Solo Cello Music by Salonen and Saariaho

courtesy of Crossover Media

This past March Ondine released an album of works for solo cello performed by Wilhelmina Smith. Ondine is based in Helsinki, but Smith is one of the crop of rising American talents. It should therefore be no surprise that the repertoire she prepared for this release was divided between Finnish composers Esa-Pekka Salonen and Kaija Saariaho.

Those who follow this site regularly probably know by now that I have an interest in the works of both of these composers. Indeed, my connection to Saariaho goes back over a decade, since my “first contact” experience came when I listened to cellist Jean-Michel Fonteneau perform her “Sept papillons” (seven butterflies) at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Since that time I have listened to her orchestral music, one of her operas, and two Ondine CDs of her chamber music for strings performed by the ensemble Meta4.

Readers may recall that much of my interest in Saariaho arises from her decision to pursue research into the nature of sound itself by working in Paris at IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique, or “Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music” in English). In particular, having mastered techniques of both analog and digital synthesis, Saariaho has redirected her efforts to synthesizing sound through imaginative approaches to instrumentation and alternative performance techniques. Her decision to write music for solo cello thus represents those approaches at their most imaginative through reducing the sound sources to a single instrument. On the second half of this album, Smith gives a first-rate account of just how imaginative Saariaho could be when confined to those limitations; and “Sept papillons” is the most extensive account of her talent on this release.

Similarly, I have enjoyed a number of opportunities to appreciate Salonen’s approaches to composition in both chamber and orchestral settings. Perhaps because both composers have had experience in working with Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen, the sonorities underlying Salonen’s pieces are as diverse as those evoked by Saariaho. Sadly, however, my exposure to Salonen’s work has been much less than that of Saariaho; and, due to his visits to the podium of the San Francisco Symphony, most of that exposure has been to the orchestral side of his repertoire.

As a result, I am not yet as adequately prepared to discuss the theory and practice behind Salonen’s work as I am with Saariaho. Nevertheless, Smith has provided me with an excellent opportunity to learn more about Salonen’s approaches to chamber music. I intend to take advantage of that opportunity.