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Programme Note

For full information on the electronics please click here.


NoaNoa ('Fragrant' 1992) was born from the ideas I had for flute while writing my ballet music Maa. I wanted to write down, exaggerate, even abuse certain flute mannerisms that had been haunting me for some years, and thus force myself to move onto something new.

Formally I experimented with an idea of developing several elements simultaneously, first sequentially, then superimposed on each other.

The title refers to a wood cut by Paul Gauguin called NoaNoa. It also refers to a travel diary of the same name, written by Gauguin during his visit to Tahiti in 1891-93. The fragments of phrases selected for the voice part in the piece come from this book.

NoaNoa is also a team work. Many details in the flute part were worked out with Camilla Hoitenga. The electronic part was developed under the supervision of Jean-Baptiste Barrière and programmed by Xavier Chabot.

Kaija Saariaho