From her early composing
career, Kaija Saariaho has shown a real
liking for and developed considerable
expertise in blending electronics with
live instruments. One of her early major
achievements, Verblendungen
(1982/4) is scored for orchestra and
tape; but soon afterwards, as a result
of her work at IRCAM in Paris, she progressively
used more sophisticated electronic devices
that have since been prominent in her
music. Many of her works use one or
other such device, as in Lichtbogen
(1985/6) for ensemble and electronics,
Io (1986/7) for ensemble,
tape and electronics, Nymphea
(1987) for string quartet and electronics
as well as in her large-scale opera
L’Amour de loin and in
several chamber works. Indeed, most
pieces in this release use electronics,
in one way or another, but always in
a tasteful and discrete way. She is
one of the few composers who blend electronics
and live instruments in an entirely
satisfying and musically rewarding way
- the other ones being, to my mind,
Jonathan Harvey and York Höller.
The majority of the
works recorded here was composed during
the 1990s, while Laconisme de
l’aile for flute and electronics
ad libitum, completed in 1982,
is the earliest of them all. (Incidentally,
this piece and Verblendungen
featured in the first all-Saariaho disc
[BIS LP-307], since then re-issued in
CD format.) This short piece also reflects
Saariaho’s particular affinity for the
flute that is present in most works
here too. It is also a good example
of Saariaho’s fanciful and imaginative
tone painting. I use the term painting
deliberately, because I feel that her
music, no matter how complex it may
be, is predominantly impressionistic,
and is the kind of stuff that Debussy
might have written, had he lived in
our technologic times. To a certain
extent, too, her music (and that of
Harvey, for that matter) continues Varèse’s
quest for an enlarged sound palette.
Petals
(1988 – cello and electronics ad
libitum) and Spins and Spells
(1996 – solo cello, composed as a test
piece for the 6th Rostropovich
Competition in Paris) were written in
close collaboration with Anssi Karttunen,
who has also been closely associated
with many modern Finnish pieces for
cello, such as Saariaho’s Amers
and Lindberg’s Cello Concerto. As most
pieces here, with the notable exception
of Six Japanese Gardens,
these cello works are fairly short,
but explore a huge range of expression
and techniques to great effect in spite
of their concision. There are also supreme
examples of Saariaho’s acute ear for
arresting sounds and textures, also
to be heard in the flute trio Cendres
(1998 – alto flute, cello and piano).
Saariaho’s music often has an improvisatory
character, although it is – most of
the time – strictly written-out; but
it nevertheless allows for some freedom
on the players’ part. This is the case
of Mirrors (1997 - flute
and cello) in which fragments can be
assembled in different ways while observing
some prerequisite parameters. (As an
illustration, two versions are heard
here.)
The major work in this
generous selection of chamber music
by Saariaho is, no doubt, Six
Japanese Gardens written in
memory of Toru Takemitsu, in which she
gives full rein to her delight in powerfully
suggestive tone painting. Here, the
tone colours of the percussion instruments
are enriched by electronically processed
nature sounds (such as wind, rain and
water). This is an often impressive,
atmospheric piece; and one of the finest
examples of Saariaho’s own brand of
Impressionism, and (no doubt about it)
a major achievement in her present output.
What comes clearly
through all these pieces is what the
author of the insert notes, Gisela Gronemeyer,
aptly describes as a "new sensuality"
that finds expression in constantly
varied and arresting textures, be it
in Noa Noa (1992 – flute
and electronics), Petals
or Mirrors.
In fact, the short
piano piece Monkey Fingers, Velvet
Hand (a rarity in Saariaho’s
present output) is quite unique in the
global context of this release. A trifle,
it may be; but, now, Saariaho is not
one to write an indifferent note of
music, so that the inclusion of this
short, extrovert piece is a welcome
surprise.
This very fine release
offers a comprehensive survey of Saariaho’s
varied and personal chamber music, and
is a perfect complement to another similar
disc released by Ondine several years
ago (ODE 906-2) that besides Six
Japanese Gardens and Noa
Noa also includes Lonh
(for soprano and electronics written
for and performed by Dawn Upshaw) and
another piece for cello and electronics
Près. All these
pieces get superb, immaculate readings
from the members of the Wolpe Trio and
from the percussionist Andreas Böttger;
and are beautifully recorded. A real
winner.
Hubert Culot
Wolpe Trio (Lesley Olson, fluteabcg;
Scott Roller, celloacdfg; Susanne Achilles,
pianoae); Andreas Boettger (percussion
and live electronics)i; Thomas Neuhaus
(live electronics)bfh 
