In the 2022/23 season, Esa-Pekka Salonen is the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Composer in Residence.
Esa-Pekka Salonen’s music is highly expressive and speaks directly to the listener. It knows no dogmas and so it is difficult to pigeonhole. Flickering sound surfaces or dissonant chord clusters are found alongside rhythmic explosions or a sometimes late-Romantic harmony.
“I write music that touches something in me. Initially, I also see myself as a receiver, as a listener. When I write a piece, I first play it in my own head. If the listener in me thinks it is good and interesting, exciting or moving, then I write it down. If I like it myself, there’s a good chance that others, maybe many, will like it too.”
Esa-Pekka Salonen is not only a composer, he is also one of the most sought-after conductors in the world. This is a difficult challenge for him: “It is a constant battle between the composer and the conductor. Like Gustav Mahler. He dedicated his whole life to the Vienna Hofoper. Such institutions are monsters. They squeeze all the lifeblood out of you.” That is why he only works with selected orchestras as a conductor and always takes time in between to devote himself entirely to his compositions.
(Via Berliner Philharmoniker)