Riflesso sull'aria
for soprano & ensemble (2025)
28 minutes | no.46
Riflesso sull’aria (‘reflection on the air/aria‘) is part of the Riflessi series, which consists exclusively of companion pieces: each Riflesso explores the same exceptional scoring of an existing ‘classic’ by a composer from the past. It was written for soprano Keren Motseri and the Ives Ensemble, who commissioned the work.
On 14 January 1914, during a concert of the ‘Société Musicale Indépendante’ in the Salle Erard in Paris, two exceptional new vocal works by two world-renowned composers were premièred: Maurice Ravel’s Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé, and Igor Stravinsky’s Trois Poésies de la Lyrique Japonaise. What’s more: both pieces were scored for the identical line-up of female voice, two flutes, two clarinets, string quartet and piano.
Riflesso sull’aria explores the same unique combination, drawing inspiration from traditional Japanese poetry, as did Stravinsky. The lyrics are taken from a book called “Note di Samisen” (1915), a collection of tankas (5-line poems), translated into Italian by Mario Chini, a contemporary of Ravel. Similar to the better-known haiku (which consists of three lines), a tanka traditionally intertwines pensive observations of the natural world with philosophical contemplations or the expression of melancholic feelings.
Chini’s book follows the cyclical sequence of the seasons and so does Riflesso sull’aria.
First we hear an instrumental prologue for Summer, followed by three songs. Then the same for Spring, Autumn and Winter.
We witness the slow rise of thick fog, try to fetch the delicate dust of snow from a peach tree, and watch the moon hasten towards a forest of bright golden stars.
Prologo della primavera
1. Prima canzone
2. Leggerezza fugace
3. Veggo il migliore...
Prologo dell’estate
4. Concettino galante
5. Brevità di notti estive
6. Avventura notturna
Prologo dell’autunno
7. Sognando
8. Le gru
9. Ammirando la luna
Prologo dell’inverno
10. Crudeltà incomprensibile
11. Tristezza della vecchiaia
12. Che cos’è il mondo
Scoring
soprano, 2 flutes (also picc.), clarinet, bass clarinet, string quartet & piano
commissioned by
Ives Ensemble
written for
Keren Motseri & Ives Ensemble
composed with financial support from
Performing Arts Fund NL
première
11 November 2025
Cenakel, Tilburg (Netherlands)
Keren Motseri (soprano) & Ives Ensemble
North American première
5 & 6 December 2025
Annex, Vancouver (Canada)
Robyn Driedger-Klassen (soprano) & Turning Point Ensemble, Owen Underhill (conductor)
Press
Equally complex is the texture of Richard Rijnvos's [...] Riflesso sull'aria. The way the [composer] colours the music is captivating. A high flute and piano flutter above the strings; alongside her Italian vocals, soprano Motseri briefly plays the glockenspiel. Riflesso sull’aria is a piece you'll want to hear again and again.
Dennis Bajram, Volkskrant, 13 November 2025
