The Discovery Series: Saariaho – Nymphéa

What happens when a string quartet stops sounding like four instruments and becomes an entire landscape of sound?

Kaija Saariaho’s Nymphéa is a mesmerizing work for string quartet and electronics in which harmony, texture, noise, and instrumental color are constantly shifting and transforming.

Inspired in part by the image of a water lily floating on water, Nymphéa creates a musical world that feels simultaneously delicate and enormous. Familiar string sounds dissolve into whispers, harmonics, glissandos, and electronic transformations, creating music that seems to breathe and move through the room.

We’ll take this remarkable piece apart and explore how Saariaho creates its extraordinary sound world. Then we’ll hear it performed live, talk about what we heard, and experience the entire piece again.

Once you know what you’re listening for, you’ll never hear it the same way again.