Saturday 9 March 2013

Sandström: Six Pieces for Piano Trio and Orchestra



Swedish composer and musicologist Sven-David Sandström (1942 - ) is a leading name in modern Scandinavian classical music. Holding extreme influences –  ranging from  the choral works of J.S. Bach to minimalist, jazz and popular music - Sandström composes in a  large spectrum of genres. His works include operas, series of motets, cantatas, oratorios, ballets, church music, choral works (including pieces for double-choir), piano morceaux and piano ensembles, orchestral works and introspective chamber pieces, as well as film scores. A master in the craft of composition, his catalogue of works comprise over three hundred compositions.

Sandström studied Art History and Musicology at Stockholm University. Later (from 1967 to 1972) he would study composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm (Stockholm Musikhögskolan) with Ingvar Lidholm.  He would also attend courses in advanced techniques of composition with Gyorgy Ligeti and Per Norgard. 

In Sandström’s early works  – like the orchestral piece Through and through (1972), which became internationally acclaimed after being performed by the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam -  the composer made use of quarter-tone tuning[1]. Those were works of terrifying technical difficulty for interpreters. 

The year 1980 saw a turning point in Sandström’s composing career, as he began composing in tonal and modal tone language. However more emotional his style became, this shift has not made his compositions any less demanding for performers. The years that followed witnessed the production of many choral works, “all of them eagerly sought after by Sweden's many elite choirs”[2]

His most renowned works include, apart from his orchestral works, The High Mass, Requiem Mute the Bereaved Memories, the  Requiem De ur alla minnen fallna (a fresco on the  infanticide of the Holocaust)  and his many choral works, in the idiom of Bach and other religious music composers of the Baroque era, such Henry Purcell and Dietrich Buxtehude  – yet reinterpreted in his very personal style.

Sandström’s pianistic oeuvres  cover a vast variety of genres, including works for soloist and orchestra - the Agitato (1978) and the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1990) – , instrumental pieces for piano and other instruments, vocal works, many piano morceaux, and much chamber music  - comprising unusual instrumental combinations, as in the piece In the Shadow of (1974) for piano, crotales, glock, bells, wind chimes and violoncello.



A comprehensive list of Sandström’s works for piano follows.

ORCHESTRAL:
Agitato (1978)
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1990)

CHAMBER MUSIC:
Chained (1986) - for 4 pianos and 12 percussion players
Concentration 2 (1972) - for two pianos
Dialog(er) för 2 x människor + piano (1971) - for piano 4 hands
Fantasia II (1989) - for pianotrio (vln, vlc, pf)
Free Music II (1990) - for piano and percussion
In the Shadow of (1974) - for piano, crotales, glock, bells, wind chimes, violoncello

INSTRUMENTAL:
Blinded (1982) - for piano
Cello Sonata (1992) - for violoncello and piano
Close to (1972) - for clarinet and piano
Fantasia I (1989) - for piano
Fem pianoaforismer (1964/79) - for piano
Five Duets (1973) - for piano 4 hands
High Above (1972) - for piano
Inside (1974) - for bass trombone and piano
Introduction; Out of Memories; Finish (1981) - for 2 pianos
Pieces (1989) - for violin and piano
The Fallen Light (1984) - for piano

VOCAL:
From Mölna Elegy (1999-2000) - for soprano and piano trio
Nu dricker jag dig till (1981) - for mezzo soprano and piano
The Lost Song (1974) - for soprano and piano
Tre sånger (1989) - for mezzo soprano, violin and piano
Two Love Songs for Kerstin and Kristine (1975) - for mezzo soprano, violoncello and piano

Today we shall make a brief appreciation of Sandström’s Six Pieces for Piano Trio and Orchestra. This set of pieces belongs to his most recent phase – revealing  his shift towards tonal  music. Observe the composer’s genious on how  finely romantic and lyrical elements mingle with the harsher modernist tinges.  While discussing  this work, Sandström himself would state:  “Stylistically I am very keen on the idea of modernism contradiction. The polarity inspires me a lot. The triple concerto is a mixture of the whole thing”[3]

Performed by the Trio con Brio Copenhagen and the Royal Stockholm Philarmonic Orchestra.
Enjoy!



References:

Websites:
Svendavidsandstrom.com  http://svendavidsandstrom.com/





[1] 24 tone equal temperament (24-TET) is a tuning system which consists of using intervals, in a chromatic scale, equal to half a semitone.
[2] Camilla Lundberg, “Biography”. http://svendavidsandstrom.com/


[3] Sven-David Sandström, “Six Pieces for Piano Trio and Orchestra (UA 2011, Trio Con Brio Copenhagen)”. Künstlersekretariat Rolf Sudbrack http://www.sudbrackmusik.de/uploads/Trio%20con%20Brio/Sandstr%C3%B6m;%20Tripelkonzert.pdf?PHPSESSID=0rskun2cuq63e1qmiknjkviiv4