Quatre instants

Quatre instants
Song cycle by Kaija Saariaho
Karita Mattila, singer and dedicatee, in 1988
CatalogueKS 83
Textpoems by Amin Maalouf
LanguageFrench
Composed2002 (2002)
DedicationKarita Mattila
Performed2 April 2003 (2003-04-02): Paris
Movements4
Scoring
  • soprano
  • piano (or orchestra or chamber orchestra)

Quatre instants (Four moments), KS 83, is a group of four songs for soprano and piano composed by Kaija Saariaho to poems in French by Amin Maalouf. The songs were premiered by soprano Karita Mattila , to whom they were dedicated, and pianist Tuija Hakkila in Paris on 2 April 2003. Saariaho also wrote versions for orchestra and chamber orchestra, all published by Chester Music. The work has been described as "a quasi-operatic monologue" in "erotic, extreme territory".[1]

History

The Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho wrote Quatre instants, setting four poems in French by Amin Maalouf to music for soprano and piano.[2] The work was commissioned jointly the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Barbican Centre.[2] It was Saariaho's second collaboration with Maalouf, and lead to a monodrama for Mattila which would become the opera Émilie.[2] The world premiere of the song cycle on 2 April 2003 in Paris was performed by Karita Mattila, to whom the composition is dedicated, and pianist Tuija Hakkila.[2][3] Mattila then took the songs to a European tour.[1]

In 2002, Saariaho wrote versions of Quatre instants for orchestra[2][3][4] and for chamber orchestra.[5] The orchestral version was commissioned by the Finnish Chamber Orchestra Association and the Gewandhaus Orchestra. It was dedicated to Mattila and conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste,[3][6] who premiered it on 1 August 2003 at the Tammisaari Music Festival with the Finnish Chamber Orchestra.[6] The version for chamber orchestra was premiered in Paris on 14 February 2017 by soprano Marisol Montalvo and the Secession Orchestra, conducted by Clément Mao-Takacs, as part of the Présences festival of Radio France.[5]

The work was published in all versions by Chester Music.[2][3][5]

Text and music

The poems and movements of Quatre instants are entitled:[2]

  1. Attente (Expectation)
  2. Douleur (Torment)
  3. Parfum de l'instant (Scent of the Instant)
  4. Résonances (Echoes)

The duration is given as 25 minutes.[2] Tim Ashley, writing for The Guardian, described the songs as "a quasi-operatic monologue that plunges into the erotic, extreme territory",[1] describing it as emotions in "erotic anticipation" and "inexplicable sexual terror", to ecstasy, and the piano part as "equally intense, ranging from filigree figurations to explosive outbursts".[1]

Recording

The orchestral version of Quatre instants was recorded, together with Saariaho's Émilie Suite, by soprano Karen Vourc'h and the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Marko Letonja.[7][4] A reviewer wrote for Gramophone, that the cycle displayed her "genius as a song-writer". He described the last song as "almost Janus-faced" closing the emotional circle inwardly while "outwardly ecstatic".[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Ashley 2003.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Saariaho 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d Chester Music 2026.
  4. ^ a b c Rickards 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Chester Music chamber 2026.
  6. ^ a b IRCAM.
  7. ^ Clements 2015.

Cited sources

  • Ashley, Tim (8 April 2003). "Karita Mattila". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  • Clements, Andrew (15 January 2015). "Kaija Saariaho: Émilie Suite; Quatre Instants; Terra Memoria CD review – in a pastel mood". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  • Rickards, Guy (April 2015). "Saariaho. Émilie Suite. Quatre Instants". Gramophone. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  • "Quatre Instants (orchestral version) / Kaija Saariaho". Chester Music. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  • "Quatre Instants (chamber version) / Kaija Saariaho". Chester Music. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  • "Quatre instants (2002)" (work details) (in French and English). IRCAM. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  • "Quatre instants". saariaho.org. 2026. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
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