Last week, Nonesuch released The Cusp of Magic, Kronos Quartet's recording, with Wu Man, of the piece composer Terry Riley wrote for them in 2004. In yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer, the paper's music critic David Patrick Stearns profiles Riley, examining his long and varied career, not least his relationship with Kronos, "his most frequent muse."

Riley's latest pieces, writes Stearns, put "together combinations of people, music and sound that prompt audiences to contemplate deeper meanings in what may or may not be moments of playfulness," like those on the new record, which includes sounds from the toys Kronos violinist David Harrington and his granddaughter have played with. The composer's current output, says Stearns, reflects "a composer who has hit his peak creative years and accumulated the most singular pedigree in serious American music—partly because he has trafficked in areas that weren't so serious."

To read the article, visit philly.com. To purchase The Cusp of Magic, visit nonesuch.com/store.