Echoes of the Universe – The Music of Kaija Saariaho

Music documentary “Echoes of the Universe”. Kaija Saariaho’s music” (Universumin kaiut. Kaija Saariahon musiikki)

Author and director Riitta Rask
Producer Kaisa Näreranta
Produced by Teatro Productions OY / Finland 2023
Length 80 min

An engaging and informative documentary about the outstanding Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, who worked in Paris, made for her 70th anniversary and 45th year of her career as a composer. Just half a year later, in June 2023, Saariaho left for the paths of eternity, leaving behind a colorful musical legacy.

“In the beginning, the music seemed so big and important that it was hard for me to imagine that I could add anything to it,” admits Kaija Saariaho. The film goes through the most important stages of her life with the composer as she grows from a shy girl from Helsinki to one of the world’s most respected contemporary composers. The educational path that started at the Steiner School, continued in the Sibelius Academy, then in Freiburg in Germany and finally reached Paris, gave her versatile knowledge of various compositional techniques and led to find her own personal style.

Saariaho’s music is heard all over the world in prestigious concert halls, opera stages and festivals. In the film, both the composer herself and her colleagues – director Peter Sellars, conductor Clément Mao-Takacs, soprano Anu Komsi, writer Sofi Oksanen, and family members – Saariaho’s husband Jean-Baptiste Barrière (composer, multimedia artist), their son Aleksi Barrière (musical theater manager, playwright, librettist) and daughter Aliisa Neige Barrière (violinist, conductor) explain the origins and background of her compositions. The camera accompanies Saariaho in Helsinki and Tampere, as well as Ebeltoft in Denmark, Paris, Venice and Barcelona.

Saariaho’s most important work in recent years, the opera “Innocence” about the trauma caused by a school shooting, premiered in 2021 in Aix-en-Provence, France and came to the stage at the Finnish National Opera in October 2022, one of the last episodes of the film is also from there. The closing moments are from the 2021 Venice Biennale, where Saariaho received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

According to Kaija Saariaho, she is a composer with a lot of technique and experience, but who feels very humble because she is neither a musician nor a performer. “Sometimes the music I create amazes me. . . In the end, it’s all very mysterious…”

One of the ways to thank and honor the composer for his impressive musical legacy is a documentary made with the heart of director Riitta Rask, which invites us to discover this mystery together.

Movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfIYWQGiLAs