Kronos Quartet
A Hard Rain

A Hard Rain is the Kronos Quartet’s newest large-scale program, created in collaboration with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and inspired by the Doomsday Clock. An idea born in Chicago, where Kronos performed for a gathering of Nobel Prize–winning physicists addressing existential threats such as nuclear weapons, climate change, and artificial intelligence. That performance—combining music with readings from Hiroshima survivors, world leaders, and historical archives—sparked the vision for a program exploring the fragility of civilization and honoring the scientists working to safeguard it.

Marking the 80th anniversary of the Trinity nuclear test, the Kronos Quartet, together with The Hard Rain Collective, has released two powerful reimaginings of Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” – a sung version, featuring an eclectic ensemble of voices including Iggy Pop, Willie Nelson, Allison Russell, Laurie Anderson, and Stephin Merritt, supported by members of Belle & Sebastian, Deerhoof, Patti Smith’s band, and a Brooklyn choir. And a counterpart offering an experimental spoken-word interpretation featuring Ringo Starr, Tom Morello, Ocean Vuong, Charlotte Gainsbourg, among others. 

The full program expands these collaborations, including new texts by poet Ocean Vuong.