Saariaho, K.: Graal Theatre / Solar / Lichtbogen

Featuring

Hannu Lintu
John Storgårds
Avanti! Chamber Orchestra
Kaija Saariaho

Did you know?

1/7

Composer Biography

Kaija Saariaho's music is characterized by a strong sense of evolution, gradually expanding her range of expression rather than undergoing abrupt stylistic shifts.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Kaija Saariaho often draws inspiration from extra-musical sources like the starry sky, nature, or literature, but her music is not program music and lives a life of its own.

Performer Biography

The Avanti! Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1983 by conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen and Jukka-Pekka Saraste to perform contemporary and rare repertoire.

Composer's Artistic Vision

The title Graal théâtre, a quote from Jacques Roubaud, alludes to the innermost and holiest ('Graal') and the extrovert and performing ('théâtre'), suggesting the soloist is a character in an abstract musical drama.

Compositional Technique

Solar, another work by Kaija Saariaho, uses a 'heliocentric' harmonic concept where harmonic progression is repeatedly forced towards a basic structure, like gravity.

Composition History

Graal théâtre, Kaija Saariaho's violin concerto, was originally commissioned by the BBC and premiered at the Proms in London in August 1995.

Compositional Technique

Lichtbogen, one of Kaija Saariaho's early works, was inspired by the Northern lights and emerged from a computer analysis of a tiny gesture: the cracking of a cello harmonic.