Lonh

Kaija Saariaho’s Lonh, scored for Soprano Voice and Electronics, was commissioned by the Wien Modern Festival and premiered on the 20th October 1996.

The title Lonh,meaningfar away or distant, is derived from the old Provençal language, in which this piece is performed. The text itself, a poem about distant love, popular among the medieval scholars and poets, is attributed to the medievaltroubadourJaufré Rudel.

Formally, the piece loosely follows the form of the poem, and is thus divided into nine sections. Some of the symmetrical and repeating aspects are found in the solo soprano part, which as suchuses ratherfreely the elements for the original text, so that the resulting text is rather a collage based on Rudel’s song.

The necessary electronic materials can be downloadedfrom this page, and can be run with a Max patch that includes infinite reverberation, general reverberation, and plays pre-recorded sound files. Cues in thescoremust be triggered by the Soprano with a sustain pedal (or by another musician at the mixing desk). For general technical notes, see this page.