Fleurs de neige (2013)

Fleurs de neige is an arrangement of the last section of Neiges for eight cellos (1998), a five movement work inspired by the shimmers, structural symmetries, and mutations of snow.

Kaija Saariaho made this arrangement in 2013 specifically for the Meta4 string quartet, and it was included in their two-volume CD anthology of Saariaho’s music for strings, along with a new version of her song Die Aussicht for soprano and string quartet.

Exploring textures of interwoven harmonic trills, in this version Fleurs de neige turns out to be a fitting miniature companion piece to and bridge between Saariaho’s two string quartets, Nymphéa (1987) and Terra Memoria (2007).

Fleurs de neige was premiered as a track on the Meta4 string quartet’s record Kaija Saariaho: Chamber Works For Strings, Vol. II, released on December 1, 2016.

Aleksi Barrière, December 2023