Composer of the Week

*14 October 1952 in Helsinki

"...the music we write [...] is the sum of our perceptions and experiences…."
(in Klaus Jungheinrich: "Woher? Wohin? Die Komponistin Kaija Saariaho"; Ed. Schott, 2007/1015).

Kaija Saariaho is an important voice in the world of contemporary music. She has written only a few works for piano solo, but there are numerous Lieder and chamber music compositions with piano. Her  intensive, passionate and colourful five-movement trio for viola, violoncello and piano entitled "Je sens un deuxième coeur" deserves special mention.

Enjoy the PIANOVERSAL listenig tips with piano music by Kaija Saariaho!

5.4.1869 Tourcoing  -  23.8.1937 Royan

Many renowned musicians have performed world premieres by Albert Roussel, such as Alfred Cortot, Jane Bathori, Robert Casadesus, Serge Koussevitzky, Marthe Dron and Louis Fournier. Roussel's music had a great impact on subsequent generations of composers. Even Witold Lutosławski described the important influence of Roussel's 1st Symphony on his own music.

Roussel wrote a rather small but varied oeuvre for piano: a compact, gripping Piano Concerto (1927), some solo works and chamber music with piano. His short composition Acceuil des Muses (1920) in memoriam Claude Debussy is particularly moving.

Enjoy our PIANOVERSAL listening tips!

12.6.1913 Casablanca - 13.11.1992 Paris

"Les grandes leçons de musique, ce ne sont pas les musiciens qui me les ont données. Je les ai reçues concrètement de la mer, du vent, de la pluie sur les arbres et de la lumière, ou encore de la contemplation de certains paysages que je recherche parce qu'ils ont l'air d'appartenir plus à la création du monde qu'à nos contrées civilisées."

"The great music lessons, it wasn't the musicians who gave them to me. I received them concretely from the sea, from the wind, from the rain on the trees and from the light, or from the contemplation of certain landscapes that I seek because they seem to belong more to the creation of the world than to our civilized territories."

Maurice Ohana
(source: www.mauriceohana.com)

Enjoy the PIANOVERSAL listening tips with piano and harpsichord music by Maurice Ohana!

24 July 1880 Genève  - 15 July 1969 Portland

„Music, as well as other arts, ought to be an integral part of our lives. Every human being is entitled to share it’s beauty. I hold it of first importance to write good, genuine music, my music.“ Ernest Bloch

Ernest Bloch's own instrument was the violin. He composed a lot of chamber music, especially for strings and piano. His violin sonatas and the two piano quintets continue to enjoy great popularity. This also applies to several works for cello and piano (Shelomo, Méditation Hébraïque), which he originally composed for cello and orchestra. Bloch's most important piano compositions include his Piano Sonata (1935), the Five Sketches in Sepia (1923) and the Visions and Prophecies (1935). His piano music has its own signature: With its enormous richness of colour, it is always a nuanced walk between late romantic, impressionistic and expressionistic elements.
 

Enjoy the PIANOVERSAL listening tips with music by Ernest Bloch!