Kuss Quartet: Krise/Crisis Kuss Quartet

• Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809): Die Worte des Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob.XX:1B:
• 1 Haydn: Die Worte des Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob.XX:1B: I. Introduktion 05:22
• Francesco Ciurlo (b . 1987): Hasta pulverizarse los ojos:
• 2 Ciurlo: Hasta pulverizarse los ojos 05:56
• Joseph Haydn: Die Worte des Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob.XX:1B:
• 3 Haydn: Die Worte des Erlösers am Kreuze, Hob.XX:1B: V. Mich duerstet 06:05
• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, D. 810 "Death and the Maiden":
• 4 Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, D. 810 "Death and the Maiden": III. Scherzo 03:43
• Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945): String Quartet No. 6, Sz. 114:
• 5 Bartók: String Quartet No. 6, Sz. 114: I. Mesto - Piu mosso pesente. Vivace 07:45
• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110:
• 6 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110: I. Largo 05:01
• Birke Bertelsmeier (b. 1981): Krise:
• 7 Bertelsmeier: Krise 03:31
• Steve Reich (b. 1936): WTC/911:
• 8 Reich: WTC/911: III. WTC 04:38
• Komitas (Soghomon Soghomonian) (1869 - 1935): Spring:
• 9 Soghomonian): Spring 03:04
• Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847): String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op, 80:
• 10 Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 6 in F Minor, Op, 80: II. Adagio 07:14
• Bedřich Smetana (1824 - 1884): String Quartet No. 1 in E Minor "From my life":
• 11 Smetana: String Quartet No. 1 in E Minor "From my life": IV. Vivace 05:37
• Leoš Janáček (1854 - 1928): String Quartet No. 1, JW 7/8 (Inspired by Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata):
• 12 Janáček: String Quartet No. 1, JW 7/8 (Inspired by Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata): I. Adagio. Con moto 03:54
• 13 Janáček: String Quartet No. 1, JW 7/8 (Inspired by Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata): II. Con moto 03:52
• 14 Janáček: String Quartet No. 1, JW 7/8 (Inspired by Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata): III. Con moto - Vivo - Andante 03:44
• 15 Janáček: String Quartet No. 1, JW 7/8 (Inspired by Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata): IV. Con moto - (Adagio) - Piu mosso 05:07
• Oscar Escudero (b. 1992): Post:
• 16 Escudero: Post 09:26
• Total Runtime 01:23:59

Info for Kuss Quartet: Krise/Crisis

For visions of the future - always! On its new album "KRISE CRISIS", the Kuss Quartet presents an extraordinary repertoire and draws on music composed over the last 250 years that expresses emotional turbulence, suffering and psychological tension.

We live in a time of turmoil, change, stress and crisis. The stresses of modern life during and after the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, climate change, energy shortages, the rising cost of living, the large number of refugees looking for a safe haven, the lack of trust in our politicians - this is the reality of life in the 2020s.

The Kuss Quartet's new album draws on music composed over the last 250 years, expressing emotional turbulence, suffering and psychological tension. Some of the music was composed at times when the composers were experiencing deep personal trauma - including Haydn, Shostakovich, Schubert and Bartók.

But the same music can also evoke a mood of reflection, consolation and contemplation. It is music for our times, as powerful and relevant today as it was when it was written.

"Everything ends in the truth seeking expectation of.... The end remains open, but what is certain for us is how much we need art for our lives, as a mirror of society, as a tireless force of our cultural history, for visions of the future - always!" (Oliver Wille - Kuss Quartet)

Kuss Quartet

The Kuss Quartet
has been setting new standards for many years with its ambitious concept- based programming. Its mission is to offer unique experiences to traditional audiences and new listeners alike.

Leader Jana Kuss and second violinist Oliver Wille have been playing side by side for over 30 years. With great curiosity, they and their long-standing colleagues, William Coleman and Mikayel Hakhnazaryan, seek confirmation of the eternal “muss es sein?” of string quartet playing.

Thanks to a grant from the state of Lower Saxony and Musik 21, the quartet has been able to commission several new works in the last ten years, expanding the string quartet repertoire with compositions by Enno Poppe, Aribert Reimann, Manfred Trojahn, Bruno Mantovani, Iris ter Schiphorst Johannes Fischer and Mark Andre. This has attracted cooperations with the Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, Paris Biennale, the Wigmore Hall in London and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. In the 23/24 season, Francisco Coll’s “Codices” will be premiered in Basel and receive further performances in Amsterdam, Berlin and Hanover.

The Kuss Quartett enjoys regular collaborations with musical partners including Miklós Perényi, Dénes Várjon, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Sarah Maria-Sun, Maurice Steger and Johannes Fischer.

The most recent album, “KRISE” (Crisis), was released in January 2023 and explores the subject of its title from different perspectives in both well-known quartet repertoire and specially commissioned works. The “KRISE” concert programme can be heard extensively in performance throughout the 23/24 season.

The cross-genre Beethoven programme “Force and Freedom” was developed together with director Nicola Hümpel and her music and dance theatre, “Nico and The Navigators”. Delayed by the pandemic, the world premiere took place in November 2021 at the Konzerthaus Dortmund and was subsequently performed at the Schwetzinger Festspiele and Radialsystem Berlin in 2022. The production was filmed by ARTE TV.

A further highly innovative project was “KUSS@KOKON”. During the Corona pandemic, an artist collective consisting of dancers Yui Kawaguchi and Ruben Reniers, percussionist Johannes Fischer and slam poet Bas Böttcher developed new modular concerts with the Kuss Quartet, assisted by a “Reload” grant from the German Federal Cultural Foundation. Free from inhibitions, the modules break the boundaries of these artistic fields and expand them into new forms.

At the beginning of its career, the quartet was awarded first prizes by the German Music Council and at the Borciani Competition. It also received a Borletti-Buitoni Award and was a “Rising Star” of the European Concert Hall Organisation. Today, the Kuss Quartet inspires the next generation in frequent master classes. William Coleman and Oliver Wille hold professorships in Salzburg and Hanover/Birmingham respectively, while Mikayel Hakhnazaryan teaches chamber music at the Hochschule in Karlsruhe and Jana Kuss at the Accademia Perosi in Biella (Italy).

Booklet for Kuss Quartet: Krise/Crisis