Kaija Saariaho (1952-2023)

Folia (1995)

for double bass and electronics ad libitum

electronic work

  • General information
    • Composition date: 1995
    • Duration: 13 mn
    • Publisher: Chester Music
    • Commission: GRAME
Detailed formation
  • double bass

Premiere information

  • Date: 23 March 1995
    Location:

    Lyon, festival Musiques en Scène


    Performers:

    Jean Pierre Robert.

Information on the electronics
Electronic device: dispositif électronique non spécifié

Program note

Folia was written soon after Graal théâtre, which is evident in the virtuoso string writing. Saariaho originally intended to rescore her cello work Petals for double bass, but she abandoned this idea because of technical differences between the instruments. In writing Folia, Saariaho worked from the same basic approach as in Petals, but Folia already belongs to a new period, with textures closely related to those of Graal théâtre.

Risto Nieminen, 1996, Finnish Music Information Centre (FIMIC)