Brooklyn Rider Quartet’s New Album, “The Four Elements”

Released on Circle Records, the album focuses on climate change with works by Henri Dutilleux, Conrad Tao, Andreia Pinto-Correia, and more

The Brooklyn Rider string quartet, comprising violinists Johnny Gandelsman and Colin Jacobsen, violist Nicholas Cords, and cellist Michael Nicolas, has now released the 21st album in its discography. 

“The Four Elements” follows the group’s GRAMMY-nominated album “Healing Modes,” which was released at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This new album also marks Brooklyn Rider’s  20th anniversary season. 

By using the classical elements of Air, Earth, Fire and Water as inspiration, “The Four Elements” draws attention to the changing climate through works by Henri Dutilleux, Osvaldo Golijov, Colin Jacobsen, Andreia Pinto Correia, Dmitri Shostakovich, Conrad Tao, Dan Trueman, and Akshaya Tucker. 

Each of the composers’ pieces fall under the album’s respective elements: under Earth is Jacobsen’s A Short While to Be Here and Trueman’s Under My Feet & Up There: A Quartet in Two Parts. 

For Air, works include Pinto Correia’s Aere senza stelle (Air without stars) and Henri Dutilleux’s 1976 piece Ainsi la nuit. Tucker’s Hollow Flame and Shostakovich’s explosive String Quartet No. 8 represent Fire, and Tao’s Undone and Golijov’s Tenebrae for Water close the album. 

To purchase and listen to “The Four Elements,” click here.  

“The idea of four elements — Earth, Air, Fire, Water — as the foundation of the physical world was a parallel belief across numerous ancient cultures, including those in Greece, Egypt, Persia, Babylonia, India, and beyond,” the quartet explained. “In myriad combinations, these four elements were thought to be capable of both infinite creation and powerful destruction. The unique musical ecosystem of the string quartet mirrors this delicate balance with its four human elements, collectively capable of voicing both the profound beauties as well as the stark realities of our world.

“In this recording, we have brought together a wide range of music from the past and the present which is representative of, or directly inspired by these elements,” they added. “In part a celebration of Earth’s wondrous mysteries, this project is in parallel designed to raise attention to the powerful forces of climate change which represent the single greatest challenge of our time. 

“Four works are drawn from the last one hundred years, a century marked by unprecedented planetary change, while four are newly commissioned scores penned by composers with unique global perspectives that more urgently reflect current realities and serve as a musical call to action.”

Brooklyn Rider’s upcoming projects include joint performance with Yo-Yo Ma at the Tanglewood Music Festival on August 13, 2025, as well as new commissions from Don Byron, Gabriela Lena Frank, Ted Hearne, and Angélica Negrón.