.:: Born in 1952 in Finland, Kaija Saariaho lived a childhood embedded in music, playing several instruments. In parallel to musical studies, she started art studies, at the Fine Arts School of Helsinki, that she quickly quit to concentrate on music. At the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, she received the composition teachings of Paavo Heininen, before to follow, in Darmstadt then in Fribourg, the courses of Brian Ferneyhough and Klaus Huber.
Characterizing her works of the eighties, her sensual writing, descriptive and lyrical, unfold subtile transformations. Her research of new timbres has stimumlated her study of new technics in the instrumantal as well as the computer domain, for which starting in 1982, she initiated herself at Ircam. This practice constitutes an important element of her compositions. kaija saariaho
.:: A note from the composer:
“When I considered the ensemble of eight cellos, I first thought of dark textures. I also wanted to go back to some ideas on symmetry. While I was pondering all that, I saw snow flakes falling from the dark sky of the Finnish autumn. Focusing on the snow, the idea of writing variations on it and its various forms became clearer in my mind.
“Nuages de neige is a uniform and linear texture in which I realize my first impressions of that ensemble. The two Etoiles de neige are based on the idea of symmetry and repetition: the first one develops up to a certain point where it doubles back as in a mirror image, the second one consists of eight sections in which the harmonic structure is repeated, as well as a linear gesture that becomes ever more present. Aiguilles de glace focuses on different pizzicati and superimposed ostinati. With Fleurs de neige I sought to recall the texture of those harmonic trills at the end of the first section, although more airy and diversified here.” laphil.com
download: kaija saariaho - neiges, for 8 cellos
pass: indie-ground.blogspot.com
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