Riley: The Cusp of Magic

Another interesting offering from the uber cooler-than-thou quartet

     

This piece commisioned by the Kronos for Terry Riley's 70th birthday is as controversial as ever. Again the quartet eskews playing a string quartet proper in favor of colaberations with a pipa and wierd electronic things. The result is an interesting mood piece that was meant to reflect a native american pyote ritual. Riley has done his homework in this regard and it is easy to see the influence here. If anything this shows that the radical avant garde composeres of the 60's and 70's still have yet to mature past their niche sounds of yesteryear milking all that they can out of their cult following. This piece could almost be considered an artifact of a time gone by from it's inception. Still, there are many rewardable things enjoy. Just lay off the peyote when listening to it and relish on how silly this thing will sound in about two years. For the real deal about what's going on in the music world you should of course check out the latest Arditti quartet. They are the finest, sober, and interesting quartet on the planet.