Kaija Saariaho: Io: Chamber Ensemble

The harmonic basis for this composition is found from analysing sounds of individual instruments, with the non-harmonic sounds produced on double bass and bass flute, these provide a model for the chord structure of the piece. The harmonic energy of the piece is provided through the treatment of timbre as a system, which is formed from the categorisation of instruments and the sounds they produce. The instruments are divided into different categories according to how and where they place themselves along an axis whose end points are either clear or noise like sounds. In this approach clear, clean sounds are considered consonances with noises as dissonances. Work for ChamberEnsemble, Tape and Live Electronics. Premiered in the Pompidou Centre, Paris in in July 1987, and commissioned by IRCAM for the Ensemble Intercontemporain to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Centre Georges-Pompidou. Winner of the 1998 Ars Electronica Prize.