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| White Man Sleeps | 
 enlarge | Artists: Kronos Quartet, Charles Ives, Jon Hassell, Thomas Oboe Lee, Ornette Coleman, Ben Johnston, Bela Bartok, Kevin Volans
Label: Nonesuch
Category: Music
List Price: $16.98
Buy New: $2.45
You Save: $14.53 (86%)
Buy New/Used from $2.45
Avg. Customer Rating:  (2 reviews)
Sales Rank: 154790
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 075597916324
EAN: 0075597916324
ASIN: B000005IYJ
Release Date: October 25, 1990
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | White Man Sleeps #1 | | • | Holding Your Own: Scherzo | | • | Pano da Costa (Cloth From The Coast) | | • | Morango ... Almost a Tango | | • | Lonely Woman | | • | Amazing Grace | | • | White Man Sleeps #5 | | • | String Quartet No. 3 |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential recording
Kronos's second Nonesuch record combines seemingly unrelated work into a fairly seamless whole. From the off-kilter jazz of Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman" to the strains of Bela Bartok's String Quartet No. 3, this is an album of blues-tinged music. Kevin Volans, the South African composer, lends the disc its title and its opening track, which melts hesitantly familiar folk melodies into a racing quartet. Volans's technique is not far removed from that of Bartok, more than 70 years his senior. Kronos slow the intonations of Bartok's quartet to about a minute and a half longer than the Emerson Quartet's take--long enough to contribute to a kind of defamiliarization. Speaking of which, Ben Johnston's arrangement of "Amazing Grace" is what makes this CD a real keeper. He tests the mettle of this beloved melody by playing it against itself in numerous different ways, and the tune never succumbs to the tinkering. --Marc Weidenbaum
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| Customer Reviews:
 Weak Bartok kills this album May 26, 2005
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
I agree with the previous reviewer...the Kronos rendition of Bartok Quartet #3 is charitably described as anemic. Compared to any number of other recordings (most notably, in my opinion, the 1963 Juilliard version), it underscores my feeling that Kronos would be well-advised to avoid the standard repertoire and stick to works composed specifically for them.
Aside from the lousy Bartok, the only piece of note (for me) was the Kevin Volans piece, which earns this album the lofty 3 stars I have given it. The other pieces seem to be largely filler, and are so unmemorable as to be forgotten as soon as they are finished. Definitely not one of Kronos' better efforts.
 very weak April 3, 2002
12 out of 22 found this review helpful
This is one of Kronos' weakest CDs. As a driving force for new music in the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century, they've been invaluable in commissioning, performing and recording new works. But when they try to play the great music of old, they reveal themselves to be a below-average ensemble. Such is the case here with their Bartok 3, arguably the best of the composers' six quartets. Kronos' anemic sound is combined here with occasionally vague rhythm, utter lack of dynamic contrast and single-color playing, and the result is something of a joke, especially in comparison with some of the great recordings by groups such as the Emerson, Tokyo, and Takacs quartets.The other works on the disc are weak and easily forgettable (including the odd, somewhat cheesy Johnston arrangement), though the Volans is mildly entertaining. In short, don't waste your time or money on this recording.
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