Description

Suomenkielinen sekakuorokappale (Piece to a Finnish Text for Mixed Choir) was commissioned by Erkki Pullinen for a jubilee concert given by the Viipuri Students’ Association. It was, however, too unusual a piece and thus difficult to sing. In any case it was not performed until June 1983, when the Finnish Radio Chamber Choir gave it its first performance in Tampere with Astrid Riska conducting. I cannot remember where I got the idea of using names from the almanac as texts, but the piece finally emerged as a result of free association around this theme. I began writing it in Siena in Italy in 1979 and completed it in early autumn of the same year.

© Kaija Saariaho, 1988

(translated by © Susan Sinisalo)

Commandée par un choeur amateur de Helsinki, mais considérée trop difficile par son chef, la pièce fut créée quatre ans après sa composition par le choeur de la Radio finlandaise. Le titre se traduit simplement par « Pièce pour choeur mixte en finnois ». Le texte est un collage de prénoms finlandais.

© Risto Nieminen, 1994

© Ircam - Centre Georges-Pompidou, 1994

(From Kaija Saariaho, Ircam 1995)

Instrumentation

chx

Category

Vocal and Choral Works

Language

Fi

Premiere

Finnish Radio Chamber Choir, cond. Astrid Riska, Tampere, June 2, 1983.

Archive number

MF5189

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