Musicology Annotation << Back Opera "Love from Afar" by K. Saariaho: to the Problem of Creating an Imaginary Space Petruseva Nadezhda A., Baranova Svetlana Yu. The article is devoted to the opera "Love from afar" (2000) by Kayi Saariaho. The authors show that in the created imaginary space of the opera, the depths of the human soul are associated with the depths of the sea. The following issues are considered: the history of creation and the libretto, the interpretation of the notation and the triple composition of the orchestra in the transfer of the magical and mysterious atmosphere of the opera, the features of the form, pitch and rhythm in the song by Rüdel, the method of harmonic structures in the introduction to the fourth scene. It is emphasized that in Ryudel’s song “I learned to talk about happiness, but I never learned to be happy”, in the transition from reality to a dream, the hero realizes the illusory nature of his existence; the form of the song (triple stanza) is defined, the skillful combinatorics of polymodal technique combined with the simplicity and expressiveness of harmony are considered. In the introduction to the 4th scene from the opera "Love from afar" Saariaho analyzed the method of vertical layering, which in its statics is in many respects similar to the phenomenon of "instrumental synthesis" in spectral music. The conclusions state that Kaya Saariaho’s appeal to the legend of the 12th century is due to the interest in the inner world of a person, as a point of intersection of the coordinates of reality and imagination, capable of accommodating the entire space of a person’s spiritual life. Keywords: “Love from afar” by Saariaho, imaginary space, notation, interpretation of the orchestra, Rüdel’s song, mixodiatonic, method of creating harmonic structures, family of instruments. DOI: 10.25791/musicology.5.2022.1250 Pp. 29-38.