Kronos Quartet discography
Year Album details Notes
1984 Dahl , Ivey , Kingman Released : 1984 Label : Grenadilla GSC 1066 Format : Cassette tape Kronos plays Daniel Kingman : String Quartet No . 2 , Joyful
1985 John Anthony Lennon / Sheila Silver Released : 1985 Label : Composers Recordings , Inc. ( CRI ) SD 520 Format : LP ; later CD John Anthony Lennon : Voices for string quartet ( also a work by Sheila Silver )
1986 Philip Glass , Songs from Liquid Days Released : 1986 Label : Format : CD Kronos plays Freezing and Forgetting . Vocals by Linda Ronstadt ( both tracks ) , backing vocals by The Roches ( Forgetting )
1987 John Zorn , Spillane Released : 1987 Label : Elecktra/Nonesuch Format : LP & CD Kronos plays Forbidden Fruit with Christian Marclay on turntables and vocals by Ohta Miromi with original texts by Reck
1990 Rubáiyát : Elektra 's 40th Anniversary Released : 1990 Label : Elektra Format : CD Kronos plays Marquee Moon , originally performed by Television
1993 Chance Operation : The John Cage Tribute Released : 1993 Label : Format : CD Tribute to John Cage ; Kronos plays Thirty Pieces for String Quartet Excerpt
1995 In C : 25th Anniversary Concert Released : February 9 , 1995 Label : New Albion NA 071 Format : CD Music by Terry Riley
1995 Joan Armatrading , What 's Inside Released : October 10 , 1995 Label : Format : CD Kronos plays on Shapes and Sizes
1995 Heat Released : December 19 , 1995 Label : Format : CD Soundtrack by Elliot Goldenthal ; other artists include Einstürzende Neubauten , Moby , and Brian Eno ; Kronos plays Heat , Refinery Surveillance , Predator Diorama
1996 David Grisman Quintet , DGQ-20 Released : July 16 , 1996 Label : Format : CD Kronos plays on Mondo Mando
1998 Dave Matthews Band , Before These Crowded Streets Released : April 28 , 1998 Label : Format : CD Kronos plays on The Stone
1999 Jay Cloidt , Kole Kat Krush Released : 1999 Label : Format : CD Kronos plays on Kole Kat Krush
1999 Café Tacuba , Reves/Yosoy Released : July 20 , 1999 Label : Format : 2CD Kronos plays M.C . on the Reves disc of the double album , a cover of La Muerte Chiquita from the Yosoy disc
2000 Andy Summers , Peggy 's Blue Skylight Released : September 26 , 2000 Label : Format : 2CD Tribute to Charles Mingus ; Kronos plays on Myself When I Am Real
2001 Osvaldo Golijov , The Man Who Cried Released : May 22 , 2001 Label : Format : CD Kronos plays Close Your Eyes ( instrumental ) , Ceasar 's Song , Without A Word , Close Your Eyes ( vocal ) . Other tracks by Salvatore Licitra , Taraf de Haïdouks , and others
2001 Ingram Marshall , Kingdom Come Released : July 17 , 2001 Label : Format : CD Kronos plays Fog Tropes II for String Quartet and Tape , originally written for brass sextet and rearranged for Kronos Quartet
2002 Big Bad Love ( soundtrack ) Released : February 19 , 2002 Label : Format : CD Kronos Quartet plays Spiritual ( with Tom Verlaine ) ; a once-in-a-lifetime teaming of guitarist Tom Verlaine with the Kronos Quartet
2003 Wesla Whitfield , September Songs : The Music of Wilder , Weill and Warren Released : May 13 , 2003 Label : Format : CD
2003 Tiger Lillies , The Gorey End Released : September 16 , 2003 Label : Format : CD Kronos contribute to 9 of the 13 songs inspired by Edward Gorey
2003 Bird Up : The Charlie Parker Remix Project Released : October 21 , 2003 Label : Format : CD
Contributions
The discography of the Kronos Quartet includes 43 studio albums, two compilations, five soundtracks, and 29 contributions to other artists' records. The Kronos Quartet plays classical, pop, rock, jazz, folk, world and contemporary classical music (often written especially for them by for instance Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Alexandra Vrebalov, .) and was founded in 1973 by violinist David Harrington. Since 1978, they are based in San Francisco, California. Since 1985, the quartet's music has been released on Nonesuch Records. Early recordings by the quartet contain contemporary classical music and adaptations of more popular music, such as jazz and rock and roll. Since the 1980s, and especially with the release of Cadenza on the Night Plain, written as a collaboration between composer Terry Riley and the quartet, much of the quartet's repertoire and album releases contain music written especially for them, by composers such as Terry Riley, Kevin Volans, Henryk Górecki, and Ástor Piazzolla. Their music covers a who's who of 20th century-composers, as one critic noted in 1998. Kronos has recorded five soundtracks including the 1998 score by Philip Glass for the 1931 silent movie Dracula, and has contributed to the soundtracks of five other movies, including Heat and 21 Grams. Outside the genre of classical music, Kronos has collaborated with a great number of other artists, especially pop artists, such as Joan Armatrading, Dave Matthews Band, Andy Summers, Nelly Furtado, and Nine Inch Nails. The quartet has achieved considerable commercial and critical success and by 1998 (the year of the quartet's 25th anniversary) had sold more than 1.5 million albums. Many of Kronos' albums have ranked on various Billboard charts; the 1992 album Pieces of Africa reached #1 in the Top World Albums chart.