Viano Quartet Releases Voyager on Platoon

In their latest release, the Viano Quartet—one of today’s most dynamic young string ensembles—pays homage to NASA’s Voyager Program, which launched two spacecraft in 1977 on a mission to explore the farthest reaches of our solar system.

The album’s program reflects a spirit of curiosity, connection, and cosmic wonder. As violist Aiden Kane notes in the liner notes, “Music is the best way we can communicate with each other and with our universe.”

At the heart of the recording is Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130, performed with its original, monumental finale: the Große Fuge. A work of profound intensity and complexity, it includes the deeply personal Cavatina—the very piece chosen to represent humanity on the Voyager Golden Record, sent into space as a musical message to the stars.

Contemporary composer Alistair Coleman’s Moonshot bridges artistic and scientific frontiers, drawing inspiration from the Apollo 11 mission and On Kawara’s date-painting triptych created in response to it.

The album concludes with two beloved lunar-themed works: Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune, evoking Verlaine’s ethereal poetry, and Bart Howard’s timeless “Fly Me to the Moon,” both arranged for string quartet by Viano violinist Hao Zhou.

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Funded in part by Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity through the career development program of the Banff International String Quartet Competition.
Producer: Theresa Leonard
Recording engineer, editing & mastering: Ben Ewing