20:00 - Netzwerk für zeitgenössische Musik in Hamburg

NOA NOA (‚Fragrant‘ 1992) was born from the ideas I had for
flute while writing my ballet music Maa. I wanted to write down,
exaggerate, even abuse certain flute mannerisms that had been
haunting me for some years, and thus force myself to move onto
something new.
Formally I experimented with an idea of developing several elements
simultaneously, first sequentially, then superimposed on
each other.
The title refers to a wood cut by Paul Gauguin called NoaNoa. It
also refers to a travel diary of the same name, written by Gauguin
during his visit to Tahiti in 1891-93. The fragments of phrases selected
for the voice part in the piece come from this book.
NoaNoa is also a team work. Many details in the flute part were
worked out with Camilla Hoitenga. The electronic part was developed
under the supervision of Jean-Baptiste Barrière and programmed
by Xavier Chabot.
„Petals“ for solo cello was written abruptly in a few days,
but evidently after a long unconscious preparation. The
material stems directly from Nymphéa for string quartet
and electronics. The name of the piece is derived from this
relationship.
The opposite elements here are fragile coloristic passages
which give birth to more energetic events with clear rhythmic
and melodic character. These more sharply focussed
figures pass through different transformations, and finally
merge back to less dynamic but not the less intensive filigration.
In bringing together these very opposite modes of expressions
I aimed to force the interpreter to stretch his sensibility.
Kaija Saariaho