‘The Music of Kaija Saariaho’ features acoustic instruments, electronics
For the fifth annual springtime collaboration between Santa Fe New Music and the Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe New Music will present chamber works and solo pieces by the opera’s featured living composer this season, Kaija Saariaho. Before hearing the American premiere of Saariaho’s second opera, “Adriana Mater,” in July, new music aficionados can enjoy sonic experiences by the Finnish composer employing a small group of acoustic instruments and electronics. “The Music of Kaija Saariaho,” featuring five pieces composed between 1992 and 2003, will be presented at the opera’s Stieren Hall tomorrow night.
“There’s tremendous variety,” Santa Fe New Music’s artistic director and founder John Kennedy said about the concert’s repertoire. “All the pieces tell a story in one way or another.”
“Six Japanese Gardens” is a collection of impressions of the gardens that Saariaho saw in Kyoto during her stay in Japan in the summer of 1993. Santa Fe-based percussionist David Tolen has taken on the task of performing this challenging piece written for a dozen or more percussion instruments and electronics.
“It took me more than a month just to get the instruments arranged so I can move from one to another the way I need to,” Tolen explained. “It’s all about muscle memory when you’re moving really fast from one instrument to another. Then there’s been the challenge of holding up to four mallets at a time and alternating my use of them. On top of that, Saariaho wrote some extremely complicated polyrhythmic stuff.”
While Tolen’s hands are moving from instrument to instrument with lightening speed, his feet trigger electronic sounds that weave in and out of the piece.
Flutist Margaret Lancaster can commiserate with Tolen. In “Noa Noa,” which was written for flute and electronics, Lancaster has to trigger electronic sounds emanating from her laptop and its accompanying gear.
“During past performances when I’ve played ‘Noa Noa,’ someone else helped me with the electronics,” she said by phone from New York. “In Santa Fe, I’m doing it myself. There are times when I’ve been practicing the piece that I’ve freaked out over the computer.”
Lancaster is a freelance musician who plays the works of many contemporary composers. She has performed a number of pieces by Saariaho in concert, but never three at one time. In addition to “Noa Noa,” she is the flutist in “Cendres,” which was written for flute, cello and piano, and “Terrestre,” which features the flute, violin, cello, harp and percussion.
“What’s universal in Kaija’s music is the extreme intensity under a beautiful, elegant and often serene exterior,” Lancaster said. “I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her a couple of times, and she’s the most elegant woman. She’s a lot like her music. She has a laser focus with intensity underneath.”
Lancaster describes Saariaho as a composer who loves to use the flute as a way to express wind. There are moments during the concert when Lancaster has to play the flute while singing and speaking into her instrument.
“Kaija works closely with flutist Camilla Hoitenga, who has helped her learn how to write well for the instrument,” Lancaster said. “Smart composers do this. I’ve had this kind of relationship with many composers as well.”
The program also includes “Sept Papillons” for cello, which will be performed by Danielle Cho. “Sept Papillons” was the first piece that Saariaho wrote after her opera “L’Amour de Loin.” It was premiered by cellist Anssi Karttunen in Helsinki in 2000.
If You Go
WHAT: Santa Fe New Music presents “The Music of Kaija Saariaho”
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Stieren Hall at the Santa Fe Opera
HOW MUCH: $20; $10 full-time students. Available at the door or at Nicholas Potter Bookseller.
CONTACT: (505) 474-6601
