Leave it to that deliciously witty, quiet man, Esa-Pekka Salonen, to write a string quartet about sperm.
The Johannes String Quartet will give the West Coast premiere of his new work “Homunculus” in Samueli Theater on Nov. 19. OC (ie Orange County) dude and friend of OC (ie, Opera Chic) Tim Mangan laid his hungry hands on Salonen's program notes for the piece, in their entirety.
Here's a little, ahem, taste:
I have long been fascinated (and amused)
by the arcane spermists’ theory, who held
the belief that the sperm was in fact a “little
man” (homunculus) that was placed inside a
woman for growth into a child. This seemed
to them to neatly explain many of the mysteries
of conception. It was later pointed out
that if the sperm was a homunculus, identical
in all but size to an adult, then the
homunculus may have sperm of its own.
This led to a reductio ad absurdum, with an
endless chain of homunculi. This was not
necessarily considered by spermists a fatal
objection however, as it neatly explained how
it was that “in Adam” all had sinned: the
whole of humanity was already contained in
his loins.
despite the obvious weaknesses of the spermists’
thinking, as I find the idea of a perfect
little man strangely moving.
In the meantime, and for those who won't be able to make it to LA on November 19, here's a taste of another piece by Esa-Pekka, from his LA Variations, here Rapidshared for your pleasure. Just click, or copy the link below:
http://rapidshare.com/files/163370821/la_variations_1min_fanscape.m4a
No homunculi there, at least. More listening pleasure at Celebrate Salonen.