Quatre instants
Songs by Kaija Saariaho
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Quatre instants (Four moments), KS 83, is a group of four songs for soprano and piano composed by Kaija Saariaho to poems in French by Amin Maalouf. The songs were premiered by soprano Karita Mattila , to whom they were dedicated, and pianist Tuija Hakkila in Paris on 2 April 2003. Saariaho also wrote versions for orchestra and chamber orchestra, all published by Chester Music. The work has been described as "a quasi-operatic monologue" in "erotic, extreme territory".[1]
| Quatre instants | |
|---|---|
| Song cycle by Kaija Saariaho | |
Karita Mattila, singer and dedicatee, in 1988 | |
| Catalogue | KS 83 |
| Text | poems by Amin Maalouf |
| Language | French |
| Composed | 2002 |
| Dedication | Karita Mattila |
| Performed | 2 April 2003: Paris |
| Movements | 4 |
| Scoring |
|
History
The Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho wrote Quatre instants, setting four poems in French by Amin Maalouf to music for soprano and piano.[2] The work was commissioned jointly the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Barbican Centre.[2] It was Saariaho's second collaboration with Maalouf, and lead to a monodrama for Mattila which would become the opera Émilie.[2] The world premiere of the song cycle on 2 April 2003 in Paris was performed by Karita Mattila, to whom the composition is dedicated, and pianist Tuija Hakkila.[2][3] Mattila then took the songs to a European tour.[1]
In 2002, Saariaho wrote versions of Quatre instants for orchestra[2][3][4] and for chamber orchestra.[5] The orchestral version was commissioned by the Finnish Chamber Orchestra Association and the Gewandhaus Orchestra. It was dedicated to Mattila and conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste,[3][6] who premiered it on 1 August 2003 at the Tammisaari Music Festival with the Finnish Chamber Orchestra.[6] The version for chamber orchestra was premiered in Paris on 14 February 2017 by soprano Marisol Montalvo and the Secession Orchestra, conducted by Clément Mao-Takacs, as part of the Présences festival of Radio France.[5]
The work was published in all versions by Chester Music.[2][3][5]
Text and music
The poems and movements of Quatre instants are entitled:[2]
- Attente (Expectation)
- Douleur (Torment)
- Parfum de l'instant (Scent of the Instant)
- Résonances (Echoes)
The duration is given as 25 minutes.[2]
Tim Ashley, writing for The Guardian, described the songs as "a quasi-operatic monologue that plunges into the erotic, extreme territory",[1] describing it as emotions in "erotic anticipation" and "inexplicable sexual terror", to ecstasy, and the piano part as "equally intense, ranging from filigree figurations to explosive outbursts".[1]
Recording
The orchestral version of Quatre instants was recorded, together with Saariaho's Émilie Suite, by soprano Karen Vourc'h and the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Marko Letonja.[7][4] A reviewer wrote for Gramophone, that the cycle displayed her "genius as a song-writer". He described the last song as "almost Janus-faced" closing the emotional circle inwardly while "outwardly ecstatic".[4]
