Kaija Saariaho

Light And Matter

Light And Matter was jointly commissioned by the Library of Congress, Britten Sinfonia, Norrbotten NEO and the Aeolian Chamber Players in honour of the 50th anniversary of the Bowdoin International Music Festival. Composed in 2014 by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, the piece is for Violin, Cello and Piano. Saariaho states that her inspiration for this work came from looking out of her window in New York at the changing lights and movements of Morningside Park. The piece manages to accurately represent the dynamism of movement and kinetic energy through the musical interplay of the three instruments. The piece saw its world premiere at Bowdoin International Festival on July 30th 2014 with Renee Jolles on Violin, Nicholas Canellakis on Cello and Benjamin Hochman on Piano.