practice, called Shmira (see “Stretching a Jewish Cornell University, the Juilliard School, Mills playing interlocking chords while the first quar- Steve Reich Vigil for the Sept. 11 Dead,” New York Times, College (with Luciano Berio), the Balinese tet plays longer melodies in canon between the Nov. 6, 2001), consists of sitting near the body Gamelan, African drumming (at the University first violin and viola against the second violin The Cave was co-commissioned by Weiner and reciting Psalms or Biblical passages. The of Ghana) and traditional forms of chanting the and cello. The slow movement is more com- Festwochen; the Holland Festival; Hebbel roots of the practice are, on one level, to protect Hebrew scriptures. pletely contrapuntal with a long slow melody in Theater, Berlin; Festival d’Automne à Paris-MC the body from animals or insects and, on anoth- Different Trains (written for and recorded by canon in all twelve voices. The third movement 93-Bobigny; Koninklijike Muntschouwburg/ er, to keep the neshama, or soul, company while the Kronos Quartet) and Music for 18 Musicians resumes the original fast tempo, maintains the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels; Serious Speakout it hovers over the body until burial. Because of have each earned him Grammy Awards, and harmonic chord cycle but treats all the previous and South Bank Centre, London; and the Brooklyn the difficulties in DNA identification, this went his documentary video operas—The Cave and material in the piece more freely. Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival. on for seven months, 24/7. Two of the women Three Tales, done in collaboration with video Steve Reich who sat and recited Psalms are heard in the third artist Beryl Korot—have pushed the boundar- movement. You will also hear a cellist (who has ies of the operatic medium. Over the years, his Triple Quartet was commissioned for the Kronos WTC 9/11 (2010) sat Shmira elsewhere) and a cantor from a major music has significantly grown both in expanded Quartet with funds provided by the National New York City synagogue sing parts of Psalms harmonies and instrumentation, resulting in a Endowment for the Arts, David A. and Evelyne In 2009, the Kronos Quartet asked me for a and the Torah. Pulitzer Prize for his 2007 composition Double T. Lennette, Patricia Unterman and Tim piece using pre-recorded voices. My first idea WTC 9/11 is in three movements (though Sextet, as well as the Præmium Imperiale given Savinar, and Meet the Composer/Arts Endowment was to elongate the speaker’s final vowels or the tempo remains unchanged throughout): by Crown Prince Hitachi in Tokyo in 2006 and Commissioning Music/USA, which is made pos- consonants. Stop Action sound. Impossible in 1. 9/11/01 the Polar Prize given by the King of Sweden sible by generous support from The Helen F. 1973 when I first thought of it. Possible in 2001 2. 2010 in 2007. In 2008, Reich wrote his first piece Whitaker Fund and the Catherine Filene Shouse when Dolly was begun. In this piece it was to be, 3. WTC for rock band set-up, 2x5, which premiered on Foundation. Kronos’s recording is available on and is, the means of connecting one person to The piece begins and ends with the first vio- the opening night of Manchester International Nonesuch Records. another—harmonically. lin doubling the loud warning beep (actually an Festival on a double-bill with German electronic I had no idea who was speaking. No sub- F) your phone makes when it is left off the hook. music legends Kraftwerk. His work is published ject matter. After several months I finally re- In the first movement there are archive voices by Boosey & Hawkes. Selections from The Cave (1993) membered the obvious. For 25 years we lived from NORAD air traffic controllers, alarmed four blocks from the World Trade Center. On that American Airlines Flight 11 was off course. Biography reprinted by kind per- The Biblical story of Abraham, Sarah and their 9/11 we were in Vermont, but our son, grand- This was the first plane to deliberately crash into mission of Boosey & Hawkes. family provides the framework for The Cave. The daughter and daughter-in-law were all in our the World Trade Center. The movement then Cave of the Patriarch, as it is known, became apartment. Our phone connection stayed open shifts to the FDNY archives of that day telling the final resting place of Abraham, Sarah and for six hours, and our next-door neighbors were what happened on the ground. Triple Quartet (1999) their descendants. According to Jewish mysti- finally able to drive north out of the city with The second movement uses recordings I cal sources, the Cave is a passageway back to their family and ours. For us, 9/11 was not a made in 2010 of neighborhood residents, an of- Triple Quartet is dedicated to the Kronos the Garden of Eden. It is also said that Adam media event. ficer of the Fire Department and the first ambu- Quartet. It is for three string quartets. For and Eve are buried there. The Cave is of great By January 2010, several months after lance driver (from Hatzalah volunteers) to arrive Kronos or any other single string quartet to religious significance for Muslims as well; they Kronos asked me for the piece, I realized the pre- at the scene, remembering what happened nine perform the piece, they must prerecord quartets trace their lineage to Abraham. Located in recorded voices would be from 9/11. Specifically, years earlier.

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The third and last movement uses the voices Los Angeles from 1939 to 1942, accompanied Steve Reich (b. 1936) 2. 2010 of a neighborhood resident, two volunteers who by my governess. While the trips were exciting took shifts sitting near the bodies, and the cel- and romantic at the time, I now look back and Neighborhood residents, FDNY officer, first ambulance WTC 9/11 (2010) list/singer and cantor mentioned above. think that, if I had been in Europe during this driver to arrive at World Trade Center: Throughout WTC 9/11 the strings double period, as a Jew I would have had to ride very I was sitting in class— and harmonize the speech melodies and pro- different trains. With this in mind, I wanted to 1. 9/11 four blocks longed vowels or consonants of the recorded make a piece that would accurately reflect the four blocks north of ground zero— voices. You will hear a total of three string quar- whole situation. In order to prepare the tape, I NORAD: I was taking my kids to school— tets, one live and two prerecorded. The piece can did the following: They came from Boston— the first plane— also be played by three live quartets and pre- 1. Record my governess Virginia, then in her Goin’ to L.A.— went straight recorded voices. 70s, reminiscing about our train trips together. and they’re headed South— went straight over our heads— WTC 9/11 is only 15 and a half minutes 2. Record a retired Pullman porter, Lawrence They’re goin’ the wrong went straight over our heads and into the building— long. While composing it, I often tried to make Davis, then in his eighties, who used to ride lines They’re goin’ the wrong way— My eyes just kind of shot up it longer, and each time it felt that extending its between New York and Los Angeles, reminisc- Boston— flames L.A.— one of the towers length reduced its impact. The piece wanted to ing about his life. headed South— one of the towers just in flames be terse. 3. Collect recordings of Holocaust survi- goin’ the wrong but we all thought Steve Reich vors Rachella, Paul and Rachel—all about my goin’ the wrong way— but we all thought it was an accident age and then living in America—speaking of no contact— accident WTC 9/11 was commissioned for the Kronos their experiences. no contact with the pilot— I knew it wasn’t an accident Quartet by the Barbican/London, Carnegie Hall, 4. Collect recorded American and European no contact with the pilot whatsoever— I knew it wasn’t an accident right away Duke Performances/Duke University, Krannert train sounds of the 1930s and ’40s. No Everyone was running Center for the Performing Arts/University of In order to combine the taped speech with contact running Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Philharmonic the string instruments, I selected small speech with the pilot Everyone was running and screaming whatsoever Then— Society of Orange County, the Phyllis C. Wattis samples that are more or less clearly pitched and Then Foundation and the National Endowment for then notated them as accurately as possible in FDNY: The second plane hit— the Arts. This commission was also made possible musical notation. go ahead The second plane hit by the Chamber Music America Commissioning The strings then literally imitate that speech Plane just crashed— It was not an accident Program, with funding generously provided by melody. The speech samples as well as the train Plane just crashed into the World Trade— It was not The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Aaron sounds were transferred to tape with the use of every available It was not an accident Copland Fund for Music and the Chamber Music sampling keyboards and a computer. Three sep- every available ambulance— People— America Endowment Fund. Kronos’s recording is arate string quartets are also added to the pre- the plane was aiming People available on Nonesuch Records. recorded tape and the final live quartet part is the plane was aiming towards the building— jumping from the building— added in performance. there’s been a major jumping from the building there’s been a major collapse— people Different Trains is in three movements Mayday! Mayday! Liberty and West, I’m trapped The first ambulance Different Trains (1988) (played without pause), although that term is I’m trapped in the rubble— the first ambulance to get there stretched here since tempos change frequently in the second plane It was chaos Different Trains, for string quartet and pre-re- each movement. They are: 1. America—Before the second plane chaos corded performance tape, begins a new way of the War; 2. Europe—During the War; 3. After a second plane!— nobody knew composing that has its roots in my early tape the War. Mayday! Mayday, mayday! nobody knew what to do pieces It’s Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out The piece thus presents both a documen- I can’t breathe nobody (1966). The basic idea is that carefully chosen tary and a musical reality and begins a new I can’t breathe much longer The ground— speech recordings generate the musical materi- musical direction. Other tower just collapsed The ground started shaking— The ground started shaking als for musical instruments. Steve Reich You could feel it The idea for the piece came from my child- The building came down hood. When I was one year old, my parents Different Trains was commissioned by Betty came down separated. My mother moved to Los Angeles, Freeman for the Kronos Quartet and was recorded Run and my father stayed in New York. Since they for Nonesuch Records. The Kronos Quartet ex- Run for your lives arranged divided custody, I traveled back and tends special thanks to performance tape producer Run forth by train frequently between New York and Judith Sherman. Suddenly

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Suddenly it was black outside— Different Trains (1988) Suddenly it was black outside You could not see in front of you You could not 1. America—Before the War “and then we went through those strange- Debris engulfed everybody sounding names” Debris engulfed everybody that was there Virginia: “Polish names” Everybody thought we were dead “from Chicago to New York” “Lots of cattle wagons there” Everybody “one of the fastest trains” “They were loaded with people” thought we were dead “They shaved us” Totally silent Mr. Davis: “They tattooed a number on our arm” silent “the crack train from New York” “Flames going up to the Sky—it was smoking” just dust in the street “from New York to Los Angeles” just dust Three thousand people Virginia: 3. After the War Three thousand people were murdered “different trains every time” What’s gonna happen here? “from Chicago to New York” Paul: What’s gonna happen here next? “in 1939” “and the war was over”

Mr. Davis: Rachella: 3. WTC “1939” “Are you sure?” “1940” “The war is over” Neighborhood resident, women who sat with 9/11 bodies saying Psalms 24/7 until burial, a cellist with a good voice, “1941” “going to America” a cantor: “to Los Angeles” Virginia: “to New York” The bodies “1941 I guess it must’ve been” The bodies were moved to large tents Mr. Davis: On the east side of Manhattan “from New York to Los Angeles” I would sit there 2. Europe—During the War I would sit there and recite Psalms all night Virginia: recite Psalms all night Rachella: “one of the fastest trains” Simply sitting “1940” sitting “for my birthday” Mr. Davis: Hashem yishmor tzaytcha uvoecha may atah va-ahd olahm1 “The Germans walked in” “but today, they’re all gone” Hashem yishmor tzaytcha uvoecha may atah va-ahd olahm “walked into Holland” Hashem yishmor tzaytcha uvoecha may atah va-ahd olahm Rachella: The world to come Paul: “There was one girl, who had a beautiful voice” I don’t really know what that means “Germans invaded Hungary” “and they loved to listen to the singing, the Germans” Hiney ahnochi sholayach malach lephaneycha lishmorcha badarech valahaviahcha el-hamahkom asher hakinoti2 “I was in second grade” “and when she stopped singing they said, ‘More, Hiney ahnochi sholayach malach lephaneycha lishmorcha badarech valahaviahcha el-hamahkom asher hakinoti— “I had a teacher” more’ and they applauded” and there’s the world “a very tall man, his hair was concretely plastered and there’s the world right here smooth” “He said, ‘Black Crows invaded our country many years ago’” 1. Psalm 121:8: “The Eternal will guard your departure and your arrival from now till the end of time.” “and he pointed right at me” 2. From the Wayfarer’s Prayer (Exodus 23:20): “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.” Rachel: “No more school” “You must go away”

Rachella: “and she said, ‘Quick go’” “and he said, ‘Don’t breathe’” “into those cattle wagons” “for 4 days and 4 nights”

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legends (Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, Lillies. Kronos has performed live with the Kronos have released sheet music for three sig- Thelonious Monk) and artists from even farther likes of icons Allen Ginsberg, Zakir Hussain, nature works, all commissioned for Kronos, afield (rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, Azeri Modern Jazz Quartet, Noam Chomsky, Rokia in the first volume of theKronos Collection, vocalist Alim Qasimov, interdisciplinary com- Traoré, Tom Waits, David Barsamian, Howard a performing edition edited by Kronos. The poser/performer Meredith Monk). Zinn, Betty Carter and David Bowie, and has quartet is committed to mentoring emerging Integral to Kronos’s work is a series of long- appeared on recordings by such diverse talents as professional performers, and in 2007 Kronos running, in-depth collaborations with many Nine Inch Nails, Amon Tobin, Dan Zanes, DJ led its first Professional Training Workshop of the world’s foremost composers. One of the Spooky, Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado, Joan with four string quartets as part of the Weill quartet’s most frequent composer-collaborators Armatrading and Don Walser. Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. Subsequent is “Father of Minimalism” Terry Riley, whose Kronos’s music has also featured promi- workshops at Carnegie Hall and other venues work with Kronos includes the early Sunrise of nently in other media, including film Requiem( have expanded this aspect of the quartet’s work. the Planetary Dream Collector; Cadenza on the for a Dream, The Fountain, 21 Grams, Heat, One of Kronos’s most exciting initiatives is the Jay Blakesberg Jay The Kronos Quartet with Steve Reich seated( left) Night Plain and Salome Dances for Peace; 2002’s True Stories) and dance, with noted choreogra- Kronos: Under 30 Project, a unique commis- Sun Rings, a multimedia, NASA-commissioned phers such as Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, sioning and composer-in-residence program or more than thirty years, the Kronos ode to the Earth and its people, featuring ce- Twyla Tharp and Eiko & Koma setting pieces to for composers under 30 years old, launched in FQuartet—David Harrington, John Sherba lestial sounds and images from space; and Kronos’s music. conjunction with Kronos’s own 30th birthday in (violins), Hank Dutt (viola) and Jeffrey Zeigler Another Secret eQuation for youth chorus and The quartet spends five months of each 2003. By cultivating creative relationships with (cello)—has pursued a singular artistic vision, string quartet, premiered at a concert celebrat- year on tour, appearing in concert halls, clubs such emerging talents and a wealth of other art- combining a spirit of fearless exploration with ing Riley’s 75th birthday. Kronos commissioned and festivals around the world, including ists from around the world, Kronos reaps the a commitment to expanding the range and and recorded the three string quartets of Polish BAM Next Wave Festival, Carnegie Hall, the benefit of decades of wisdom while maintaining context of the string quartet. In the process, composer Henryk Mikolaj Górecki, with whom Barbican in London, WOMAD, UCLA’s Royce a fresh approach to music-making inspired by Kronos has become one of the most celebrated the group worked for more than 25 years. The Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Shanghai a new generation of composers and performers. and influential groups of our time, performing quartet has also collaborated extensively with Concert Hall and the Sydney Opera House. Kronos records for Nonesuch Records. thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more composers such as Philip Glass, recording his Kronos is equally prolific and wide-ranging than 45 recordings of extraordinary breadth string quartets and scores to films like Mishima on recordings. The ensemble’s expansive dis- For the Kronos Quartet/ and creativity, collaborating with many of the and Dracula (a restored edition of the Bela cography on Nonesuch Records includes col- Kronos Performing Arts Association world’s most eclectic composers and perform- Lugosi classic); Azerbaijan’s Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, lections like Pieces of Africa (1992), a showcase Janet Cowperthwaite, Managing Director ers, and commissioning more than 750 works whose works are featured on the full-length of African-born composers, which simultane- Laird Rodet, Associate Director and arrangements for string quartet. In 2011, 2005 release Mugam Sayagi: Music of Franghiz ously topped Billboard’s Classical and World Evan Adams, Technical Associate Kronos became the only recipients of both the Ali-Zadeh; Steve Reich, whose Kronos-recorded Music lists; 1998’s ten-disc anthology, Kronos Sidney Chen, Artistic Administrator Polar Music Prize and the Avery Fisher Prize, Different Trains earned a Grammy Award for the Quartet: 25 Years; Nuevo (2002), a Grammy- Scott Fraser, Sound Designer two of the most prestigious awards given to composer; Argentina’s Osvaldo Golijov, whose and Latin Grammy Award-nominated celebra- Christina Johnson, Communications Manager musicians. The group’s numerous awards also work with Kronos includes both compositions tion of Mexican culture; and the 2003 Grammy Derek Lance, Intern include a Grammy Award for Best Chamber and extensive arrangements for albums like Award-winner, Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite. The Nikolás McConnie-Saad, Office Manager Music Performance (2004) and “Musicians of Kronos Caravan and Nuevo; and many more. group’s latest releases are Floodplain (Nonesuch, Hannah Neff,Production Associate the Year” (2003) from Musical America. In addition to composers, Kronos counts 2009), spotlighting music from regions of the Laurence Neff, Production Director Kronos’s adventurous approach dates numerous artists from around the world among world riven by conflict;Rainbow (Smithsonian Lucinda Toy, Business Operations Manager back to the ensemble’s origins. In 1973, David its collaborators, including the Chinese pipa Folkways, 2010), in collaboration with musicians Harrington was inspired to form Kronos after virtuoso Wu Man; legendary Bollywood “play- from Afghanistan and Azerbaijan; and Uniko Curtis Smith, Chair, Board of Directors hearing George Crumb’s Black Angels, a highly back singer” Asha Bhosle, featured on Kronos’s (Ondine, 2011) with Finnish accordion/sampler unorthodox, Vietnam War-inspired work fea- Grammy-nominated CD, You’ve Stolen My duo Kimmo Pohjonen and Samuli Kosminen. Kronos Quartet/ turing bowed water glasses, spoken word pas- Heart: Songs from R. D. Burman’s Bollywood; Kronos’s recording and performances reveal Kronos Performing Arts Association sages and electronic effects. Kronos then began Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq; Mexican rock- only a fraction of the group’s commitment to P. O. Box 225340 building a compellingly diverse repertoire for ers Café Tacuba; genre-defying sound artist new music. As a nonprofit organization based San Francisco, CA 94122-5340 string quartet, performing and recording works and instrument builder Walter Kitundu; the in San Francisco, the Kronos Performing Arts www.kronosquartet.org by 20th-century masters (Bartók, Shostakovich, Romanian gypsy band Taraf de Haïdouks; re- Association has commissioned more than 750 www.facebook.com/kronosquartet Webern), contemporary composers (Aleksandra nowned American soprano Dawn Upshaw; and new works and arrangements for string quar- www.myspace.com/kronosquartet Vrebalov, John Adams, Alfred Schnittke), jazz the unbridled British cabaret trio, the Tiger tet. Music publishers Boosey & Hawkes and Twitter: @kronosquartet #kronos

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