Mark Simpson|Thomas Adès: Alchymia
- Released on 13/10/2023 by Orchid Classics
- Main artists: Mark Simpson Quatuor Diotima
- Genre: Chamber Music
Digital booklet
Available in
24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo
Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this album
Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Subscribe
Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Thomas Adès is best known for works in larger forms, orchestral pieces, and operas. He has written chamber music before, but Alchymia is his first chamber work in some years. It is a remarkable and compelling piece, a quintet for basset clarinet and string quartet, that seeks to evoke the shadowy world of alchemy. The work distills Adès' compositional preoccupations into four short movements, totaling just over 23 and a half minutes. Despite the brevity, this album landed on classical best-seller charts in the autumn of 2023, and the reason is that the musical utterance is complete within itself and beautifully performed by musicians quite comfortable with Adès' intense language, clarinetist Mark Simpson and Quatuor Diotima. Adès, to a degree perhaps unmatched by any other contemporary composer, forges a contemporary language that seems rooted in the English tradition, and here, the listener is entranced by the combination right from the opening descending gesture of the first movement, "A Sea-Change" (the title refers to Shakespeare's The Tempest). The other three movements are all based on earlier music; the most "Renaissance" of them might seem to be the "Divisions on a Lute Song" finale, but this actually takes a tune from Berg's Lulu as a point of departure. Never has the spirit of English Renaissance music seemed so revivified as in this compact and perfect statement by Adès.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Thomas Adès: Alchymia
Mark Simpson
I already downloaded Qobuz for Windows / MacOS Open
I have not downloaded Qobuz for Windows / MacOS yet Download the Qobuz app
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
1
Alchymia: I. A Sea-Change (…Those Are Pearls…)
00:05:08
Thomas Ades, Composer - Quatuor Diotima, Ensemble, MainArtist - Mark Simpson, MainArtist
2023 Orchid Music Ltd 2023 Orchid Music Ltd
2
Alchymia: II. The Woods So Wild
00:03:10
Thomas Ades, Composer - Quatuor Diotima, Ensemble, MainArtist - Mark Simpson, MainArtist
2023 Orchid Music Ltd 2023 Orchid Music Ltd
3
Alchymia: III. Lachrymae
00:06:31
Thomas Ades, Composer - Quatuor Diotima, Ensemble, MainArtist - Mark Simpson, MainArtist
2023 Orchid Music Ltd 2023 Orchid Music Ltd
4
Alchymia: IV. Divisions on a Lute-Song
00:08:40
Thomas Ades, Composer - Quatuor Diotima, Ensemble, MainArtist - Mark Simpson, MainArtist
2023 Orchid Music Ltd 2023 Orchid Music Ltd
Album review
Thomas Adès is best known for works in larger forms, orchestral pieces, and operas. He has written chamber music before, but Alchymia is his first chamber work in some years. It is a remarkable and compelling piece, a quintet for basset clarinet and string quartet, that seeks to evoke the shadowy world of alchemy. The work distills Adès' compositional preoccupations into four short movements, totaling just over 23 and a half minutes. Despite the brevity, this album landed on classical best-seller charts in the autumn of 2023, and the reason is that the musical utterance is complete within itself and beautifully performed by musicians quite comfortable with Adès' intense language, clarinetist Mark Simpson and Quatuor Diotima. Adès, to a degree perhaps unmatched by any other contemporary composer, forges a contemporary language that seems rooted in the English tradition, and here, the listener is entranced by the combination right from the opening descending gesture of the first movement, "A Sea-Change" (the title refers to Shakespeare's The Tempest). The other three movements are all based on earlier music; the most "Renaissance" of them might seem to be the "Divisions on a Lute Song" finale, but this actually takes a tune from Berg's Lulu as a point of departure. Never has the spirit of English Renaissance music seemed so revivified as in this compact and perfect statement by Adès.
© James Manheim /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 4 track(s)
- Total length: 00:23:29
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: Mark Simpson Quatuor Diotima
- Composer: Thomas Adès
- Label: Orchid Classics
- Genre: Classical Chamber Music
Available in
24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo
Digital booklet
2023 Orchid Music Ltd 2023 Orchid Music Ltd
Improve album information
Why buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.
On sale now...
Hier... Encore
Charles Aznavour
Hier... Encore Charles Aznavour
Olympia Février 1976
Charles Aznavour
Olympia Février 1976 Charles Aznavour
Idiote je t'aime...
Charles Aznavour
Idiote je t'aime... Charles Aznavour
La Bohème
Charles Aznavour
La Bohème Charles Aznavour
By Mark Simpson
My Life
Mark Simpson
My Life Mark Simpson
Your Eyes
Mark Simpson
Your Eyes Mark Simpson
Mark Simpson: Geysir - Mozart: Serenade No. 10 in B-Flat Major, K. 361 "Gran partita"
Mark Simpson
Mark Simpson: Geysir - Mozart: Serenade No. 10 in B-Flat Major, K. 361 "Gran partita" Mark Simpson
Mark Simpson: Night Music
Mark Simpson
Mark Simpson: Night Music Mark Simpson
Prism
Mark Simpson
Prism Mark Simpson
You may also like...
Six Evolutions - Bach: Cello Suites
Yo-Yo Ma
Six Evolutions - Bach: Cello Suites Yo-Yo Ma
Schubert: Chamber Works
Christian Tetzlaff
Schubert: Chamber Works Christian Tetzlaff
Haydn: Complete Piano Trios, Vol. 3
Trio Gaspard
Haydn: Complete Piano Trios, Vol. 3 Trio Gaspard
Mendelssohn
Sol Gabetta
Mendelssohn Sol Gabetta
Schumann: Piano Quartet - Piano Quintet
Isabelle Faust
Schumann: Piano Quartet - Piano Quintet Isabelle Faust