As part of Kronos: Five Decades, the year-long celebration of Kronos Quartet’s 50th anniversary, the group is publishing five decade-spanning playlists curated by its founder and violinist David Harrington. The latest, featuring music Kronos performed in its second decade, 1983–1992, is out now. It includes works the quartet recorded on Nonesuch by Steve Reich, Ornette Coleman, Philip Glass, John Zorn, Henryk Górecki, Kevin Volans, Thomas Tallis, Astor Piazzolla, Jack Body, Terry Riley, and Arvo Pärt. You can hear it on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube here and below.

Also part of the anniversary celebration, Kronos Quartet’s acclaimed 1995 album Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass was released on vinyl for the first time on Nonesuch earlier this month. The two-LP set, produced by the composer, Judith Sherman, and Kurt Munkacsi, features violinists David Harrington and John Sherba, violist Hank Dutt, and cellist Joan Jeanrenaud performing quartets No. 2 (Company) (1983), No. 3 (Mishima) (1985), No. 4 (Buczak) (1990), and No. 5 (1991), the first piece Glass wrote for Kronos. “It contains some of Glass's best music since Koyaanisqatsi,” said the New York Times. “His ear for sumptuous string sonorities is undeniable.” The Washington Post called it “an ideal combination of composer and performers.”

As the anniversary season continues with further concerts around the world, Nonesuch will release Kronos Quartet’s award-winning 1990 album Black Angels on vinyl on February 16, 2024. First released in 1990, the album features George Crumb’s title piece, which inspired David Harrington to found the quartet in 1973, and works by Charles Ives, István Márta, Thomas Tallis, and Dmitri Shostakovich. The fourth side of the vinyl is an etching of an illustration created especially for this purpose by Matt Mahurin, whose work is featured on the original album cover. The Evening Standard included Black Angels among its “100 Definitive Classical Albums of the 20th Century.”