String Quartet No. 1 White Man Sleeps / Conducteur

Ensemble à Cordes - Quatuor à Cordes - Born in South Africa, but now an Irish citizen, Kevin Volans? musical idiom has been shaped by an unusually diverse range of experiences, including studies with Stockhausen in Cologne, field trips to South Africa tostudy traditional music, his own involvement with the New Simplicity movement, his collection of contemporary art and African textiles, friendships with composers like Morton Feldman and Gerald Barry, as well as a love of virtuosopiano music which he performs, broadcasts and records. While having an easily recognised, unique voice, Volans? music resists compartmentalisation. He is as comfortable working in conventional genres as embarking oninnovative collaborations with artists of other disciplines. String Quartet No.1 (White Man Sleeps) was written for the Kronos Quartet and was first performed by them in July 1986, London.The title?White Man Sleeps? comes from a moment in nyanga Panpipe music where the performers leave off playing th