Our CD, Tear, is available for sale! Featuring 12 pieces of the Americas from Canada to Argentina, Tear also has 3 world premieres from composers Keeril Makan, Adriana Isabel Figueroa Mañas, and Ronald Bruce Smith. Recorded in May of 2002, Tear also features tracks by American music icons Lou Harrison and Earle Brown, who have unfortunately passed on since then.

Reviews of Tear:

"From the first notes that emanate from the CD player, you might think, "Oh no, not another classical outfit doing Piazzolla!" even though the Del Sol String Quartet's rendition of Jeremy Cohen's transcription of Libertango is totally convincing. But then only a couple of minutes later comes one of the most emotionally riveting performances of Ruth Crawford Seeger's music I have ever heard-the Andante from her 1931 String Quartet-which makes me wish they'd recorded the whole piece. But before being too upset that they didn't, I'm transported to relentless ostinatos from an excerpt of a brand new piece by Berkeley-based Ronald Bruce Smith and then a complete performance of Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz's first string quartet. Later there is music by John Harbison, Keeril Makan (whose 9/11-inspired piece which gives the disc its title actually evokes the shock and terror of that day and the events set in motion by it), Lou Harrison, Earle Brown, and others, all contemporary and all from the Americas. By putting music that is immediate-and to use that all-too-cited radio buzzword "listener friendly"-next to more intrepid audio territory, the Del Sol String Quartet sell it all, making a strong case for the breadth and depth, and yes, joy, of the music of the here and now!" New Music Box -Frank Oteri, January 2004

"Seizing the senses from the first downbeat, immediately engrossing and consuming to the inner soundworld, this startling album of contemporary string quartets is an absolute must for the Classical devotee. Dashed with a Latin element, with pieces by Ginastera and Piazzolla, as well as exciting works by notable and respected American composers, John Harbison, Lou Harrison, and Earle Brown, these fervent, explosive, demanding and even noble pieces combine for a powerfully concentrated album of arresting music. Knife-edged technique meets fluid artistry and inexhaustible imagination with matched precision and passion; absolutely one of the finest string quartets on the rise." CD Baby. March, 2003

Tear - Track List

1. Libertango: Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), arr. Jeremy Cohen 2:17
- (30 second sample)
2. Andante from quartet: (1931) Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953) 3:45
3. Corrente from quartet no. 2 "Nostalgia": (2001) Ronald Bruce Smith (1961) 2:48
- (30 second sample)
4. Cuarteto No. 1: (1990) Gabriela Ortiz (1964) 9:01
5. Fantasia from quartet no. 2: (1987) John Harbison (1938) 5:29
6. Musica de Feria: (1932) Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940) 8:42
7. Tear: (2001) Keeril Makan (1972) 4:13
- (30 second sample)
8. Audacious Tango from "Tangoimpressions"(2001): Adraina Isabel Figueroa Mañas (1966) 3:27
- (30 second sample)
9. Song of Palestine from String Quartet Set: (1980) Lou Harrison (1917-2003) 5:01
10. String Quartet: (1965) Earle Brown (1926-2002) 12:36
11. Libero e rapsodico from quartet no. 2: (1958) Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983) 6:44
12. Crack: (2002) Del Sol 1:23

produced by buddy saleman and del sol quartet
engineered by tony gilkerson
mixed by buddy saleman
mastered by tony gilkerson
recorded at apg studios san francisco ca 2002
www.apgstudios.com

Credit card purchases available here


To purchase CDs by mail, please make out checks to Del Sol Performing Arts Organization.

Remember to include your name, address, phone number, and email.

Tear: $15.99

Please add $1.51 for shipping and handling (international: $3.51).

Please send to:

Del Sol Performing Arts Organization
754 46th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94121