Nachtlieder (Night Songs) is Salonen's early work dating from 1978. It is in fact a sort of descendant of Alban Berg's Vier Stücke für Klarinette und Klavier op. 5 (1913). Like Berg, Salonen has condensed his Expressionist night songs into concise, miniature-like proportions. The four-movement work is dominated by a meditative mood and the expressive melodies of the clarinet.