Saariaho Reconnaissance; Tag des Jahrs; Nuits, adieux (2 versions) etc Helsinki Chamber Choir/Nils Schweckendiek BIS BIS-2662 (CD/SACD) 81:53 mins
In most vocal and woodwind recordings, the sound of the performers’ breathing is minimised, treated as unwanted wash-off to the notes played and sung. But throughout Nuits, adieux, Kaija Saariaho’s 1991 work for SATB and electronics, many timbres created through air flow are integrated into the score. From the fizzing and hissing in the earlier movements to the stilted panting in ‘Nuit IV’, the huffing and puffing is made more dramatic by Saariaho’s electro-contrapuntal textures. Each singer has two microphones, one for general amplification, another that sends the sound for processing (by Timo Kurkikangas), where reverberation is added and dynamics are tweaked, turning the quartet into an eerie, celestial chorus. An a cappella arrangement was introduced in 1996 – with choir replicating the electronic effects – and the two versions bookend this album.
The text (Nights, farewells) contrasts temporary and permanent goodbyes; in her note, Saariaho has written that this is a lullaby ‘not so much for a sleeping child as for an elderly person sleeping out of our world’. The piece, originally dedicated to Saariaho’s grandmother, gains new poignancy after the recent passing of the Finnish composer. This collection of choral music is not a rushed cash-in, however, having been undertaken by the Helsinki Chamber Choir last year. Among several premiere recordings is Reconnaissance, the 2020 work for SATB chorus, percussion and double bass. Here, Saariaho embraces the often-referenced otherworldly aspects of her palette by setting text about Martians, desert people and universality – think sci-fi madrigal rather than Star Wars soundtrack.
Claire Jackson