Kamus Quartet - Homunculus (CD)

Release Date: 01/01/17

There´s another world premiere recording on the new Super Audio CD from the Finnish Kamus Quartet, this time the title t

There´s another world premiere recording on the new Super Audio CD from the Finnish Kamus Quartet, this time the title track Homunculus, a work by Esa-Pekka Salonen in a program that also includes György Ligeti´s String Quartet No.1 (Metamorphoses Nocturnes) and Benjamin Britten´s String Quartet No.3 (Alba Records ABCD 409 alba.fi).Homunculus – a reference to a medieval alchemists´ theory that all life existed in minute but perfect seeds, the tiny humans being known as homunculi – is described as “a big work in a miniature mould.” Ligeti´s quartet is a strong early work with a decided Bartók influence. The performance of the Britten is an insightful one, clearly helped by the winter months the Kamus Quartet spent in Aldeburgh, the composer´s home on the North Sea coast.Excellent playing and intelligent and thoughtful interpretations make this a highly satisfying disc.