The final album in Pacifica Quartet’s three-part The American Collection series brings together touchstones of the American repertoire. The release features some of the most canonical American chamber works, including Samuel Barber’s String Quartet, Op. 11 with its beloved Adagio movement; George Walker’s Lyric for Strings; and George Crumb’s Black Angels; plus, world-premiere recordings of newly commissioned works by Gabriela Lena Frank and Jennifer Higdon. Frank’s The Edge of Everything: Elegy for Rachel Louise Carson pays tribute to the eponymous environmental pioneer. Higdon’s Steps for Justice is a portrait of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Both works are narrated by NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg.