Bryce Dessner, guitarist-songwriter for The National, is releasing an album of compositions recorded with the experimental, Grammy-winning string ensemble Kronos Quartet. The collaboration, Aheym, will be released November 5th on Anti- Records.
Though he’s known for his work in the field of indie-rock, Dessner is no stranger to the realm of classical composition. He’s also collaborated with artists as disparate as Steve Reich, Philip Glass, David Lang, and Sufjan Stevens.
The Aheym project began when Kronos founder David Harrington asked Desnner to write a composition for the Quartet’s 2009 performance at the Celebrate Brooklyn! festival. The result was “Aheym” (which means “homward” in Yiddish), which was inspired by stories from Dessner’s grandparents.
According to a press release, the album “also includes a performance dedicated to Laurence Neff, Kronos Quartet’s lighting designer of 25 years (“Tenebre”); a composition influenced by obscure Czech viola da gamba performers Irena and Vojtěch Havel (“Little Blue Something”); and “Tour Eiffel,” a setting of a poem by Chilean poet Vicente Huidobro that was originally commissioned by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus (which perform the track on Aheym alongside Kronos Quartet) at the suggestion of Dessner’s close friend, composer Nico Muhly.”
The album’s tracklist is below:
1. Aheym
2. Little Blue Something
3. Tenebre
4. Tour Eiffel
