Kaija Saariaho's ballet "Maa" (1991) was commissioned by the ballet of the Finnish National Opera and the work's mixing and manipulation of sounds was carried out in the Finnish Radio Experimental Studio. The ballet does not have a plot as such, rather it is built around thematic archetypes such as doors, gates, stepping into new worlds, journeys, and the crossing of waters. Both scenography and music are shrouded by deliberate mystery and characterized by a lucidity and minimalism of gesture. Its openness and approachability makes it an ideal introduction to the poetry of Saariaho's music. The work's abstract, non-narrative plot is fertile soil for her musical thinking. As in her earlier radiophonic work "Stillen", she avoids telling a story, choosing instead to handle the germinal themes of traveling, remoteness, yearning and communication in a dream-like way through the medium of association. Number symbolism also plays its own role in injecting significance into "Maa" - the group of players numbers seven, and each of the work's seven main movements divides further into seven subsections. The music to the ballet's seventh section, can be performed as a separate piece entitled Fall (1991), and we feature it this week in a performance by harpist Consuelo Giulianelli . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.

According to Lynn René Bayley (Fanfare Magazine), "No one ever said life was fair, and this is probably truer in the arts field, where name recognition and assessment of quality are engendered more by promotion and institutional affiliation than by talent. A case in point is Nancy Van de Vate, without question one of the most talented and original composers of our time, whose name is barely known in this country though she is extremely well respected in her adopted country of Austria. The composer of pieces ranging from the tone-clusterish orchestral works "Journeys" and "Dark Nebulae", remarkable chamber works such as "Seven Fantasy Pieces for Violin and Piano" and "Music for Viola, Percussion, and Piano", a number of concertos and the superb opera "All Quiet on the Western Front", Van de Vate wrote "Where the Cross Is Made" during a time in her life when she was facing a personal crisis. She was distraught but felt the need to work in order to feel normal, and so she kept returning to the score over a period of time, reworking it as she had time, not really knowing whether the finished product would be as good as she hoped or not. Remarkably, "Where the Cross Is Made" (2003) is a masterpiece, building in rhythm, harmony, and melody through an almost unbroken wave of sound initiated by a syncopated figure, propelling the opera to its inexorable conclusion." Read more about Nancy Van de Vate's Where the Cross Is Made, and listen to an excerpt from the opera . . . it's this week's FEATURED RECORDING.

Swedish composer Anna-Lena Laurin writes complex orchestral music with very strong melodic and rhythmical components. Her music is imbued with a dark, dramatic, as well as a light and lyrical/romantic tone language. She has received numerous grants, prizes and enthusiastic reviews, as well as appreciation from the Swedish Queen Silvia for her 2002 album "Sang till mormor". Born in Halmstad, Sweden, Laurin started playing classical piano at the age of seven and continued with music in different directions and styles on various instruments, but mainly as a pianist and vocalist. She began her professional musical career as a pianist and singer in different jazz ensembles, but now works exclusively as a composer, with a very busy schedule and new commissions coming from symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras or soloists. Upcoming commissions are a concerto for Hakan Hardenberger, Camerata Nordica and Terje Tönnesen. Her works include the much publicized "String Quartet No. 1" (2004) and "Autumn Fields" (2008) for violin and piano (or string orchestra), her "Concerto for Flute, Strings and Harp" (2009), the orchestral "Piece from the Silence" (2006), and "Shards of Time" (2010) for solo piano. Laurin's influences are from composers and musicians of many different genres and epoques and she has composed works mixing different genres - such as "The Painter (2009) for symphony orchestra, trumpet and jazz group, "Iphigenia" (2009) for symphony orchestra and improvising jazz soloists, and "Colours" (1997) concerto for trumpet, jazz trumpet, chamber choir and jazz group - an hour long trumpet concerto specially composed for trumpet soloists Hakan Hardenberger (who commissioned it) and Anders Bergcrantz. Listen to a recording of Laurin's Meadows from her "Piece from the Silence" (2006) . . . this week's PYTHEAS EARFUL.

Even before he finished orchestrating the score, composer Bela Bartok began to doubt that he would ever see his ballet "The Miraculous Mandarin" (1919) staged. In fact, the performance history of "The Miraculous Mandarin" is marked by such formidable struggles that the score didn’t receive the acclamation it deserved until after the composer’s death. The premiere of "The Miraculous Mandarin", in the conservative city of Cologne in November 1926, caused an uproar. Audience members walked out, the conductor was officially reprimanded by the city's mayor, and the work was subsequently banned. But Cologne wasn’t at the heart of the music world, and it wasn’t the composer’s hometown; so the incident passed without making international headlines. The work wasn’t staged in Budapest until 1946, after the composer’s death, and a quarter of a century after the score was finished. A production in Budapest was announced in 1931, as part of the celebration honoring Bartok fiftieth birthday, but it was canceled after the dress rehearsal, when officials got wind of the work’s subject matter. Another performance scheduled for 1941 was opposed by the clergy. The problems were both the graphic, intense music and the story — a violent and erotic tale with implicit social criticism (from comments by Phillip Huscher written for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra). Watch an excerpt from Bartok's ballet The Miraculous Mandarin in a performance by the ballet of Angers Nantes Opera . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.

Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst
Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music