大象传媒

Donald Macleod talks to Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho about the role electronics plays in her music, with music including Circle Map, LIchtbogen and Lonh.

鈥淢usic is a study of my own self and of the human spirit鈥�, so says the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. Her passion for music is all consuming, with the inspiration to compose reflecting the breadth of her interests, in poetry, literature, fine arts, and cinematography to name but a few.
One of the foremost composers of our time, Kaija Saariaho was born in 1952 in Helsinki. She studied with the modernist Paavo Heininen, before founding the pioneering 鈥淓ars Open鈥� group with fellow composer Magnus Lindberg. Her studies continued in Freiburg with Brian Fernyhough and Klaus Huber at the Darmstadt summer courses, and then at the ground-breaking IRCAM research institute in Paris.
Earlier this year Donald Macleod and Kaija Saariaho met up in Paris, the city in which she鈥檚 made her home since 1982, to talk about five contrasting aspects of her music.

In the third part of their conversation Kaija Saariaho talks about her pioneering work in the field of electronics, from her early days at IRCAM in Paris to present day.

Circle Map (excerpt)
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Cl茅ment Mao-Takacs, conductor

Jardin secret II for harpsichord and tape
Jukka Tiensuu, harpsichord
Finlandia Records

Lichtbogen for nine musicians and live electronics (excerpt)
Member of Avanti Chamber Orchestra
Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor

Lonh for voice and electronics
Rapha毛le Kennedy, soprano

Circle Map
V. Dialogue
VI. Day and Night,
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Cl茅ment Mao-Takacs, conductor