WorldView Episode 20: Judith Weir & Kaija Saariaho

Episode twenty of WorldView features artists from Great Britain, the United States, Mexico, and Finland. With this post, I would like to highlight the prominent female composers who book-end this episode: Judith Weir and Kaija Saariaho. 

Sixty years before she became the first female Master of the Queen’s Music, Judith Weir was born in Cambridge to Scottish parents in 1954. She soon started studying music and composition at both the North London Collegiate School and King’s College. Many of her chamber and orchestral works draw on Medieval and Scottish themes; however, Weir is best known for her operas and other theater works. After many successful productions including “Blond Eckbert (1993)”, “The Vanishing Bridegroom (1990)”, and “A Night at the Chinese Opera (1987)”, Weir was named Master of the Queen’s Music by Elizabeth the II. She is the first woman to hold the position. This episode features Weir’s work “Forest”, a romantic-style tone poem written in 1995. It is performed by Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. 

Kaija Saariaho was born in Helsinki in 1952, and began her musical career early. She studied in conservatories and music colleges across Europe, though she often found her teacher’s emphasis on serialism and strict themes to be stifling. In 1980, Saariaho experienced a musical shift towards spectralism—a style of music that uses the acoustic properties of sounds to create compositions—and has incorporated much of the style in her works since. In the past several decades, Saariaho has been commissioned by the Lincoln Center, New York Philharmonic, Finnish National Opera, and more. In 2019, a BBC poll ranked her the greatest composer alive today. WorldView episode twenty includes “Prelude”, recorded by Gloria Cheng. It was written by Saariaho in 2007, and is dedicated to Finnish pianist Tuija Hakkila. I hope you enjoy episode twenty!

WorldView Episode Twenty Playlist:

Judith WEIR, “Forest”, {BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins} - NMC Records

Samuel BARBER,  “Violin Concerto, Op. 14”, {Utah Symphony Orchestra, Charles Ketcham, Joseph Silverstein (vl)} - Pro Arte

Carlos Chávez, “Tambuco”, {LA Camerata, Eduardo Mata, Tambuco} - Dorian

Kaija SAARIAHO, “Prelude”, {Gloria Cheng (pf)} - Harmonia Mundi

WorldView is a classical music radio show featuring composers from everywhere in the world - except Western Europe. Tune in to hear works by lesser-known artists such as Gabriela Montero  and Bright Sheng, and widen your knowledge of classical music. Hinke Younger hosts each week’s episode of WorldView on Mondays at 9AM and again at 6PM on Charlottesvilleclassical.org.