the string quartets (1999)

Track Listing 

1. Cat O'nine Tails (1988)  13:44
2.  The Dead Man (1990)  12:29
     13 Specimen For String Quartet 
2-1 Variations  1:04 
2-2 Sonatas  0:41 
2-3 Manifesto  0:49 
2-4 Fanfare  0:56 
2-5 Meditation  0:53 
2-6 Rondo  0:48 
2-7 Romance  0:30 
2-8 Blossoms  1:07 
1-9 Fantasy  0:52 
2-10 Folio  1:15 
2-11 Nocturne  1:38 
2-12 Etude  0:40 
2-13 Prelude  1:08 
3. Memento Mori (1992)  28:57
     Ignotium Per Ignotius - The Unknown By Way Of The More Unknown
4. Kol Nidre (1996)  8:22


Personnel 

Quartet De Sade
Mark Feldman: 2nd Violin (1st violin on Cat O' Nine Tails)
Erik Friedlander: Cello 
Joyce Hammann: 1st Violin 
Lois Martin: Viola
 

Production 

All music composed and arranged by John Zorn 
Producer - John Zorn 
Associate Producer - Kazunori Sugiyama 
Recorded by Jim Anderson at Avatar, NYC in December 1998, January, April and May 1999
Mastered by Allan Tucker at Foothill Design 
Design - Ikue Mori 
Illustration by:  Hans Bellmer 
 

TZADIK Blurb 

At last all four of Zorn's infamous compositions for string quartet are available on CD! Originally commissioned by the world-renown Kronos Quartet, three of these pieces are recorded here for the first time. From the cartoon/montage qualities of the popular "Cat O'Nine Tails," to the S/M poetry of "The Dead Man," the hermetic philosophy of "Memento Mori" and the spiritual transcendence of "Kol Nidre," these four quartets take on and challenge the tradition of classical string quartets from Beethoven, Bartók, Webern, Carter and Ferneyhough, forging an exciting new world of their own. Performed by an exciting new quartet of Zorn veterans and new music virtuosos, Zorn's unique compositional voice shines like never before. 

Series:  Composer Series

Catalogue Number:  TZ7047 

Release Date:  July 1999