Shadows Quatuor Tana

• 1 Quatuor à cordes No. 2 Crescent Scratches (2011) 09:27
• 2 I. 08:16
• 3 II. 04:46
• 4 III. 06:20
• 5 Quatuor à cordes No. 2 Substance (2013) 10:59
• 6 I. Fantomatique 02:31
• 7 II. Extrêmement lent et désolé 03:57
• 8 III. Violent, contrasté 04:02
• Total Runtime 50:18

Info for Shadows

„Clearly we owe this first disc of ours – under the name Tana Quartet – to Yann Robin, Franck Bedrossian and Raphaël Cendo”, says Antoine Maisonhaute. “The quartet had only existed professionally for a year when we met Yann and Raphaël at Aix-en-Provence in 2011. At the Aix Festival Academy, each string quartet has to play classical repertoire and work with contemporary composers-in-residence. Yann and Raphaël were in residence in 2011. We discovered an astonishing musical language that we had to come to terms with, patiently. “We were extraordinarily motivated and curious. We were also impatient to delve into a world that was so open to instrumental ingenuity. It was almost as if, paired with each composer, we became a quintet! After the Aix Festival, we decided to catalogue the techniques needed to interpret their music. By pushing our classical techniques beyond their limits, we worked on expanding and extending the quartet’s range of sonic techniques. And, in that way, we forged an identity of our own.

“Our musical approach has been greatly in uenced by Yann and Raphaël, and also by Franck Bedrossian. These were the rst three composers to develop “saturationism”. They have guided us and supported us ever since.

Shadows combines poetry and vitality. “We chose this title as an allusion to the many harmonic shadows vibrating behind each single, clear note”, Antoine Maisonhaute continues. “The way we make each note resonate on the instrument causes the saturation phenomenon. You cannot hear the fundamental note, only its projections. We perform countless notes at breakneck speed – it’s like playing while holding your breath.

“[When music is played] at such a frantic pace, the ear experiences overload, and it sounds as if twenty musicians are playing at once. To perform scores by Yann Robin, Franck Bedrossian and Raphaël Cendo, you have to be t, because the scores are so demanding. And di culty... We have worked extensively with these three composers, and it has been a truly rewarding experience for all parties involved.

“The linguistic subtlety of Tracé d’ombres (2005-2007) is almost classical; it continues in the great string quartet tradition. Franck Bedrossian develops solos rich in color, accompanied very softly by a wide variety of timbres and soft gestures. It’s as if he is stretching an elastic band and only releases it in the last twenty explosive measures of his piece. …

Antoine Maisonhaute, violin
Ivan Lebrun , violin
Maxime Desert, alto
Jeanne Maisonhaute, cello

Quatuor Tana
The Tana String Quartet was formed in 2010 to promote contemporary repertoire and enhance the relationship between composer and performer; they place no boundaries when selecting style or genre and often present classical repertoire alongside contemporary works.

Recognised by The Guardian as “impeccable players”, the quartet is recipient of an array of international awards, from the Pro Quartet – CEMC foundation in Paris, the Verbier Festival Academy and the Union of Belgian Composers (Fuga Prize), they also received the Octave for best exponents of contemporary music. In 2013, they were honoured at the HSBC EMA Awards and received an invitation to premiere Oracion; a major cross-over project featuring both world and contemporary music, produced by the Abbaye de Royaumont and premiered as part of the Aix-en-Provence festival.

The Tana String Quartet has appeared at prestigious festivals and concert series worldwide including Aix-en-Provence, Berlioz, MUSICA à Strasbourg, La Folle Journée, Saint-Denis, Albi, IRCAM/Manifeste, Musiques du GMEM, Controtempo, Verbier, Ars Musica, Klara, Darmstadt, Faithful in Berlin, Vale of Glamorgan, Girona, San Sebastian, Mostra Sonora/Valencia, Auditorium du Louvre, Cent-Quatre/Radio-France, Villa Medici in Rome, Pharos Foundation in Cyprus, Wigmore Hall, Conway Hall, BOZAR and Auditorium de Dijon. Last season saw them premiere a number of major new works composed for them, including Aracne, by Spanish composer Hector Parra, premiered in Paris (Louvre), and repeated at the Girona Festival and Wigmore Hall in London, and later in 2016 at the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona.

In 2015/2016 the Quartet will make their debut appearances at the Philharmonie de Paris and Concertgebouw in Bruges with the premiere of Yann Robin’s Quartet No 3, which they will also perform at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, together with Hector Parra’s new piece.

Tana is the only European ensemble to have discarded conventional scores to perform from iPads, which they also use to accompany their educational work. A privileged partner with Music Research Centres including: Centre Henri Pousseur in Liège, Belgium; GMEM in Marseille and ArtZoyd in Valenciennes, France, the quartet gave the first ever concert on hybrid instruments, premiering a piece by Peruvian composer Juan Gonzalo Arroyo. The new system is a major contribution to electronic music.

Following the success of their debut recording, the complete string quartet music of French composer Jacques Lenot, the Quartet continues their eclectic discography with an album devoted to saturated music (Bedrossian, Cendo and Robin), which will be released in 2016.

The Tana Quartet has studied with such notable masters of education as Alfred Brendel , Gabor Takacs and David Alberman, Andrés Keller, Yann Robin, Raphael Cendo and Ondrej Adamek in the Academy of Aix en Provence 2011; Paul Katz, Walter Levin, Eberhard Feltz, Alasdair Tait, Nicholas Kirchen, Louis Fima and Natalia Prishepenko, as part of ProQuartet.

The quartet receives support from many French institutions (DRAC, SACEM, ADAMI, SPEDIDAM, “Musique Nouvelle en Liberté” and “Fonds pour la Création Musicale”).

Booklet for Shadows