Sept Papillons

Sept Papillons (French for "Seven Butterflies") is a piece for solo cello by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. The piece was commissioned by the Rudolf Steiner Foundation, and was premiered on 10 September 2000 by Anssi Karttunen, to whom the piece is dedicated.

Sept Papillons
by Kaija Saariaho
PeriodContemporary
Composed2000
Durationc. 11 minutes
ScoringSolo cello
Premiere
Date10 September 2000 (2000-09-10)
LocationHelsinki, Finland
PerformersAnssi Karttunen

Background and composition

Sept Papillons was the first piece Saariaho wrote after the completion of her opera L'Amour de loin. Saariaho has stated that in writing it, she wanted to depart from the musical world of L'Amour de loin and to move "to a metaphor of the ephemeral: butterfly."[1][2] As the title suggests, the piece is made up of seven miniatures, simply entitled "Papillon I", "Papillon II", and so forth, up to "Papillon VII".[3] It lasts about 10 minutes in total.[1][2]

The piece was commissioned by the Rudolf Steiner Foundation, and was premiered by Anssi Karttunen in Helsinki, Finland, on 10 September 2000.[1][3] Saariaho also dedicated the piece to Karttunen,[3] with whom she became friends after they both moved to Paris in the early 1980s.[4]

Reception

The piece has been praised for its use of extended techniques for the cello, such as harmonics, variable bow pressure, and sul ponticello.[5][6] It has been celebrated as one of Saariaho's best works.[7]

References
  1. "Sept Papillons « Kaija Saariaho". saariaho.org. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  2. "LA Phil: Bjarnason & Ólafsson". Performances Magazine. February 2020: P14.
  3. Saariaho, Kaija. Sept Papillons. 2000. London: Chester Music, 2000.
  4. "Sept papillons - Works for cello by Kaija Saariaho". www.karttunen.org. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  5. "5 Minutes That Will Make You Love the Cello". The New York Times. 3 June 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  6. "Kaija Saariaho's Music of Color and Density". San Francisco Classical Voice. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  7. "Six of the best... works by Kaija Saariaho". Classical Music. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
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