Molnformationer, August 31, 2018

My orchestral piece Molnformationer will be premiered by Malmö Symphony Orchestra August 31, Malmö Live, Malmö at 19:00 as part of the concert Bob Hund & Martin Kann feat. MSO.

The composition is part of Malmö Live’s ongoing celebration of the 25 year anniversary of Bob Hund’s first album, and I was commissioned to compose a piece of art music inspired by Bob Hund’s music. I chose to use themes from their song ”Tralala lilla molntuss” and transform them in ways to create sounding equivalents of a variety of cloud types with different textures, altitudes and densities.

…was hast du meinem Schlaf zu sagen? January 17 and 18, 2018

My orchestral piece …was hast du meinem Schlaf zu sagen? will be performed by Malmö Symphony Orchestra at Göteborgs Konserthus on January 17, 2018, 19:30 and at Malmö Live on January 18, 2018, 19:00. The concert will be conducted by Tung-Chieh Chuang.

The piece was composed in 2011 and is based on a few musical quotes from Wagner’s Ring cycle. The form of the piece is based on patterns of human sleep.

I will be doing a concert introduction at Malmö Live starting one hour before the concert on January 18.

http://malmolive.se/program/en-dromscen

Put out the light, August 31, 2017

My orchestral piece Put out the light will be performed by Malmö Symphony Orchestra August 31, Malmö Live, Malmö at 19:00 (The concert will be conducted by Ruth Reinhardt. I will be doing a concert introduction at Malmö Live starting one hour before the concert.)

Put out the light was composed in 2012. The title is a quote from Shakespeare’s play Othello, by which the piece was inspired.

http://malmolive.se/program/put-out-light

Gudars like, premiere February 4, 2017

My new piece for women’s chorus, Gudars like, based on a poem by Sapfo, will be premiered on February 4, Allhelgonakyrkan Lund at 17:00 in the concert 10-10, which is a part of the festival Lund Contemporary. The piece will be premiered by Korallerna, conducted by Linda Alexandersson, and is a commission by Körcentrum Syd.

Thanatos, premiere Dec. 3, 2016

My new work Thanatos will premiere on Dec 3, 2016, at Inter Arts Center, Malmö.

Thanatos is an experimental chamber music drama exploring the dark side of the human psyche – aggression, destructive urges, everything that is popularly referred to as “evil”. The performance involves four musicians, each of whom will be playing a theatrical role and expressing their character through music and movement on stage. The music is partly precomposed, and partly improvised based on instructions given by the composer.

The Mother  –     Ida Höög, recorder
The Father   –     Niclas Gustafsson, clarinet
The Child     –     Agnes Wästfelt, soprano
The Beggar  –     Simon Bång, cello

Music and direction by Martina Tomner
Produced by Martina Tomner and Ida Höög

Thanatos will be performed in the Red Room at Inter Arts Center on:
Saturday, Dec. 3, 18:00
Sunday, Dec. 4, 18:00

Dance of Destruction and Creation, premiere April 16, 2016

On April 16, 2016, Dance of Destruction and Creation, a new piece for symphonic wind orchestra will premiere at Wisby Strand, Visby, at 3.30 PM.

The piece is a commission by GotlandsMusiken and will be premiered by GotlandsMusikens Blåsorkester and Östgöta Blåsarsymfoniker, conducted by Bo Wannefors.

The concert will be reprised at Crusellhallen, Linköping on April 21 at 7 PM, and at Mötesplats Oviken, Oviken on April 24 at 3 PM.

 

Yggdrasil, premiere Nov. 22, 2015

Yggdrasil, my chamber concerto for cello solo with piano, harp and percussion, will be premiered on Nov. 22, 6PM at Malmö Academy of Music, Liljeforssalen. The piece will be performed as part of the Connect Festival.

Cello: Simon Bång
Piano: Akane Kusakabe
Harp: Miriam Klein Strandberg
Percussion: Anton Hugosson

 

Yggdrasil (2015)
Yggdrasil is a cello concerto in a chamber format, using the timbral contrast between the soloist and the accompanying group of piano, harp and percussion as one of its main musical ideas. The piece was inspired by Norse mythology, which has the ”world tree” Yggdrasil as one of its most powerful symbols. The composition is divided into four contrasting movements, each exploring its own set of (sometimes overlapping) musical ideas or leitmotifs, linked together by a prologue, three interludes and an epilogue which are built around a recurring theme in the cello. The four main movements are based on four different myths featuring the tree Yggdrasil:

I: The Norns – three female beings seated by one of the roots of Yggdrasil, weaving the threads of fate and watering the tree
II: The Sacrifice – a myth describing how the god Odin hung himself by a spear in the tree for nine days in order to learn the secret of the runes
III: The Dragon, the Eagle and the Squirrel – the dragon Nidhugg lives underneath the root and the Eagle sits on the highest branch, and they communicate only through the squirrel Ratatosk who runs up and down the tree trunk spreading malicious slander from one to the other
IV: Ragnarök – the apocalypse, where legend has it that the tree Yggdrasil will burn and shiver, but still survive and stand firm even after the worlds of the gods and the humans have crumbled

These myths have determined the overall dynamic and timbral characteristics of the individual movements, as well as which combination of motifs are being used and how they relate to each other. Each motif is tied to a certain harmonic ”flavor” – a chord, a set of intervals, a tone series, a non-pitched sound, a glissando etc – and even though the piece is by no means dodecaphonic (although one of the thematic ideas is a 12-note row), there is an aim within several of the motifs to make equal use of all pitches when possible.

The piece was commissioned by Simon Bång with support from the Swedish Arts Grants Council (Konstnärsnämnden).

En studie i instängdhet

En studie i instängdhet, a chamber music drama performance for soprano, recorder, trombone, viola and percussion, will be performed on September 26 and 27, 2015.

September 26, Fångtornet, Malmöhus slott, 15.00

September 27, Landskrona Citadell, 15.00

Agnes Wästfelt, soprano
Ida Höög, recorder
Olof Jönsson, trombone
Malin Wikblad, viola
Knut Bengtsson, percussion

See here for more information!