Kronos Quartet

Kronos begin this suite of meditations on war and totalitarianism with the title track, an experimental George Crumb piece that inspired the group's formation in 1973. It's a spare, chilling listen, as is Tan Dun's "Ghost Opera." But perhaps most striking are the five movements of Shostakovich's Quartet No. 8, a heartrending 20-minute piece that the composer wrote in just three days after being diagnosed with illness and forced to join the Communist party. Engrossing from start to finish, the work shudders and cowers, veering from tragedy to hard-drinking denial to overwhelming sadness.