March 20, 2022
Walker Art Center, with MPR & Schubert Club
Fitzgerald Theater /
St. Paul, Minnesota
More Info
Rafiq Bhatia
Glimmers In Three Movements
2020 Duration: 9:00
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Score and Parts -
Violin 1
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Violin 2
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Viola
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Cello
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Guitar Recordings
Rafiq Bhatia first composed Glimmers on guitar, which was then transcribed and arranged for string quartet by Jacob Garchik for Kronos' Fifty for the Future. Jacob's notated arrangement is one possible transcription, but we invite players to create their own arrangements from these original recordings.
Program Notes
Glimmers (2020)
I. Mylar Tremors
II. Signal Lamps
III. Resonant Light
Rafiq Bhatia
(b. 1987)
Composed for
50 For The Future:
The Kronos Learning
Repertoire
Arranged by Jacob Garchik
(b. 1976)
Artist Statement
“I hope that in offering Glimmers in the form of a guitar-based recording—in which ensembles performing the work are invited to transcribe my original versions in creating their own iteration of the piece—I might provide an opportunity for string players of the future to exercise these muscles. In attempting to locate and embody these sounds on their own instruments, I hope they might discover insights less readily available on the page, or even gain the confidence to draw inspiration from less likely sources. There are magical things that can come from filtering ideas back and forth through different interfaces. Take, for example, the legions of drummers today who are seeking to approximate hip-hop producer J Dilla's combination of quantization and human feel, which in turn was inspired by trying to imbue the output of a drum machine with the organic flexion of a jazz or soul drummer.
“When I first met Kronos founder and violinist David Harrington, we discussed the late George Crumb’s Black Angels, a work that had expanded both of our perspectives on what a string quartet could be(come). It was a late-night broadcast of the New York String Quartet’s recording of Black Angels that originally inspired Harrington to form the Kronos Quartet. In turn, Kronos’ recording of the piece has been a touchstone for me over the years, and many of the techniques I reached for on the guitar in shaping Glimmers are inspired by the amplified string textures and singing glass resonances contained within their version. Since his passing, Crumb and the impact of his articulation of a limitless imagination have been on my mind, and I know I will continue to be propelled forward by what he left behind.
“Having originally begun my life in music as a violinist, I cannot adequately express how surreal it feels to have been commissioned by one of the greatest string quartets in the history of American music. As someone who never quite found myself at home within the Euro-American classical tradition, it is even more meaningful to have been asked to contribute to their boundary-broadening Fifty for the Future
initiative, building a legacy for the next generation of string quartets. Working with the Kronos Quartet has been one of the honors of my lifetime. I hope you enjoy bearing witness to the first fruits of what we have sown together.”
Rafiq Bhatia
Composer Interview
Rafiq Bhatia discusses his musical background, his composition process, the piece he wrote for Fifty for the Future, and more.
Artist’s Bio
Rafiq Bhatia
USA
The New York Times proclaims “Rafiq Bhatia is writing his own musical language,” heralding him as “one of the most intriguing figures in music today.” A guitarist, composer, producer, and sound artist “who refuses to be pinned to one genre, culture or instrument,” Bhatia makes sculptural, meticulously crafted music that finds common ground among ecstatic avant-garde jazz, mournful soul, fractured beats and building-shaking electronics. “He treats his guitar, synthesizers, drum machines and electronic effects as architectural elements,” the Times writes. “Sound becomes contour; music becomes something to step into rather than merely follow.”
Bhatia’s first LP for Anti- Records, 2018’s Breaking English, has been described as “stunningly focused...a vibrant new instrumental sound world where crushing beats, nimble guitar licks, and shifting electronic textures coalesce with a visceral bite” (Chicago Reader). His subsequent release, 2020’s Standards Vol. 1 EP, renders repertoire from the American songbook “completely deconstructed, infused with brand new textures and electronic effects, dreamlike and beautiful” (BBC). In conjunction with the releases, Bhatia has toured internationally, presenting his music at Acud Macht Neu, the Andy Warhol Museum, Big Ears Festival, Cleveland Museum of Art, Constellation, deSignel Bouge B Festival, Duke Performances, Hopscotch Festival, The Kitchen, Le Poisson Rouge, Mass MoCA, Melbourne International Jazz Festival, MoMA PS1, Moroccan Lounge, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, NYC Winter Jazzfest, Oberlin Conservatory, Solid Sound Festival, and more.
As a composer, Bhatia has been commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, Walker Art Center, four/four × Public Records, Jennifer Koh, Liquid Music Series, National Sawdust, Newfields, Sound Expeditions, The Jazz Gallery, Toledo Museum of Art, and the Traverse City Dance Project. His forthcoming collaboration with filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will premiere in Fall 2022 as a part of the FotoFocus Biennial: World Record.
Since 2014, Bhatia’s primary collaborative association has been as a member of the experimental pop project Son Lux, joining founder Ryan Lott along with drummer Ian Chang as a co-writer, co-producer, and guitarist. Together, the trio has released three albums — Bones (2015), Brighter Wounds (2018), and the three-volume Tomorrows (2020-21)—as well as numerous EPs, and given over five hundred performances on three continents. Recent highlights include being sampled by Timbaland and scoring the Daniels’ film Everything Everywhere All At Once for A24, including collaborations with David Byrne, André Benjamin, Mitski, Moses Sumney, Randy Newman, and more.
A voracious collaborator working across musical communities and artistic disciplines, Bhatia has also created with Arooj Aftab, Holland Andrews, Olga Bell, William Britelle, Michael Cina, Teju Cole, Sam Dew, Dave Douglas, Marcus Gilmore, Shahzad Ismaily, Vijay Iyer, Glenn Kotche, Okkyung Lee, Qasim Naqvi, Helado Negro, Kassa Overall, Chris Pattishall, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Alex Somers, Moses Sumney, Rajna Swaminathan, Kiah Victoria, David Virelles and others. He has contributed to recordings on Brownswood, City Slang, ECM, Glassnote, Greenleaf Music, Joyful Noise, New Amsterdam, RCA and Temporary Residence Ltd.
Bhatia is a Jerome Foundation Composer/Sound Artist Fellow, and a former artist-in-residence at Duke Performances. He has been invited to speak by the National Gallery of Art, Big Ears Festival, Berklee College of Music, Melbourne International Jazz Festival and IUPUI, and is currently adjunct faculty of the New School’s Performer-Composer Master of Music program. His music is published in association with Domino Publishing Company.
A native of North Carolina, Bhatia lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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Help support Kronos’ 50 for the Future as we commission fifty new works designed expressly for the training of students and emerging professionals.
What first pulled me to Rafiq were the amazing sounds he gets from his guitar and the care that he gives every aspect of what he does. It's wonderful for 50 for the Future to have someone with his experience and ear for color.
David Harrington
Artistic Director, Kronos Quartet
Kronos Quartet
World Premiere
