True Fire has a duration of roughly 25 minutes and is composed in six movements:
- Proposition I
- River
- Proposition II
- Lullaby
- Farewell
- Proposition III
The first movement "Proposition I" is based on a text by the essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson ("Spiritual Laws" from Essays: First Series). The second movement "River" is based on a text by the poet Seamus Heaney adapted from a poem by Marin Sorescu. "Proposition II" is also based the Emerson essay and was described by the composer as "the heart of the piece." The fourth movement "Lullaby" is based on a traditional Tewa song. "Farewell", taken from the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, draws the piece into a darker mood, before the final movement "Proposition III" concludes the piece with a "sensation of weightless energy".[1]
The work's title is taken from Emerson's essay's final sentence, that concludes also the work's last movement: "We know the authentic effects of the true fire through every one of its million disguises."
Saariaho described her intent for piece in the score program note, writing, "My preliminary idea was to explore the baritone voice in the context of various texts, finding an organic way to access the different colors of the voice through the texts."[1]
The work is scored for solo baritone and an orchestra comprising three flutes (doubling piccolo and alto flute), two oboes, three clarinets (doubling bass clarinet), two bassoons (doubling contrabassoon), four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, three percussionists, harp, and strings.[1]
