Balourdet Quartet - Strange Machines (2026) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. impossible inventions: i. faster – than – light – machine
02. impossible inventions: ii. quantum – clockwork
03. impossible inventions: iii. anti – gravity – machine
04. impossible inventions: iv. cyborg – falling – in – love
05. Sonatina “Death of the Machines”
06. Galaxy Back to You
07. String Quartet No. 4 Strange Machines: I. Alberti Machine
08. String Quartet No. 4 Strange Machines: II. Goldberg Machine
09. String Quartet No. 4 Strange Machines: III. Mannheim Machine
10. Memento Mori
11. Blossoming Like Crazy
12. Nuper rosarum flores
13. Canetis Cathedrali

In a world where it feels like technology is tearing us apart, the Balourdet Quartet illustrates how it can bring us together. After commissioning Strange Machines through the Chamber Music America’s Classical Commissioning Grant, and concurrently witnessing the exponential rise of AI (Artificial Intelligence), the Balourdet began to take on the intermingling of modern technology and the future of the string quartet. This recording spans nearly 600 years of music, ranging from the Renaissance to the present in new commissions, some of which utilize generative and predictive AI. If the string quartet itself is the ultimate superhuman device, this album explores extending this device beyond its traditional limitations through new dimensions of language and emotion.