The last works are surrounded by a mystical aura, that of the transition to death, sometimes also the crack of the fragmentary. Kaija Saariaho, the most important Finnish composer of recent decades, was able to complete hers before she died in early June at the age of seventy: a trumpet concerto with the meaningful title “Hush” (“Silence”), which has now premiered at the Helsinki Festival. It is dedicated to her family and her doctors: Saariaho knew she would die of a brain tumor; she was only able to write down the last notes with the help of assistants. The experiences of the last few months are also written into the composition. The conductor Susanna Mälkki, who has been very familiar with Saariaho’s music for years, realized it with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Helsinki’s music center Musiikkitalo.
World premiere of trumpet concerto “Hush”: Like sinking into the depths – culture
