Solem Quartet

Music which asks us to contemplate, or perhaps mourn Earth’s current condition, but also reminds us of its natural aural beauty. This programme has been specially curated for Earth Unwrapped at Kings Place, where it will receive its premiere performance on Sat 29th Nov 2025.

Hildegard von Bingen was an extraordinary 12th century polymath, and is considered the mother of scientific natural history in Germany. Her O quam mirabilis est wonders at the beauty of the Earth and presents humans as a reflection of God’s creation. John Metcalf’s Towards Silence (2020) also focuses on the relationship between humankind and the planet, but reflects the crisis of the extinction of species on this planet. 

Sounds of nature punctuate this programme: birds of the composers’ birthplace are recalled in Cassandra Miller’s Warblework (2011/2017), while the four movements of Meredith Monk’s Stringsongs (2005) evoke the natural sounds of the human voice. The sparseness of Nick Martin’s Queer Tears (2021) only enhances its expressive sadness, while Max Richter’s On the Nature of Daylight (2003) offers solace in its rarified beauty.