Kaija Saariaho: Light, nature and the cosmos

Kate Molleson and Gillian Moore present BBC Radio 3's series exploring the pivotal 'modern' musical works of the 20th century, the groundbreaking composers who created them, and the radical cultural and artistic movements which gave rise to them. In this episode, Gillian explores the music of Finland’s Kaija Saariaho, leading to a full listen to her 1987 work Io, composed for the 10th anniversary cele­brations of the Pompidou Centre in Paris. Along the way, we’ll pay another visit to that city's famous basement bunker at IRCAM, discover music from Korea inspired by the natural world, and find out why Io made use of a particular technology that was in the process of becoming defunct…

Produced by Sam Phillips
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

To listen on most smart speakers just say, “ask BBC Sounds to play 20th Century Radicals”