Amstel x Kronos

I previously mentioned the Amstel Quartet, all saxophones, doing “Grandmother and Kimitake” (actually “1934: Grandmother and Kimitake”), a piece from composer Philip Glass’ score to the 1985 Paul Schrader film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, originally recorded by Kronos Quartet, all strings. This is Amstel doing another piece from the same score, though I’m not entirely clear on the track. On the video channel, it’s listed as “1962: Blood Oath” but there is no such track on the movie soundtrack release. The album does have a “1957: Award Montage,” which is roughly the same length as this, and a “1962: Body Building,” which is not, and two other tracks that actually include the word “blood” in the title: “Kyoko’s House (Stage Blood Is Not Enough)” and “Runaway Horses (Poetry Written with a Splash Of Blood).” Making the situation all the more complicated — though also pretty much confirming my sense that it’s the “1957: Award Montage” piece — is that on the album titled Brooklyn Rider Plays Philip Glass (Brooklyn Rider is a string quartet), there’s a track titled “1957: Blood Oath,” also roughly the same length. Such discographical issues aside, Amstel’s is a great performance, just rich with subtle interplay, and it’s another fine video from ConcertLab, which is staking out an interesting realm of video-specific audio recordings of new music.