The Kronos Quartet Announces Retirements and New Members

March 7, 2024 at 08:38 AM · Re ~ Further Retirements of The Kronos String Quartet ~ {#1}

It seems like yesterday, when the Kronos String Quartet burst on to the Chamber Music Scene, so young and so uniquely gifted in initial debut performing 'outside the Box; and being hailed in major city venues firstly in foreign European Capital's and after a bit of hesitance here in the United States, the Kronos began to attract major and very important Critic's to their concerts writing well of their ensemble yet I well remember a guarded again, hesitance on the part of major Newspaper Critics to point out the Ensemble of The Kronos yet held back praising their unusual SQ repertoire and must say which was not so much psychedelic but 'different' from almost any of the "establishment" String Quartets when the young Kronos created sound waves amid Set String Quartet Style, aka, The Hungarian String Quartet, so brilliant & musically steeped in tradition and led by the fabled Szkeley, First Violinist and lauded greatly in a HSQ Series of All Beethoven String Quartets held in London's Royal Festival Hall, which wrought global concert world attention and reigning praises as crowned Royalty of All String Quartet Ensembles of The World!!

It was in this idiom of tradition that the Kronos was entering and they had waves of chamber music lovers to go up against & many of whom compared the 'strange' Kronos SQ as though a foreign country invading The hallowed Hungarian String Quartet, on the

International Musical Throne as String Quartet Monarch's of the Chamber Music & String Quartet Playing plus definitely Classical Repertoire ... Having attended many of Hungarian String Quartet Series of Beethoven's String Quartets, I plead guilty of also being very guarded when first encountering The Kronos String Quartet, yet as time did move along, The Kronos, began to become more familiar and in turn, became more or less 'traditional' and poised as an ensemble which attracted many 'classical purist's' to attend one or two of their Concerts and becoming Fans of The Kronos to today or 'Yesterday" now Grand Memories ~

The Lesson Learned: When 1st Violinist, Szekely retired, then the Second Violinist, & so forth, the camaraderie and fused ensemble fusion of The Hungarian String Quartet Changed and not for the better yet to the disappointment of many of us in London, and of audiences truly Hungarian Original String Quartet Members Fans who could not let go of our memories of Awe and true classical loving amazement at the glorious Hungarian String Quartet. All Said, I genuinely think This is now cause for Chamber Music Aficionados to take stock of in the sense of Changes again announced to The Kronos with names, I do admit, unknown to me and players of whom I've utterly no EM knowledge or with whom any studied yet continuing to play and under the by now Banner Name of The Kronos String Quartet, {and I understand the need to continue titling themselves 'The Kronos String Quartet';} but nevertheless, I know One Thing About Classical Music and about Classical Artists in Music: None can Ever Replace The Original or Originals in a coveted Chamber Music Ensemble or in rare GOAT Violinist's, aka, Jascha Heifetz or Nathan Milstein once retired or passed from this world ... And another Lesson: Do Not Try to in the least Imitate any GOAT's because part of their Greatness comes and Came from their unique individual & Only One DNA, aka, like finger prints, which none other on Earth can copy nor replace!!

Me Thinks the usage of the Name which is now nearly 50 years on, is folly for the young new Members to claim & suggest a Variation on the 'Theme of The Kronos' to what young parents of newborn's do which is to name a son after the father, but adding an & a most honourable, Jr., after the same namesake!! Perhaps New Kronos might adopt this time in memoriam tradition and term themselves The Kronos II ??? I rest my case & in so doing, Honour The Global Affection the Original Kronos String Quartet is held in and known everywhere with many teary eyes missing The Original Four of The Kronos String Quartet we got to know and grew to Love & Admire nearly 50 Years Ago . . . My serious Condolences to All Original Members of The Kronos String Quartet upon their unanimous vote Retirement and I do hope the Original Kronos might consider a sort of Farewell from The Kronos SQ International Tour to bid a global Adieu to loving and will greatly miss them Audiences The World Over ~

~ ~ ~ Respectfully submitted with Goodwill to The New ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ Elisabeth Matesky, Apostle of JH and NM ~ ~ ~

Fwd ~ dmg {#1} 7th March 2 0 2 4

March 7, 2024 at 12:36 PM · The Kronos Quartet changed the way I listened to chamber music, if indeed I listened at all. Previously I'd seen seen chamber music, wrongly needless to say, as something that happened in claustrophobic halls on side streets, performed to thin audiences of connoisseurs. Initially, it was only the quartets of Bartok and Shostakovich that made an impact on me. My late teenage aesthetic can be summed up as the more dissonance and angst, the better. The Kronos was among the quartets that showed me the errors of my thinking. They weren't alone, but they led the way, and as Elisabeth says above, they persisted and won audiences. My final point though is that they led me to circle back to the great quartets of the early twentieth and the nineteenth centuries. I am sure I am not alone in this. It's great to see other quartets taking up the challenges, and continuing the mission that they started and which they mean to continue.