The quartet’s latest album features new arrangements of holiday songs by 15 contemporary composers
Texas-based string ensemble the Miró Quartet has launched a new Christmas album presenting a rather different take on festive music. Released on Pentatone, Hearth sees the quartet collaborate with 15 contemporary composers who each offer their take on the music associated with Christmastime.
The album features original arrangements of works from Silent Night to O Come, All Ye Faithful – and even Jingle Bells – written by composers including Anna Clyne, Clarice Assad, Alex Berko, Michael Begay, , Reena Esmail, Hyung-ki Joo, Gabriel Kahane, Sam Lipman, Karl Mitze, Kevin Puts, Paola Prestini, Jeff Scott, Derrick Skye, Joel Love and Michi Wiancko.
Miró Quartet cellist Josh Gindele said: ‘For this album, I asked fifteen composers to take the holiday tunes they loved most and reshape them through their own musical languages. What came back was a programme that feels both familiar and completely new. Renaissance hymns sit next to reimagined versions of pieces like Jingle Bells and Silent Night, and the writing draws on traditions that include West African rhythm, Hindustani melody, Native American perspectives and a wide range of contemporary styles. All of it lives inside the intimate voice of the string quartet, which creates a sense of closeness and conversation. We made Hearth because holiday music should feel like a gathering of memories and traditions, and because we believe classical musicians can honour those traditions while helping them grow.’
The quartet, who celebrated their 30th anniversary together, recorded the album in May at Austin’s KMFA classical radio station. Hearth sees each composer draw on their own holiday traditions and memories, with the resulting tracklist embracing a broad range of genres from Medieval carols to Texas fiddle music. Classical Music heard from some of the composers involved, who reflected on their process of rethinking familiar festive music.
Pulitzer prize-winning opera composer Kevin Puts reimagined The First Noel for the album. He said: ‘It’s a tune that I’ve known ever since I was a kid, and I’ve always loved it. It’s really a very simple melody made mostly of scales – which makes it easy to sing, but it also gives me as the arranger a lot of flexibility in terms of the harmonies that the melody might move through. So I really had a wonderful time finding different harmonic paths for the melody as it repeats – and of course it’s played so brilliantly by the Miró quartet.’
Composer Jeffrey Scott describes his style as ‘Urban Classical Music’. He chose the traditional Irish Wexford Carol as his inspiration. He said: ‘I’ve always had a soft spot for Christmas, and this particular melody is so beautiful. It could be played on just one instrument, by itself, and be beautiful – but the opportunity to use the great mode that it’s in, to use that great haunting melody and put my own spin on it, was just a true treat.’
Composer-conductor Derrick Skye’s We Three is adapted from We Three Kings. He said: ‘This is a piece where I took a trans-cultural approach to the original carol. It’s influenced by Assyrian music and West African music. I really wanted to take this transcultural approach because the holidays are shared by many different people from many different backgrounds. And it ties in perfectly with this story of the three Magi bringing different gifts for the baby Jesus from their own diverse backgrounds.’