The similarities between Couleurs du vent and the Nocturne are several. Much as Couleurs du vent has a long pre-history in other works of hers, the Nocturne similarly draws on a contemporaneous work: Graal théâtre, the violin concerto she was in the process of writing for Gidon Kremer. In the same way as the flute piece was composed quickly in response to family illness, the Nocturne was written in a few days, this time as a response to the death of Witold Lutosławski.

 

The work is tripartite, with the outer sections characterised by slower more sustained gestures, meanwhile the central section is somewhat faster. The piece again has a wide range of extended techniques, although these are more typical of string writing. For Saariaho, the most captivating sounds are ones that are continually in a state of change, and so the techniques here allow her to write music that is almost always in transition.

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Joshua Ballance