Credits:

Esa-Pekka Solonen

Description:

Simone Weil (19091943) was born into a Jewish family in Paris. While attending lyce (high school), she studied under the philosopher Alain and became deeply influenced by his teachings. She eventually enrolled in the cole Normale Suprieurewhich did not admit women at the timeobtained her teaching certification in philosophy, and became a high school teacher in 1931. While experiencing various international events firsthand, she threw herself into numerous political activities and continued to speak out against the horrors of war. To escape Hitlers persecution, she moved from the United States to London in 1942, where she joined the Resistance and went on a hunger strike despite her health being compromised by tuberculosis. Refusing all treatment and nourishment, she passed away in 1943 at the young age of 34. This work, composed by Saariaho (b. 1952), is an oratorio for soprano solo, choir