These premiere recordings present Ben Johnston’s earliest and latest essays in the string quartet genre and one from the middle of his output. The three pieces are very different from each other in style, technique and expressive intent. In his tenth quartet, the whole history of Western music flashes before our eyes. “…throughout the disc, the Kepler players demonstrate a security and conviction that make this complicated music irresistible.” New York Times
May 2011
“Intellectual as well as technical virtuosity are required to play the music of Ben Johnston, and in this second volume of his quartets, the Kepler Quartet continue their accomplished advocacy on his behalf. Despite the somewhat dry sound, the lucid structures and creative energy of Johnston's music continue to delight the ear and stimulate the mind”
July 2011
“Ben Johnston's got to be some kind of genius. Anyone who can make a string quartet sound like a hyper-sophisticated electronic gizmo...and like four boiled-as-an-owl cowboys busking their way through outback folk tunes, more than satisfies Schopenhauer's criteria about men of genius hitting targets that no-one else can see...A propos the Kepler Quartet's genius playing, they hit notes few other groups could even hear.”
