Kaija Saariaho: Io: Chamber Ensemble: Score

SKU: HL.14017449

UPC: 884088810412. 8.75x11.75x0.284 inches.

Amers is the title of a book of poems by Saint-John Perse, dedicated to the sea. It is also the title chosen by Kaija Saariaho, born in Finland in 1952, for a work completed in the studios of IRCAM in Paris. Amers is the French word for 'navigation beacons', strategically spaced along the coast for sailors. One of the earliest ideas about the piece was the effect of a solo cello “as a sailor charting a course through a sea of sounds”, but his journey, scattered with phrases defined by the existing sound material, is hampered by the surroundings. To a certain extent Amers is a concerto, even though the composer has tried to avoid the usual duel between orchestra and soloist. Instead the piece divides naturally on three levels - each with a certain independence. The cello, juxtaposed with the instrumental ensemble and with computer generated sounds, cannot reach its scheduled ports of call directly and is often pulled off course.

SKU: HL.14028531

ISBN 9788759855355. UPC: 840126906707. 12.0x16.75x0.529 inches. English.

The full score of Kaija Saariaho's Lichtbogen for Nine Musicians and Live Electronics. The title for this work stems from the composer's experience of seeing the Northern lights whilst starting work on writing the piece, this experience also shaped the form and language of the piece. Lichtbogen was the first time Saariaho had worked with a computer in the context of purely instrumental music, this new compositional element led to harmonic material being created by analysing short transitions played with a violin and cello, starting with artificial harmonic sounds and ending up with complex multi-phonic sounds. The rhythmic elements of this piece were created using a network of computer programmes, allowing the composer to construct interpolations and transitions for different musical parameters, rhythmic interpolations created through sets of musical patterns that are repeated but each time slightly modified in character. Lichtbogen is the commission of the French ministry of culture and is dedicated to Paul Mefanc. A splendid work for Ensemble (Flute, Percussion, Harp, Piano, 2 Violins, Viola Cello, Double Bass) and Live Electronics by this inimitable Finnish composer.

SKU: HL.14028527

ISBN 9788759856215. 11.75x16.5x0.538 inches. English.

The harmonic basis for this composition is found from analysing sounds of individual instruments, with the non-harmonic sounds produced on double bass and bass flute, these provide a model for the chord structure of the piece. The harmonic energy of the piece is provided through the treatment of timbre as a system, which is formed from the categorisation of instruments and the sounds they produce. The instruments are divided into different categories according to how and where they place themselves along an axis whose end points are either clear or noise like sounds. In this approach clear, clean sounds are considered consonances with noises as dissonances. Work for Chamber Ensemble, Tape and Live Electronics. Premiered in the Pompidou Centre, Paris in in July 1987, and commissioned by IRCAM for the Ensemble Intercontemporain to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Centre Georges-Pompidou. Winner of the 1998 Ars Electronica Prize.

SKU: HL.50602128

ISBN 9781540065568. UPC: 888680968120.