Johannebergs Vokalensemble, conducted by Jan K. Delemark and with Björn Johansson on piano, premiered by ‘Three Shakespeare Nocturnes’ on April 17, as part of the choir’s concert tribute to the bard, “If Music Be the Food of Love… William Shakespeare 1564-1616”. Above is a recording of the premiere performance!

My latest choral piece, a setting of the ‘Alleluia’, will be premiered by Haga Motettkör and Caritas Chamber Choir at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Canterbury at 7:30pm on Friday, May 6. This was a joint commission from both choirs to perform together during the small UK tour Haga Motettkör is going on during the first week of May. The choir will also visit Southampton and London. The ‘Alleluia’ has, of course, been set many times to music (I am fond of the Thompson and Whitacre versions), and the challenge here is to focus on one word of lyrics, indeed one of the most powerful we have, but nevertheless only one. The climax of the composition features a big glissando section where singers, while emphasizing overtones, expand pitches from unison to a massive fortissimo layer of perfect fifths. The piece will be presented during a concert – Northern Lights – that features many other sacred works by Nordic composers such as Jan Sandström, Knut Nystedt and Ola Gjeilo

My ‘Te Deum’ for Orchestra and Choir received its world premiere in concert at Johannebergskyrkan, Göteborg, on October 18. Part of the church’s 75th anniversary celebration, the concert (which also featured one of the most beloved choral works in Sweden, God in Disguise by Lars-Erik Larsson) attracted the attention of over 500 people. The Johannebergs Oratoriekör and Camerata Gothia with winds from the Gothenburg Opera House performed the piece with great enthusiasm, and I could not be happier with this premiere of my first larger scale piece incorporating orchestra. The foundation for this ‘Te Deum’ is the pitches of the three tower bells of the church (D#, F# and G#) which permeates the piece both harmonically and melodically. The old ‘Te Deum’ text travels between big exclamations and more “thoughtful” moments, thus lending itself to a quite dramatic music setting.

My deepest thanks go out to Jan K. Delemark, conductor of the piece and the one who commissioned the work in celebration of the 75 year old Johannebergskyrkan.

I recently finished writing my Te Deum for Orchestra and Choir, commissioned by The Swedish Church and the parrish of Johanneberg. The work will be serve as the celebratory opening piece for an anniversary concert commemorating the erection of Johannebergskyrkan 75 years ago. The original eleven minute work will then give room for two compositions written in 1940 – a selection from the cantata that was written for the opening of the church (Cantata da Chiesa) by the composer who was also the church’s first organist, Hilding Hallnäs, and the well-known choral work God in Disguise by Lars-Erik Larsson.

It was a thrill to get the opportunity to write for orchestra and choir. The backbone of the Te Deum consists of three notes – D#, F# and G#, which are the pitches the three church bells in the tower are tuned in. The majority of the harmony in the piece is developed from these three notes. The piece also includes a quote from a Hilding Hallnäs composition (Benedictus) serving as an ‘echo of the past’. The concert takes place in Johannebergskyrkan on Sunday, October 18, with Jan K. Delemark conducting the choir and orchestra.

My seven ‘O antiphons’ I composed for the Haga Motettkör was premiered in service in December conducted by Ulrike Heider. The seven rather short pieces – around 15 minutes all together – are entitled Antiphonae Intervallum since each and one of the pieces are based on one of the intervals in a major scale. I often find that formal restrictions is a real creativity trigger and the challenge forced me to write in new ways. Limited by the harmonic constraints but of course also paying attention to the text made this a very rewarding composition project. Below is a recording from the premire of the second movement, O Adonai.

If you are interested in downloading a PDF of the score, please go here!

[audio:http://www.moviescoremedia.com/hmk/antifoner/02_oadonai.mp3|titles=Antiphonae Intervallum: O Adonai (Haga Motettkör/Ulrike Heider]

Sometimes being a concert producer and a composer has very practical implications. On December 21, 2014, Johannebergs Vokalensemble will perform a concert devoted to various musical setting of three well-known Maria hymns – Ave Maria, Tota pulchra es and A Spotless Rose. The program was structured so that each text is represented by four settings by different composers, and four of the songs were to be performed by women’s and men’s choir separately, two each. I found wonderful settings that fitted the concept perfectly for all “slots” with one exception: I needed a TTBB setting of Tota pulchra es. Couldn’t find one. So I wrote one myself, taking the opportunity to write for men’s choir, which I have only done a couple of times before. The piece will be premiered by the men of the JOVE in the concert En ros utsprungen on December 21.