John Adams writes in his liner notes: ” These dances, dedicated to my friends in Kronos, are ‘alleged’ because the steps for them have yet to be invented. They cuss, chaw, hock hooeys, scratch and talk too loud… Six of the dances are accompanied by the giddy rhythm track made of prepared piano sounds. The prepared piano was John Cage’s invention that transformed the grand piano into a pygmy percussion orchestra by placing screws, bolts, rubber erasers, weather stripping and other bits of hardware between the strings of the instrument. When ‘prepared’ in this manner, the conventional tones of the paino give way to a babel of deep bongs, thonks, thuds and plinks. I made digital samples of these sounds and organized them into loops which, overlapping and interlocking, become mini-rhythm tracks.”

SELECT CREDITS

Kronos Quartet
David Harrington, violin
John Sherba, violin
Hank Dutt, viola
Joan Jeanrenaud, cello

Produced by Judith Sherman
Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

A special debt of gratitude goes from the composer to Mark Grey for engineering the loops in Alleged Dances.