Flickereth

Flickereth is Lotta Wennäkoski's third work for string quartet. The composer tells: "The idea behind Flickereth is, quite simply, flickering - be it of a light, a flame or fluttering butterfly wings. In addition to strings, I wanted to extend my flickering with such everyday objects as slide-like metal mugs, pastry brushes and cotton sticks. (I should add that with regard to these, I was determined to avoid any humorous associations.)"

The character of the first movement, Eteislepatus (Atrial Flutter), is harsh and arrhythmic, while the second sketches its melodic landscape mournfully and wistfully. Its title is a line by the Finnish poet Pentti Saarikoski: “...fluttered away from the mast,/risen to the clouds in tatters/and yearned - .” The third movement (Voleter) is, by contrast, a bright, harmony-rich play with textures.