Petals for Cello and

Optional Electronics
Kaija Saariaho
IS NOISE MUSIC?
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDdImjFjdRw

1. What is your opinion on this?

2. Write one paragraph (no more than 10 lines) arguing that noise IS music; and then
another paragraph that noise IS NOT music.
IS NOISE MUSIC?
 Saariaho’s main concerns in Petals is the contrast between ‘clean’ and ‘noisy’ sounds
– from the clearest high harmonic, to the rich ‘scratching’ produced by heavy bow
pressure neat the bridge. This is exaggerated by the addition of ‘detuning’ the cello
using electronics

 Saariaho sees ‘clean’ and ‘noisy’ timbres as a replacement for consonance and
dissonance, the two pillars of tonal and atonal music.
CONTEXT
 Born in Helsinki, Finland, 1952.
 Now lives in Paris
 Intrigued by the role computers could play in composing and developed techniques of computer-
assisted composition, working on tape and with live electronics.
 Became known for mixing electronic sounds with classical instruments, creating a seamless
connection between the 2 worlds.
 This also influenced her approach to orchestral writing in works such as ‘Verblendungen’.
 She also composed works for ensembles, orchestra, opera, electronics and soloists.
 Her first opera ‘L’Amour de Loin (love from afar)’ from 2000 was a huge success.
 Her music is distinct and original, often marked by its celestial atmosphere where timbre and colours
are central.
 Petals is based on ideas from a piece for string quartet and electronics, Nympheas (Water-lilies).
And the very first part of petals is almost identical to the last bars of the cello part in Nympheas.
 Nympheas is also the name of a set of paintings by French artist Monet, where there are a series of
paintings of water-lilies. So ‘Petals’ being a smaller piece using fragments from a larger work is
similar in this respect, hence the title (petals are small pieces of flowers!)
SPECTRALISM – using the acoustic
properties of sound as a basis for composition.
 Some of Saariaho’s compositions are described as spectralist.

 This is a style of music pioneered by Gerard Grisey and Tristan Murail, both
contemporary French composers.

 Compositional decisions are informed by mathematics and manipulating sound using

technology.

 It is usually described as an aesthetic rather than a sound.

 Many regard it as ‘any type of music in which timbre is the most important element’
 Instrumental sul A/D/G/C = play on a specific string. Preferred to maintain the timbre of a specific
string. Can also have an effect on the difficulty of the piece

techniques

Left hand pizzicato (+ bar 17)

Natural harmonics (on open strings)

Double stopping (28)

Artificial harmonics (on strings where a note is played and the harmonic is added)

Trills and Mordents (10)

Tremolo, often detailed further to include the density (3)

Glissando. Glissando libero means freely and not measured.

Micro-intervals such as quarter tones

Fundamentals are notes which are recognisable - played ‘normally’ and sound secure

Instructions to increase or decrease the pressure of the left hand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T32QIOAxrlo – extended techniques for strings
Instrumental techniques
Microphone should be placed
as close as possible to the  This is a diagram of how the electronics
cello should be set up.

 Mixer. An electronic device for combining

sounds of audio signals.

 Harmonizer. A device programmed to

record the input of the cello’s natural
sound and output it with a harmony over
the top. The harmonies are usually very
dissonant at ¼ tones.

 Reverb elongates the sound. It’s similar to

an echo, but instead of repeating the
original sound, it makes it sound as if it’s
being performed in a larger room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkmzXHTrixI – live performance
Instrumental techniques
 This is a diagram of how the electronics
should be set up.

 Mixer. An electronic device for combining

sounds of audio signals.

 Harmonizer. A device programmed to record

the input of the cello’s natural sound and
output it with a harmony over the top. The
harmonies are usually very dissonant at ¼
tones.

 Reverb elongates the sound (a bit like a

sustain pedal on a piano). It’s similar to an
echo, but instead of repeating the original
sound, it makes it sound as if it’s being
performed in a larger room.
Technology (Optional)
 Electronics are optional.

 Use of amplification (microphone) brings out some of the timbral qualities

in the softer sounds.
 Harmonizer (H) – allows harmony notes to be played above or below the
cello’s sound. This is called ‘detuning’. Increases on the harmonizer look
like crescendos and decreases look like diminuendos. The higher % of
the harmonizer, the higher and lower the pitch that is outputted at the
same time as the natural note.
 Reverb (R) – increases of reverb look like crescendos and decreases
look like diminuendos. The higher % of reverb, the larger room it sounds
as if it’s being played in.
 Saariaho transforms the traditional cello (link to John Cage’s Prepared
Piano) into a multi-timbral synthesiser.
 Many avante garde composers explored the possibilities of extended
instrumental or vocal techniques. In wider listening you will listen to
Berio’s Sequenza and Ericcson’s General Speech which are good
examples of this.
 Interestingly, though Bach is seen as the father of functional music, he
was also seen as daring in his day!
STRUCTURE
 Petals does not follow a conventional musical structure, or tell a story through a
narrative structure.
 The piece uses stave numbers instead of bar numbers
 Saariaho states that there are 2 types of material: ‘fragile, colouristic passages’ (Type
A) and ‘more energetic events with rhythmic and melodic character’ (Type B).
 These two types of material alternate throughout the piece, and can be divided into 7
sections…
 STRUCTURE
SECTION STAVES TEMPO ANALYSIS
1 1-3 Lento – free Type A. Single notes, glissandi, trills,
tremolando, bow noise

2 4-7 Crotchet = 60 Type B. Rapid demisemiquaver

figures/quartertone chromatic figures
3 8-9 Lento – free Type A. Slow, two-part texture over D pedal
4 10-13.5 Crotchet = 54/66/40 Type B. More conventional melodic ideas
with a rhythmic focus
5 13.5-16 Lento – free Type A. Slow two-part texture with high
artificial harmonics
6 17-27 Crotchet = 60 Type B. Many variations on an idea heard
at the beginning of 17
7 28-30 Lento - free Type A. Concluding section with similarities
to section 3. Bow noise prominent here.
 TEMPO, RHYTHM AND METRE
 There is no time signature as the piece is all about ‘literal time’ as opposed to measured by metre.
 The sections with a notated tempo are all slow, with a range from 54 to 66 beats per minute.
 Tempo is varied through accelerando and ritenuto
 Lento sections tend to lack a pulse e.g. 20 seconds per stave (1)
 The reverberation adds to the sense of ‘free timelessness’ by blurring and overlapping notes
 This creates tension between the sections where pulse is evident and where it is not.
 Large range of irregular rhythms in the more active sections e.g. dectuplets (4-7), syncopation (10-
13) – here the flow is often interrupted by rits or pauses.
 There are passages where the notes are to be played as fast as possible (staves 21-22)
 The rhythms become less defined during the course of the piece, with less and less exactly
measured material being found from stave 22 onwards.
 Markings include: energico (4) vigorously and energetically, poco agitato (11) very quick and with
excitement, calmato (14) tranquil, poco impetuoso (17) rapidly, calando (25) diminishing loudness
and tempo. Some of the faster instructions are surprising since the tempo marking is never much
faster than 1 beat per second.
 This way of beaming notes indicates for each note to get quicker.
MELODY
 Microintervals are a key feature of the melody in this piece.
 Think about the chromatic scale being split from 12 semitones into 24 quartertones. Look at stave 4 for a
good example of this.

 Obviously, there is no singable melody which we are trained to expect with a ‘Western Classical’ ear.
 Much of the melodic material has been fragmented from Nymphea. For example staves 4-7, the melodic
ideas are very densely packed into chromatic scale-like phrases.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUEGfwZRYPg
 Stave 10 features a rising sequence and is a retrograde (backwards) version of the violin 2 part from
Nympheas. This features augmented fourth leaps e.g. C# - G, trills/mordents, acciaccaturas and accents
and is very agitated in character.
 The melody is often written in the bass clef which is the most comfortable clef for the cello, but also
ventures into the tenor and treble clef for the more high-pitched moments.
 From stave 17 we have several variations of the same idea, featuring a pizzicato C followed by oscillating
Bs and A#s. This starts with demisemiquavers, then a dotted version, sextuplet version etc.
 In stave 20, a similar idea occurs, however the low C is bowed (arco) instead of plucked. Stave 23
returns to pizzicato C.
TEXTURE
 Monophonic textures are the most common e.g. in staves 1-7
 Staves 4-7 contain a more straightforward treatment of the main melodic line (i.e. less
timbral effects)
 There are also passages where there is a pedal/drone texture, for example stave 8
(D), stave 14 (G#). Staves 17-27 are based around an articulated pizzicato drone
from staves 17-19 and 23-27, then a sustained bass note from staves 20-22.
TONALITY
 Pitch organisation is not really the concern of this piece. The idea of a ‘tonic’ can be
interpreted as a frequently sounded note, or a note given greater prominence than
others (either by repetition or sustaining it) for example…
 Repeated low C during staves 17-21. This becomes familiar to the ear.
 Certain dyads (2 note chords) D + A end of stave 9, C + A# in stave 16, and the final
C + B sound.
 In essence, this piece is atonal!
HARMONY
 The conventional ideas of harmony are also largely absent.
 The harmony is embedded within the timbral mixes. For example, the very first note of
the piece has a rich series of overtone above the notated F. Exact sounds that we
hear cannot be notated (such as overtones).
DYNAMICS

 As you go through and highlight the dynamics, you will notice there is a huge range
(ffff to pppp in 26 to reflect ‘furioso’)
 Changes are usually very rapid or very gradual to reflect the mood and tempo.
 Some dynamics are written above the stave to indicate they belong to a specific note.
WORDS FOR ELEMENTS GRID
 Bow pressure  Natural harmonic  Calmato

 Detuning  Artificial harmonic  Poco impetuoso

 Timbre  Sul  Calando

 Atonal  Double stopping  Al niente/da niente
 Spectralism  Ornamentation

 Gliss.  Micro-interval

 S.V.  Fundamentals
 S.P.  Reverb
 S.T.  Mixer
N  Harmonizer
 E.F.  Type A
+
 Type B
Wider Listening
 Stockhausen - Etude (1952) – argued to be one of the first pieces of music which use electronics.
However, Hermann used electronics first (Howard Goodall video) - EL
 Edgar Varese - Deserts (1954) – also argued to be one of the first pieces of music to use electronics.
However, Hermann used electronics first! (Howard Goodall video)
 Berio - Sequenza III
 Stockhausen- Gesang der Junglinge
 Erickson - General Speech
 John Cage - Three Dances for Two Prepared Pianos No. 1
 John Cage - 4’33”
 Gerard Grisey – Periodes for seven instruments
 Tristan Murail – L’esprit des dunes
 Penderecki – Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima - EL