CD, utgivningsdatum 2025-02-21. SCD1192

Kompositör: Storm, Staffan

Dirigent: Westberg, Erik

Ensemble: Erik Westberg Vokalensemble

Spårlista: 

1 Nachtregen

Aspects of Snow:

2 At Tago Bay

3 In the early light

4 I look out and snow is falling

Seelenherbst:

5 Frühlingsgruß

6 Die Mondesbrücke

7 Stille Frage

8 Am Rheine

9 Herbstlied

Långt i försvunna tider:

10 Stjärnöga

11 Flickan knyter i Johannenatten

12 Vore jag ett litet barn

The three short movements in “Aspects of Snow” are united by the theme of snowy landscapes depicted in the poems and also share concentrated musical material. The piece was written in 2012 and premiered the same year by the Malmö Academy of Music Chamber Choir under the direction of Mats Paulsson. 

Else Lasker-Schüler (1869–1945) was one of the leading German writers in the decades after the turn of the century. She became famous for her expressionist poetry and her colorful performances. After the Nazis took power, she was persecuted and abused but managed to escape via Switzerland to Jerusalem, where she settled for the rest of her life. The short poem “Die Dämmerung holt die Sichel” can here surround the prose sketch “Nachtregen” (“The Night Rain”). The work is written for choir a cappella and solo viola, which functions as a wordless voice in the vocal folds. The work was composed in 2018 and is dedicated to Erik Westberg and his vocal ensemble. 

The suite “Seelenherbst” (“Autumn of the Soul”) for mixed choir and percussion was composed in 2021–22 and is based on a selection of poems by Luise Büchner (1821–1877). During her time, Büchner was a noted author of novels, short stories, and poetry. However, she probably became best known for her debate book “Die Frauen und ihr Beruf”, which was printed in several editions during her lifetime. She also worked to ensure that the works of her late older brother Georg Büchner, including “Wozzeck”, would be published. Luise Büchner’s poetry has a personal romantic-symbolist touch where nature, special places, and environments reflect and relate to people’s inner experiences and changing moods. Sometimes the picture expands with questions about the individual’s place in the universe. The chosen poems form a suite of five movements, where the two outer movements that frame the work depict a journey from winter to autumn, while the three middle movements are evening and night moods of different characters. This work is also written for and dedicated to Erik Westberg and his vocal ensemble. 

“Långt i försvunna tider” (“Far in Bygone Times”) takes its starting point from three songs by Wilhelm Stenhammar, “Stjärnöga”, “Flickan knyter i Johannesnatten” and “Vore jag ett litet barn”. I selected these songs because they were more open to new musical angles due to their close connection to the Swedish folk song. Stenhammar is here himself both freer in his use of harmony and in his part-writing, something I have underlined and partly reinforced. I have also placed the songs in surrounding wordless material as contrast and musical reflection, and here and there gaps also open up inside the songs when new material is used as contrast. Swedish Radio commissioned the work for the 150th anniversary of Wilhelm Stenhammar in 2021 and the Swedish Radio Choir premiered it under the direction of Erik Westberg.