Kaija Saariaho reflects on the shifting textures and colors of her Cloud Trio

November 07, 2024 — ‹ 5 min read

Kaija Saariaho was inspired by scenes of ever-changing clouds in the French Alps when she composed "Cloud Trio" (2009).

Christophe Abramowitz/Wise Music Classical

In this program note, composer Kaija Saariaho (who died in 2023) discusses the inspiration for her Cloud Trio, which the Winter Quartet, featuring musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, will perform Dec. 3 at Symphony Center.

Cloud Trio (2009) is a substantial trio for violin, viola and cello. The four-movement work was inspired by scenes of ever-changing clouds in the French Alps. When you are high in the mountains, one often sees many different layers of clouds, having all different forms, speeds and textures.

Why Cloud Trio? When composing this piece, watching the big sky above mountains, I realized once again how rich a metaphor a natural element can be: its state or shape is so recognizable, and yet it is always varied and rich in detail.

A string trio is a fascinating ensemble. Even if its instruments come from the same family, it magnifies the individual characters of each. When writing the trio, I was surprised how different it was to writing for a string quartet.

In this piece, the three instruments all have different tasks and functions, they represent very different aspects of string playing. These tasks are sometimes very concrete: the violin tends to behave as an echo or reverberation, the viola creates new clouds next to the existing ones, and the cello often has a function of a shadow to the upper instrumental lines.

My ideas for this piece are about common textures; how to create one coherent texture — still complex and detailed — with individual lines.

The four sections of the piece have their own colors and characters, and I leave it to the listener to imagine what kinds of clouds were their sources of inspiration.

Cloud Trio explores the shifting moods, textures and sounds of the strings without ever directly evoking clouds. This is not misty impressionism, but a vital and colorful exploration of sound and texture.

Cloud Trio was written for and dedicated to the Zebra Trio.

Kaija Saariaho, Paris, May 14, 2010