Kronos Quartet - Harry Partch: U.S. Highball (2003)

There have been comments and concerns with this CD in saying that it may not be in keeping with the original composition. What has been egregiously overlooked in previous complaints is the simple fact that Harry Partch was never actually in keeping with his OWN original compositions. Though most people think of an ensemble of Harry Partch instruments and performers as the true rendition of this piece, it must be realized that it first came out simply for microtonal guitar and voice--Harry traveled around to colleges and did solo performances of it! It then took on several various iterations, expanding up to, at one point, ten individual performers. Harry Partch was constantly reworking this piece, and, had he never died, would probably still be rearranging it. This particular arrangement was a commission written specifically for the Kronos Quartet, and was arranged by a former protege of Partch's. It remains as true as possible to Partch's original notes, styles and intentions. Seeing how faithfully this has been converted to string quartet is truly inspiring.

The Kronos Quartet does an absolutely incredible job managing all of the subtleties of this work. Microtonality is not easy!