SMALL CREATURES
Petri Kumela’s unique collection of animal portraits: musical vignettes of small animals and insects for solo guitar. Each by a different composer from around the world, the works represent the full gamut of musical styles – funny, serious, virtuosic, anarchic, meditative and surprising.
The composers are given two rules:
1. The piece has to be short
2. The creature cannot be bigger than a cat
Each piece tells its own story, depicting a feature or characteristic of its chosen creature. Together they form a fascinating sonic mosaic.
The album Small Creatures – A Musical Bestiary, featuring 35 of the pieces, exceptionally won both of the annual prizes for classical recordings in Finland: the industry’s EMMA Awards (the Finnish Grammy) and the Recording of the Year by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE).
Programme:
Julio Sagreras: El Colibri
Cyro Delvizio: O Gato (Felis catus)
Jarkko Hartikainen: Tardigrade (Hypsibius dujardini)
Juan Antonio Muro: Small Hysterical Beast (Mustela nivalis)
Aki Yli-Salomäki: Pond skater (Gerridae)
Sami Klemola: Crayfish (Astacus astacus)
Joachim F.W. Schneider: Anna´s Hummingbird (Calypte Anna)
Ichiro Hirano: Heikegani (Heikeopsis japonica)
Poul Ruders: Rat (Rattus rattus)
Lotta Wennäkoski: Baltic Herring (Clupea harengus membras)
Jyrki Myllärinen: Scarabeo (Scarabaeus sacer)
Minna Leinonen: Sea Hedgehog (Diadema setosum)
Antti Auvinen: Water Boatman (Micronecta scholtzi)