FMQ - Kaija Saariaho Articles

And ink the silence – Saariaho’s HUSH given a world premiere of flickering intensity at the Helsinki Festival

Kaija Saariaho’s last work, trumpet concerto HUSH, was premiered by jazz trumpetist Verneri Pohjola and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in late August 2023. “Living and breathing together throughout the 65e-page score, the musicians and the fully packed audience were joined in musical ritual of rare depth and transformative beauty”, writes Jari Kallio.

Jari Kallio

September 22, 2023

Columns

My teacher Kaija Saariaho: ”Five Miniatures”

“Studying under Kaija’s guidance proved to be an important experience to all of us who were learning from her – for some of us, you could say it was even life-changing.” In his essay, composer Juha T. Koskinen reflects on how having been taught by Kaija Saariaho has shaped his thinking as well as his compositional output and processes.

Juha T. Koskinen

October 27, 2022

Features

From the Echoes of Dreams: A poem for Kaija Saariaho

FMQ commissioned a poem about Kaija Saariaho's music from Marjo Heiskanen, a poet and pianist. To celebrate this special occasion, we publish the poem, "Kaiunta" (From the Echoes of Dreams) in two languages.

Marjo Heiskanen

October 27, 2022

Features

Playlist: Kaija Saariaho in FMQ

Several works by Kaija Saariaho are mentioned in this Special Feature. Our playlist provides a cross-section of the music discussed in the articles.

FMQ

October 27, 2022

Features

Kaija Saariaho, Mater

“With the opening sonority of each of her works, Kaija establishes a vibration that resonates deep inside the listener’s body along with a spectrum of overtones that grow out of that original sonority but that also foreshadow the complex contradictions that compel us to identify with and follow the web she weaves”, writes Susan McClary in her essay about Kaija Saariaho’s work.

Susan McClary

October 27, 2022

Features

“Known to her friends as Kaija”: A musical journey with trusted interpreters

Over the decades, numerous musicians and ensembles around the world have performed the music of Kaija Saariaho. Without long-term relationships with trusted interpreters, the Finnish composer’s music would have travelled quite a different path.

Anu Jormalainen

October 27, 2022

Reviews

Charting a musical map of the Nordic countries

"The book is above all a profuse and expert love letter to music and life in the Nordic countries. Mellor’s expertise in and enthusiasm for his subject comes clearly across in the text."

Lasse Lehtonen

August 16, 2022

Features

This should be good: Classical nominees for the Emma prize

Classical music continues to define the Finnish identity. This year’s Emma nominees show that this year that identity is being shaped by poetry settings by Saariaho, sizzling live technology, awareness of biodiversity loss and international quality.

Kare Eskola

May 6, 2022

Reviews

Transcendence and transparency

"Take note not just of the eloquence of the cello lines but also of the transparency, the delicacy, the weightless loveliness of so much of the orchestral writing."

Martin Anderson

November 30, 2021

Reviews

Clarity of expression, through the mist

Finnish coloratura soprano Anu Komsi has been commissioning, premiering and recording music by Saariaho since the 1980s. Now she and her trusted collaborative pianist Pia Värri have compiled an intense selection of Saariaho.

Kare Eskola

June 8, 2021

Features

Finland is a paradise for composers - Today there are multiple ways to make your mark

The professional profile and operating environment of Finnish composers of classical music have become increasingly international at a rapid rate in the past three decades. Back in the day, few composers spent extensive periods of time abroad, and any trips they did take were mainly for study or for inspiration and did not necessarily involve immersion in the local music scene. This started to change in the 1990s, as the Finnish music industry began to integrate into the international music industry.

Pekka Hako

October 2, 2020

Features

Eija Kankaanranta – A hands-on approach to sound

Kantele player Eija Kankaanranta constantly challenges herself as a musician and embraces the new dimensions she discovers in her instrument.

Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen

February 7, 2020

Reviews

True richness of invention

"The artistic level on the recording is thoroughly high, and the richness of the composer’s invention opens up new perspectives by every listening."

Anna Pulkkis

November 22, 2019

Features

A celebration of historical Finnish women who wrote music, Part 4: Ida Moberg

Ida Moberg (1859–1947) wished to command ensembles that produced a large sound while also touching human emotions: Most of her output is for orchestra or choir or both. The topics of her works largely has to do with individual’s spiritual metamorphosis.

Susanna Välimäki

October 11, 2019

Columns

On my music and beyond: The world is a mosaic

"With my teaching this summer, I have found a new and hopeful vista opening before me," writes Kaija Saariaho. This column is part of the series On my music and beyond, where composers and other music makers write about their music.

Kaija Saariaho

August 22, 2019

Columns

Kaija Saariaho's column in FMQ from 2019: The world is a mosaic

"The world is a mosaic of beliefs, of languages, of varied communities, and the question is not whether it is possible for them to coexist but how their coexistence could be facilitated, because we have no choice”, writes Kaija Saariaho in her column, originally published in FMQ in 2019.

Kaija Saariaho

August 22, 2019

Features

Time of Music – from Finnish composers’ pilgrimage to international training ground

Viitasaari, in central Finland 350 km north of Helsinki, is the home of the Time of Music festival. Founded in 1982, it is Finland’s oldest annual festival of contemporary music. But that is not all: it is also a continuing education event with a legendary reputation. Today, the courses given at the festival attract more top-notch foreign participants than the town can accommodate. Is this Finland’s Darmstadt – or something even better than that?

Jarkko Hartikainen

August 15, 2019

Features

Creativity in dialogue - La Chambre aux échos brings Saariaho’s early work to Viitasaari

One of the international guests at this year’s Time of Music festival in Viitasaari is the music theatre company La Chamber aux échos. Its mission is to explore subtle connections between the various branches of the arts. Co-founder, director-dramaturge Aleksi Barrière considers collaboration with contemporary composers to be a key element in his work. Recently, one of his principal artistic partners has been his mother, composer Kaija Saariaho.

Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen

June 11, 2019

Reviews

Smith plays Salonen and Saariaho

"The Ondine recording with works for solo cello by Esa-Pekka Salonen and Kaija Saariaho presents powerful and straightforward interpretations by the US cellist Wilhelmina Smith."

Anna Pulkkis

May 10, 2019

Reviews

Gatecrashing the Nordic Music Days

The huge tide of humanity that almost overwhelmed the 2017 NMD was also its triumph: a characteristic gift from London, European capital of creative curiosity and of the big crowd.

Andrew Mellor

October 5, 2017

Reviews

Saariaho’s earthy colours

The distinguished Meta4 string quartet's second volume of Saariaho's chamber music was released in 2016. At the heart of this album are two larger works: ...de la Terre (1991) for violin and electronics and Terra Memoria (2006) for string quartet.

Anna Pulkkis

May 17, 2017

Reviews

Magical Nordic string trios

Not an easy listening disc by any means, but a magical compilation that grows on you with repeated listening, not least because of the superb performance given by Trio Aristos.

Mats Liljeroos

May 17, 2017

Features

Sounds of shadow and light

Kaija Saariaho has composed a new opera, Only the Sound Remains, to be premiered in March. One of the significant roles is assigned to the kantele, an instrument never before used by Saariaho in her music. Playing kanteles of various sizes at the premiere will be Eija Kankaanranta, an artist known especially for her performances of contemporary music.

Hanna Isolammi

November 3, 2016

Features

Deep in sound, deep in soul

Kaija Saariaho has been a frequent visitor to the USA in recent years, and her music has been widely performed in various concert series and at festivals there. The premiere of a new production of her first opera, L’amour de loin, at the Metropolitan Opera in December 2016 will be an operatic event such as has not been seen for decades, and it will be broadcast to cinemas around the world. Not only that, but she is also working on a new opera.

Liisamaija Hautsalo

July 10, 2016

Features

Are we really still talking about this?

In 2016 women are still under-represented in classical concert repertoire, never mind the canon. At contemporary music concerts, however, women appear as composers with increasing frequency. How should we address the issue of a composer’s (female) gender in this day and age? Are we really still talking about this, in Finland?

Anna Pulkkis

July 10, 2016

Reviews

Finnish opera is alive and well

Lauri Kilpiö

January 10, 2016

Reviews

Passion of our time

"Saariaho’s compelling textures – at times gossamer and at others raw and heavy – feel almost predestined to couple with Weil’s thoughts. The first-class performance does justice to this masterpiece. It is a passion for our time that still is 'the kingdom of deceit where the innocent tremble'."

Juha Torvinen

July 6, 2013

Features

The quest for identity – Kaija Saariaho spends a year in Finland

Kaija Saariaho, who settled in France in the early 1980s, spent the 1997- 98 academic year as visiting composition professor at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. The FMQ asked her how she felt at the end of her stay.

Anni Heino

January 9, 1998

Features

Kaija Saariaho: “At the moment the computer and I belong together”

It is often claimed that computer music is so technical and 'cold' that it has nothing whatsoever to do with live music-making. Kaija Saariaho is a composer using a computer to create music for musicians and sound tape so that man and machine are mutually supporting yet contrasting elements.

Risto Nieminen

January 9, 1985

Reviews

Two bites at three cherries

"The Émilie Suite is a half-hour condensation, to a 2011 commission, of Saariaho’s monologue opera Émilie of 2007–8, reduced to three vocal numbers separated by two orchestral interludes – a dramatic cantata in all but name, alternately formal and beguiling, intimate and angry, almost from gesture to gesture."

Martin Anderson

January 8, 1985