Veronika Krausas - language of the birds | Alexander String Quartet

With Strings Attached features a multitude of collaborations with new music as well as a partnership with the San Francisco Choral Artists. The first work on this recording is not only inspired by the two San Francisco ensembles, and the city itself, it is also inspired by a San Francisco art installation of the same name — language of the birds.

language of the birds
Veronika Krausas (b. 1963)

1. no. 1
2. no. 2
3. no. 3
4. no. 4
5. no. 5

Ever since its installation in 2008, Veronika Krausas has been taken by language of the birds, a spectacular outdoor work created by Brian Goggin with Dorka Keehn. The sculpture is located in North Beach, in front of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Bookstore. In response to this site-specific piece, Krausas chose to set her work to Ferlingheti’s San Francisco Poems.

“From all the texts Brian used in his sculpture I was struck by Ferlinghetti’s. His words help you see the wonder of life, not only in nature, but also in the quirkiness of the people around us. They make you stand on your head, look at things from a different perspective.” — Veronika Krausas

Her pieces, which she describes as “light-hearted, resembling the music of Erik Satie,” combine a phenomenally rich variety in the music. The three light-hearted “bird pieces” are set off by two introspective, slower pieces that evoke the stillness of fog drifting into San Francisco and “trees dreaming thru all time.” And as a special treat, the poetry is read by the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti himself.

Find out more about Veronika Krausas at veronikakrausas.com.

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