Philip Glass: String Quartet No. 9 "King Lear" & String Quartet No. 8 Tana Quartet

• Philip Glass (b. 1937): String Quartet No. 9, "King Lear":
• 1 Glass: String Quartet No. 9, "King Lear": I. 06:43
• 2 Glass: String Quartet No. 9, "King Lear": II. 04:47
• 3 Glass: String Quartet No. 9, "King Lear": III. 05:21
• 4 Glass: String Quartet No. 9, "King Lear": IV. 04:53
• 5 Glass: String Quartet No. 9, "King Lear": V. 05:58
• String Quartet No. 8:
• 6 Glass: String Quartet No. 8: I. 05:33
• 7 Glass: String Quartet No. 8: II. 06:25
• 8 Glass: String Quartet No. 8: III. 04:20
• Total Runtime 44:00

Info for Philip Glass: String Quartet No. 9 "King Lear" & String Quartet No. 8

When Philip Glass was asked to compose incidental music for a Broadway production of King Lear in 2019, he immediately knew he wanted to write for string quartet: “I know how to write for string quartet. I love its range of emotion.” Indeed, this concert version of the play’s score is his ninth work for string quartet, a medium he employs to great effect to depict the tumult, violence, and despair at the heart of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy.

To capture the world of King Lear in music, Glass immersed himself in the historical background that may have influenced its conception: “I began picturing what it must have been like to see this piece for the first time in 1606. The Gunpowder Plot had happened only months before, in November, and the theaters were closed until the spring. If the insurrectionists had had their way, the whole government, including the king, would have all gone down. That was an astonishing event to happen in England, and it tore the country apart in many ways. The idea that part of the population would try to take down the government - it was shocking.”

For the original Broadway production, Glass spent weeks observing the actors in rehearsal, absorbing the play during the day and composing in the evenings. In this concert version, the stark dramatic landscape unfolds through Glass’s characteristic repetitive structures, oscillating harmonies and gently swaying rhythms, punctuated by icy textures heralding the monumental storm to come.

Commissioned by Collectif Tana, Bozar Centre for Fine Arts Brussels, Ars Musica, Le phénix scène nationale Valenciennes, Festival Superspectives with Opéra National de Lyon, Tandem scène nationale Arras, Maison de la Culture Bourges, and Wigmore Hall

"The Tana Quartet brings a breath of fresh air to the string quartet landscape" (cadences.fr)

"Audacious, ahead of their time...Tana is inventing the quartet of the 21st century" (lassiqueNews)

Antoine Maisonhaute, violin
Ivan Lebrun, violin
Julie Michael, viola
Jean Maisonhaute, cello

Quatuor Tana
Hailed as “impeccable players” (The Guardian), the Tana Quartet approaches music of different eras and aesthetics with equal intensity, creating a new tradition that links past and future. Tana has appeared at prestigious festivals and concert series worldwide, including Philharmonie de Paris, Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Villa Medicis in Rome, Darmstadt, and Wigmore Hall. The quartet has been honored with numerous awards such as the Union of Belgian Composers’ Fuga Prize, an Octaves de la Musique for contemporary music, the Coup de Coeur of the Charles Clos Academy, and an HSBC Award at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

Since its founding in 2010, Tana has been committed to promoting contemporary music in all its diversity and seeking out collaboration with composers. The quartet has consistently acted as a champion of new works, having premiered over 250 pieces by leading composers such as Ivan Fedele, Philippe Hurel, and Hèctor Parra; they have been crucial advocates for the saturist movement, working closely with Franck Bedrossian, Raphaël Cendo, and Yann Robin, whose works are featured on their album Shadows. The quartet has released thirteen albums, including Seven, which comprises Philip Glass’s complete works for string quartet and was recognized by Classica magazine as a “best album of 2018”; and most recently, Bleu Ébène, featuring the complete string quartets of David Achenberg.

Tana’s devotion to collaboration extends to research, including partnerships with IRCAM Paris, Grame Lyon, GMEM Marseille, ArtZoyd, and Centre Henri Pousseur. The quartet co-designed hybrid electroacoustic instruments in collaboration with composer Juan Gonzalo Arroyo, a groundbreaking contribution to electronic music. Their album Volts, featuring new works for these instruments, was acclaimed as marking “a landmark in the history of the quartet genre” (classiquenews.com).

Dedicated to education, the Tana Quartet is regularly invited to give masterclasses at institutions such as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, University of California Berkeley, and Shanghai Conservatory. In 2018 they co-founded ARCO, an annual contemporary music academy for young composers and performers, in partnership with the Salzburg Mozarteum, GMEM, Ensemble Multilatérale and Les Métaboles.

Tana believes in extending and equalizing the reach of the arts. The quartet has designed two outreach programs to deliver engaging musical experiences to new audiences: Music Far and Wide brings the quartet into atypical venues, from supermarkets to hospitals; and One-Day Orchestra gives participants of all ages the opportunity to immerse themselves in the creative process.

The Tana Quartet is composed of founding violinist Antoine Maisonhaute, violinist Ivan Lebrun, violist Julie Michael, and cellist Jeanne Maisonhaute.

This album contains no booklet.