• SA; pf
  • SA
  • 3 min 30 s
  • Aleksi Barrière
  • French

Programme Note

The birth of this piece is a family story: after having often heard the concerts of the Polyphonic Choir of Didier Seutin in the Conservatoire du Centre in Paris, in which my daughter Aliisa also sung as a child, I promised to write them a piece for the Spring concert of 2006.

For the text, I asked my son Aleksi, 15 years old at the time, to write me something suitable for a children’s choir, with the idea of including some onomatopoeia in the libretto. Soon, Aleksi gave me
the text, funny and very serious at the same time, and quite impossible to translate because of the word games connected to the ticking of the clock. I composed the original version of the piece for choir and piano, in 2005.

Later, a version for choir and a small orchestra was realized, and premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, in 2007.

KS

Scores

Sample pages for perusal

Features

Reviews

... a rather madrigalistic setting of a text written by Barrière at age fifteen. The words express irritation at the sound of a loud clock and, indeed, the bewilderingly fast passage of time itself. Here we see Saariaho at perhaps her most playful, albeit with a hint of existential urgency, employing a wide range of imitative textures and onomatopoeic techniques that include wordplay and vocal percussion. In service to the text, her rhythm is uncharacteristically metronomic, fixed at a tempo that is - appropriately - slightly faster than the ticking of a normal clock.

John Dante Prevedini, Classical Music Daily
17th June 2023

Discography

Saariaho: Reconnaissance

Saariaho: Reconnaissance
  • Label
    BIS
  • Catalogue Number
    BIS2662
  • Conductor
    Nils Schweckendiek
  • Ensemble
    Helsinki Chamber Choir / Uusinta Ensemble
  • Released
    30th June 2023