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https://theconversation.com/intimate-and-immense-remembering-kaija-saariaho-one-of-the-greatest-composers-of-our-time-207106>
"The Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho passed away Friday at the age of 70.
There’s been an outpouring of grief, sadness and love on social media and in
statements from orchestras, festivals and opera companies as the music
community processes the loss of one of the greatest composers of our time.
When I was a young composer, the first work by Saariaho I heard live was Jardin
Secret I (1985) at the 1988 Hong Kong ISCM Festival.
It was the first time the International Society of Contemporary Music had
staged a festival in an Asian country, and many European composers were in
attendance.
Independent, free and evidence-based.
I was swept up by the work with its haunting bell tones transformed through
electronics. The music sounded simultaneously familiar and alien, intimate and
immense. I was awed by the imposing presence of a composer I knew only from
music history texts.
Later, we met when I served on some competition juries she chaired.
I briefly got to know someone of warm generosity, incisive knowledge and
integrity who brought a hilariously dry wit and impeccable timing to telling
stories."
RIP,
*** Xanni ***
