Vista has a duration of roughly 25 minutes and is cast in two connected movements: "Horizons" and "Targets." The piece was inspired by a drive taken by Saariaho from Los Angeles to San Diego following the premiere of her harp concertoTrans in January 2019. In the score program note, she wrote, "I was filled with joy after beautiful performances and enjoying the scenery on my right during the ride. We stopped every now and then to admire the view, and later I realized that most places were called vistas. As I literally also felt that new music was flowing into my mind and opening new kinds of ideas for the piece, I started calling it simply Vista."[1]
Reviewing the United States premiere of Vista performed by Mälkki and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Saariaho has a striking visual sensibility. An extraordinary musical colorist, she has a knack for capturing beauty within sound that has brought her a devoted following of entranced fans. The Halloween matinee performance, which I heard Sunday in Walt Disney Concert Hall, proved ethereal and, yes, haunting."[2] Richard S. Ginell of the San Francisco Classical Voice similarly described the piece as "an absorbing new composition."[3]