Alchymia features instruments aspiring to take on other forms, such as plucked strings imitating a lute in the first movement.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Composer Thomas Adès views composing as a form of alchemy, transforming "dense solid knots" into "a living thing."
Performer Biography
Mark Simpson, the basset clarinettist for whom Alchymia was written, is the only person to have won both the BBC Young Musician of the Year and BBC Proms/Guardian Young Composer of the Year in 2006.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The title Alchymia, Latin for alchemy, evokes both mystical capriciousness and experimental precision, reflecting the work's transformative nature.
Composition History
Alchymia, a 2021 basset clarinet quintet by Thomas Adès, was his most substantial new chamber work in over a decade at its premiere.
Performer Biography
Quatuor Diotima, the string quartet on this recording, was formed in 1996 by graduates of the Paris national conservatory and is known for its close collaboration with contemporary composers.
Composer Biography
Thomas Adès, born in London in 1971, is a prodigious composer, conductor, and pianist, described by the New York Times as one of today's "most accomplished overall musicians."
