# Kaija Saariaho



## neoshredder

I don't see a thread on her. But yeah she is one of the favorites in the Amazon voting game of 2000-2012. 3 of the 16 works left are hers. Discuss.


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## neoshredder

is a big one for those not familiar with her work.


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## Meaghan

_Six Japanese Gardens, for Percussion and Electronics_ is fantastic.


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## quack

Saariaho is great, always very eerie and atmospheric. I particularly like her cello works and she uses the harp a lot, one of my favorite instruments. Also the subtle use of electronics in many of her pieces is fascinating. Hadn't heard that D'Om Le Vrai Sens but wasn't so impressed on first listen and her opera L'Amour de Loin seemed a little dull and static.


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## Blake

1952 -

Kaija Saariaho is not only among the most important Finnish composers of her time, but must be ranked as one of the leading composers of the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries. Born Kaija Anneli Laakkonen, she began studying visual arts at the University of Art and Design (then known as the University of Industrial Art). She married Markku Veikko Ilmari Saariaho in 1972, but the marriage was short lived, ending the following year. The composer, however, retained her married name.

In 1976, she began composition studies at the Sibelius Academy with Paavo Heininen. She obtained a degree in composition from the academy in 1980, but continued studies there for another year. Afterward, she enrolled at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg, Germany, to study with British composer Brian Ferneyhough and Germany's Klaus Huber. She was awarded a diploma there in 1983. By this time, Saariaho was already turning out some of her earliest works. The most noted efforts from this period include Verblendungen for Orchestra and Tape (1982-1984) and the minimalist piece Vers le blanc (1982). This latter piece was composed with the use of a computer and software developed at the Paris-based I.R.C.A.M. (L'Institut de Recherche et Coordination), where she had begun extensive studies in 1982 in computer techniques as they relate to musical composition. Saariaho had permanently relocated to Paris that same year.

In 1984, she married Jean-Baptiste Barrière, also a composer, and their marriage produced two children, Alexandre (born 1989) and Aliisa (born 1995). In the mid-1980s, Saariaho's works began garnering much attention and she received many prestigious awards, such as the Kranichsteiner Prize in 1986, the Prix Italia in 1988, and the following year the Ars Electronica for her works Stilleben (1987-1988) and Io (1986-1987). She also attracted several impressive commissions, including one from the Lincoln Center, which resulted in the chamber work Nymphéa (1987), which was premiered by the Kronos Quartet. By the early 1990s, her music was beginning to appear with greater frequency on the concert stage and with some regularity on record labels. Saariaho had become one of the few composers to write in a modern, though not particularly dissonant, style who has achieved a good measure of popularity. Further commissions came to her, including an important one from the Finnish National Ballet, for which she produced The Earth (1991). Many of her compositions have been written specifically for major artists or groups, as with the violin work she produced for Gidon Kremer, entitled Graal Théâtre (1994), and the song cycle Château de l'âme (1996) for Dawn Upshaw. A 1993 trip to Japan led to a commission from Kunitachi College for which Saariaho composed a work for percussion and electronics, Six Japanese Gardens (1993-1995).

The composer spent a year at the Sibelius Academy teaching composition (1997-1998), at a time when her stature could rival that of almost any other composer of the day. This pre-eminence is evidenced by the numerous major performances of her compositions, such as the 1999 Kurt Masur-led New York Philharmonic premiere of her choral work Oltra mar, and the Salzburg Festival premiere of her first opera, L'amour de loin, in August 2000, which featured Upshaw and conductor Kent Nagano. Saariaho also continues to collect prizes, including the German Kaske Prize and the Swedish Rolf Schock Prize, both in 2001. Many of her works have been made available on a variety of labels, including DG, BIS, Finlandia, and Ondine.

- As seen on allmusic.com


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## ptr

I adore her violin concerto "Graal théâtre", heard the PROMS WP with Gidon Kremer and E-P Salonen in 1995 and it was the most memorable concert of my 1990's!

/ptr


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## Guest

I've only listened to her about 3 times so far, but yeah...I *really* don't get it


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## Blake

Don't fret. It's not for everyone. She certainly deserves her own guestbook though.


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## Jobis

Her music is incredible, very sensual and dreamlike.






Very underrated!


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## Guest

arcaneholocaust said:


> I've only listened to her about 3 times so far, but yeah...I *really* don't get it


Lol, who's this clown? Saariaho is one of my favorite living composers nowadays


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## Morimur

She along with Hildegard von Bingen are the only female composers whose music I appreciate.


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## Blake

Lope de Aguirre said:


> She along with Hildegard von Bingen are the only female composers whose music I appreciate.


No Gubaidulina? Thou art to try again. Thou art!


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## Morimur

Vesuvius said:


> No Gubaidulina? Thou art to try again. Thou art!


Had to look her up. She didn't care much for Messiaen, apparently. Will give her a listen.


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## Blake

Lope de Aguirre said:


> Had to look her up. She didn't care much for Messiaen, apparently. Will give her a listen.


She's quite amazing. Give her some time.


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## Morimur

Vesuvius said:


> She's quite amazing. Give her some time.


She's great. Listened to a bunch of her work on youtube. She was Shostakovich's student but I'd rate her much, much higher.


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## science

Back to Saariaho - any favorite recordings? Any especially recommended?


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## ptr

^These:









Kremer/Salonen on Sony; Graal Theatre, Château de l'âme and Amers..









Various Artists @ Kairos; Chamber Music

I also think that most of Ondine's Saariaho series is self recommending!

/ptr


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## Guest

Tons of great stuff on Ondine, yes, but absolutely don't forget L'Amour De Loin on Harmonia Mundi!


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## science

ptr said:


> ^These:
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> Kremer/Salonen on Sony; Graal Theatre, Château de l'âme and Amers..
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> Various Artists @ Kairos; Chamber Music
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> I also think that most of Ondine's Saariaho series is self recommending!
> 
> /ptr


I didn't know about that Kairos recording. Thank you!


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## Morimur

*Kaija Saariaho - L'amour de loin (Nagano) (2 CD)*



science said:


> Back to Saariaho - any favorite recordings? Any especially recommended?


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## hreichgott

Heard this at Marlborough over the summer and here it is on youtube, a deeply emotional quartet called Terra Memoria.


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## Richannes Wrahms

I like some of the atmospheres she manages to create but the more she prolongs them the sooner it becomes boring.


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## Morimur

Richannes Wrahms said:


> I like some of the atmospheres she manages to create but the more she prolongs them the sooner it becomes boring.


You must be thinking of Wagner.


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## starthrower

I've been listening to a bunch of her music on YouTube. Some of it reminds me of Norgard, in the timbres and crystalline sound world. But I'm not completely sold on either of these composers. I could use a bit more soulfulness and sensuality. Much of it has a relentless ascetic quality that is not completely satisfying.


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## schigolch

Certainly "L'Amour de loin" is an amazing piece, but I also appreciate very much the rest of her operatic production ("Adriana Mater", "La Passion de Simone" and "Emilie"), always with French librettos by Amin Maalouf. This is one of those great partnerships between composer and librettist that happens now and then.

"La Passion de Simone" is complete in youtube, sung by Dawn Upshaw:


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## starthrower

^^^
Will give it a listen. Thanks!


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## Vaneyes

*Saariaho* on composing and teaching.

https://www.sfcv.org/article/kaija-saariaho-on-composing-and-teaching-composition


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## Guest

Newest Saariaho disc coming soon. I'm rather disappointed in the general choices, given the fact that Maan Varjot, Circle Map, and Adriana Mater are out there just waiting to be heard, but at least there are a couple of new or rare works here


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## drfaustus

To see after 3 minutes.

Possibily, It's the best orchestral work of recent years to K. Saariaho.


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## Guest

science said:


> Back to Saariaho - any favorite recordings? Any especially recommended?


I can offer
Nymphea
performed by Cikada SQ.
BLISTERING.
Also has Cage and Maderna.
ECM.


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## hreichgott

Just updating!


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## starthrower

science said:


> Back to Saariaho - any favorite recordings? Any especially recommended?


I spent my Saturday listening to many pieces. So far I like Circle Map (available on the Concertgebouw CD Horizon 5) Laterna Magica, 6 Japanese Gardens, and Vent Nocturne for viola.


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## starthrower

Add Orion to my favorites!


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## Blancrocher

I just heard Graal Theater in a new recording featuring Jennifer Koh (on Spotify). It hadn't lingered in my memory when I heard it years ago, but it now it strikes me as a very beautiful work. Either it's the chamber-symphony arrangement on this disk or I just wasn't paying attention before. I'm going to sample the available versions and add it to the collection!


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## Flutter

starthrower said:


> Add Orion to my favorites!


I love that work!


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## Janspe

A new Ondine CD has just been released, with the following works of Saariaho included:

- _True Fire_ for baritone and orchestra
- _Ciel d'hiver_ for orchestra
- _Trans_ for harp and orchestra

Finnish Radio Syphony Orchestra, led by Hannu Lintu + Gerald Finley and Xavier de Maistre as the soloists.

I was present at the concerts when _True Fire_ and _Trans_ were recorded and I can only warmly recommend getting to know them!


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## philoctetes

Blancrocher said:


> I just heard Graal Theater in a new recording featuring Jennifer Koh (on Spotify). It hadn't lingered in my memory when I heard it years ago, but it now it strikes me as a very beautiful work. Either it's the chamber-symphony arrangement on this disk or I just wasn't paying attention before. I'm going to sample the available versions and add it to the collection!


I got to hear Koh play that piece live in March in a program with the Lindberg Piano Trio. The next week I found the CD in a shop. Great concert!

Now I want to hear the new CD with Lintu and the FRSO, always a good recording group.


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## Sesto di Napoli

Morimur said:


> She along with Hildegard von Bingen are the only female composers whose music I appreciate.


May I suggest Chen Yi and Gloria Coates if you haven't heard them?


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