For the circle of lands, see T and O map.
Circle Map is a composition for orchestra and electronics by the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. The work was jointly commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra. It was first performed at the Holland Festival in Gashouder, Amsterdam on June 22, 2012, by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under the conductor Susanna Mälkki.
Composition
Circle Map has a duration of 26 minutes and is composed in six movements:
-
Morning Wind
-
Walls closing
-
Circles
-
Days are Sieves
-
Dialogue
-
Day and Night, Music
The electronic element of the work features a recording of Arshia Cont reading the writings of the 13th-century poet and theologian Rumi. The six movements of the piece are thus titled after Rumi's poems, translated to English by John Moyne and Coleman Barks from the book Unseen Rain: Quatrains of Rumi.
Instrumentation
The work is scored for a large orchestra comprising two flutes (doubling
piccolo and
alto flute), two
, three
(doubling
bass clarinet), two
(doubling
contrabassoon, four
French horn, two
, three
,
tuba,
timpani, four percussionists,
piano,
Pedal harp,
celesta,
String section, and electronics.
Reception
Reviewing the North American premiere in
Boston by
Juanjo Mena and the Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Jeremy Eichler of
The Boston Globe regarded
Circle Map as "exquisitely drawn" and wrote:
The composition was also praised by David Wright of
The Classical Review, who called it "a rich, multilayered work" and wrote, "All the effort and expense involved in mounting such a work paid off handsomely in the performance, which wove a deeply evocative sound-world around verses by the 13th-century poet Rumi, spoken on the electronic track in the original Persian."
