for perusal only
Kaija Saariaho Saarikoski-laulut
(Saarikoski Songs)
for voice and piano (2013–2020)
Text: Pentti Saarikoski
Chester Music
Performance Notes
ISSUU version for perusal only
Accidentals apply throughout the bar to notes in the same octave and the same stave. Trills should always be played up a semitone, unless otherwise specified.
Kaija Saariaho’s Saarikoski-laulut were written for the soprano Anu Komsi, to whom they are dedicated.
The first song ‘Luonnon kasvot’ was commissioned by Anu Komsi and premiered by her on 9 November 2013 at Kokkola Opera Festival, Finland. The first performance of the complete song cycle took place on 4 January 2021 as a streamed event from Kokkola Centria Hall, Finland given by Anu Komsi (soprano) and Pia Värri (piano).
Duration: c. 16 minutes
Saarikoski-laulut are also available in a version for voice and orchestra (CH88194) with accompanying vocal score (CH88194-01).
Please note that this version for voice and piano is not compatible with the version for orchestra.
CH88086
EAN 5020679001592
© 2020 Chester Music Ltd
Published in Great Britain by Chester Music Limited (Part of Wise Music Group)
Text © Copyright 2018 Pentti Saarikoski
All Rights Reserved
Reproduced by permission
Head office: 14–15, Berners Street, London W1T 3LJ United Kingdom
Tel +44 (0)20 7612 7400
Exclusive Distributors: Hal Leonard Europe Limited 42, Wigmore Street, London W1U 2RN United Kingdom
Tel +44 (0)20 7395 0380
www.wisemusicclassical.com
All Rights Reserved
No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior permission of Chester Music Limited.
Saarikoski Songs
ISSUU version for perusal only
The collection Alue (The District, 1973) is a break from Pentti Saarikoski’s output of the 1960s, which was centred on political commentary and poetry as a means for social transformation. It was also written shortly before his separation from his wife and self-imposed exile to Sweden, where he authored his last works, inspired by a renewed interest in Greek mythology. The text of Alue is written in the form of unnumbered fragments, comprising reflections on the author’s life, his walks in the Helsinki neighbourhood of PohjoisHaaga with his child between winter and spring, and the destruction of the nearby forest to give way to new apartment buildings.
Aleksi Barrière
I
Mutta luonnon kasvot ovat tyynet maailman loppuun asti.
Kevätpäivät tuoksuvat epätarkoilta muistoilta, käden, kiihtyneen hengityksen.
Metsä on akatemia jonka barbaarit hävittivät.
Tuulessa kuuluu sukupuuttoon kuolleiden lintujen laulu.
II
Jokaisella on tästä lähtien tämänsä johon hän on täällä sidottu.
Mitään ei vaihdeta enää.
Ei se on tullut mahdottomaksi.
Sitä ei ole kielletty lailla koska se on tullut mahdottomaksi. Sitä ei ole ruvettu paheksumaan koska se on tullut mahdottomaksi.
Tästä lähtien täällä on jokaisella tämänsä josta hän pitää kiinni.
III
Mutta me näemme harmaan kaislikon ja iloitsemme.
Mutta me kosketamme kiveä ja iloitsemme.
Kaikki tämä on tapahtunut hiljattain. Ja me iloitsemme yhdessä kaiken kanssa mikä on.
IV
Käärme puree leukansa kiinni. Eikä lintu siipiä avaa. Me tulimme meluisen metsän läpi. Ja ilman halki.
Tätä aluetta ei kenenkään tarvitse sanoa.
Minussa lintu ja käärme häikäilemättä!
V
Väliinjäävä aika jähmettyy vuoriksi jotka näen sumun läpi katsomatta.
Pentti Saarikoski
But the face of nature is peaceful will be till the end of the world. The spring days smell like imprecise memories, of a hand, of an agitated breath. The forest is an academy obliterated by barbarians. In the wind can be heard the song of birds who died in the extinction.
Everyone from now on will have their own this to which they are bound. No further changes will be made. No no it has become impossible. It has not been banned by law since it has in fact become impossible. It has not started to be frowned upon since it has in fact become impossible. From now on here everyone will have their own this to which they cling.
But we see a bed of grey reeds and we rejoice. But we touch a stone and we rejoice. All of this has happened recently. And we rejoice together with everything that is.
The snake closes its mouth in a bite. And the bird won’t open her wings. We came through a noisy forest. And through the air. Nobody ought to tell about this district. In me the bird and the snake unscrupulous!
The interstitial time petrifies into mountains that I see without looking through the mist.
translated by Aleksi Barrière
ISSUU version for perusal only
SAARIKOSKI-LAULUT
I. Luonnon kasvot
startingfromniente repeat2–4times,during whichslowcresc.