Recently, the Kronos Quartet began a commission process for composers under the age of 30, in the hope of bringing some of the talented young composers of our day to light.
Kronos specializes in new music and has a long history of commissioning new works. In fact, over 850 works have been created for the Kronos Quartet. They have worked with many minimalist composers including Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Terry Riley and Kevin Volans.
Kronos has collaborated with composers from diverse countries such as Franghiz Ali Zadeh from Azerbaijan and Osvaldo Golijov from Argentina. Golijov is a MacArthur Fellow who has done compositions and arrangements for Kronos CDs such as Caravan and Nuevo.
Kronos covers a very broad range of musical genres: Mexican folk, experimental, pre-classical early music, movie soundtracks (Requiem for a Dream), jazz and tango. Kronos has even recorded adaptations of Purple Haze, Flugufrelsarinn, Marquee Moon, and Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals.
Composers aside, Kronos has teamed up with artists from around the world, including the legendary Bollywood "playback singer" Asha Bhosle; the American soprano Dawn Upshaw; Mexican pop-rockers Cafe Tacuba; and the Romanian gypsy band Taraf de Haidouks.
Kronos has performed live with the likes of the late poet Allen Ginsberg, Modern Jazz Quartet, David Bowie, and Bjork, and has appeared on recordings with such diverse talents as singer-songwriters Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado, Rokia Traore, Joan Armatrading, and Texas yodeler Don Walser.
Their official site is www.kronosquartet.org
Placeless
Kronos Quartet Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't know who I am.
I am neither Christian nor a Jew,
I am no Magian, no Muslim.
I am not from the East, nor from the West.
Not from the land, nor from the sea,
I am not from the shafts of nature,
nor from the spheres of the firmament,
I am not from India, not from China,
not from Bulghar, not from Saqsin
I am not from Babylon nor from the land of Persia.
I am not from the world, not from beyond
My place is Placelessness. My trace is tracelessness.
The lyrics of Kronos Quartet and Mahsa & Marjan Vahdat's song Placeless reflect the universal nature of human existence, and the quest for identity and belonging. The singer expresses her uncertainty about her place in the world, and her rejection of traditional labels such as Christian, Jew, Muslim, or Magian. She asserts that she does not belong to any specific location, culture, or religion, and that her essence is beyond the physical and spiritual realms. Her identity is not determined by external factors, but by an inner sense of placelessness and tracelessness.
The song can be interpreted as a meditation on the human condition, and the search for meaning and purpose in life. It challenges the notion of identity as a fixed and static entity, and suggests that it is a fluid and dynamic process that evolves over time. The singer's voice, accompanied by the haunting strings of the Kronos Quartet, evokes a sense of longing and transcendence, as if she is reaching out to a higher power or a universal consciousness. The lyrics invite the listener to reflect on their own sense of placelessness and tracelessness, and to embrace the mystery and beauty of the human experience.
Line by Line Meaning
Muslims, what can I do?
I am at a loss, seeking guidance from those with religious knowledge and understanding.
I don't know who I am.
I am struggling with my identity and feeling lost or disconnected.
I am neither Christian nor a Jew,
I do not subscribe to the dominant religions of the Western world.
I am no Magian, no Muslim.
I do not belong to any particular sect or school of religious thought.
I am not from the East, nor from the West.
My background and upbringing do not align with any one geographical region.
Not from the land, nor from the sea,
I am not defined by my physical surroundings or environment.
I am not from the shafts of nature,
I do not believe in the natural world as a source of origin or meaning.
nor from the spheres of the firmament,
I do not derive my sense of self from any heavenly or cosmic realm.
I am not from India, not from China,
I do not identify solely with any nation or culture from the East.
not from Bulghar, not from Saqsin
I do not feel an affinity with any specific ethnic groups or tribes.
I am not from Babylon nor from the land of Persia.
I do not trace my roots to any ancient empires or civilizations.
I am not from the world, not from beyond
My existence cannot be defined by anything in this world or the next.
My place is Placelessness. My trace is tracelessness.
I am a being without a fixed location or identity, constantly in flux and undefinable.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Mahsa Vahdat, Rumi
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind