Graal Théâtre; Solar; Lichtbogen

As Andy Hamilton once noted, Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho is “too individual a composer to be tied to any particular school.” It’s true, though, that she took heart from the work of the likes of Grisey and Murail when encountering them (e.g. meeting Grisey at IRCAM). She may also be the only spectralist associate to have signed a contract with multinational conglomerate Sony. Speaking of her understanding of spectralism, she notes that the music was “dealing with audible structures, and we want to know the physics of the sounds, and we want to use that knowledge to make music for the ears, not the eyes.” You can hear the energy and revelatory expansiveness Saariaho sourced from the spectralists in the gorgeous compositions of “Graal Théatre” and “Solar,” certainly, but most importantly in “Lichtbogen,” an ear-opening work for live electronics and instruments that seems to open out, like a fan, from a single tone for cello.