Category: Blog posts

Writing a post with a title like that on the darkest day of the year might seem coolly ironic, but I do mean it quite sincerely. After all, from now on it will only get brighter with each passing day. The days and weeks before Christmas are typically packed with musical events this year, as… Continue reading Let There Be Light

The title of this post is an approximate translation of the first line of one of Sweden’s most well-known Lucia hymns, sung up and down the country by choirs young and old on and around December 13th. Saint Lucia of Syracuse, or at least the actual Saint Lucy’s Day, seems to be mostly venerated in… Continue reading O, Radiant Elfin Saint

Quoting, sampling, remixing existing music is commonplace in various popular genres but, generally, not nearly as commonplace in orchestral, choral or chamber music. There are of course exceptions, as with most things, but in general this practice is absent in and around various forms of art music. One fairly recent exception is German-British composer and… Continue reading A Tale Told By an Idiot

Sometimes you just have to know when to give up. Not every fight is worth fighting. As someone who has struggled with unreasonably high demands on myself pretty much since first grade, this is something I have a regretfully large experience with. Unfortunately, most of that experience is in the form of giving in to… Continue reading Knowing Is Half the Battle

Antonio Vivaldi’s famous set of four violin concertos, each depicting one of the four seasons, doubtlessly rank among the most famous of all ”classical” (though actually Baroque and not Classical) music works. For decades, they have been repeatedly performed, quoted, rearranged, deconstructed and recontextualised. The 20th century saw a rise in the interest in the… Continue reading Le Quattro Stagioni

Today was the first really chaotic traffic day of the season. A modest layer of sleet covered the ground along Sweden’s waistline and, even though this happens every year, still it catches some unfortunate (and some regretfully unattentive) drivers off-guard. From what I saw, at least there were no fatal or other serious accidents. However,… Continue reading The First Sleet

I am incredibly happy and proud to finally reveal the cover art for my new digital single which will be available worldwide within the coming days! Also coming up: an accompanying music video to go with it. This is the cover art for “Lacrimosa”, my composition for violoncello and organ written for, dedicated to and… Continue reading Lacrimosa

This week I am back in Norrbotten, way up in northern Sweden, where I went to college and lived for six years. More than half of Sweden is officially known as the ‘northern’ part, but this truly is the northern part of Sweden. A part of me still feels at home up here, even though… Continue reading Songs about Life and Death

This Thursday evening, if you happen to live in or near to Härnösand in Sweden, you should definitely come to Härnösand Theatre for a full evening of concerts featuring, among other things, the premiere performance of a new musical work by myself and my friend and colleague Jörgen Häll! And believe me, there is plenty… Continue reading Everyone Can Do Something

This autumn is proving to be an exciting and eventful time in my life. Yesterday, I conducted the Härnösand Cathedral Choir for the first time during a Sunday service. Next week, a new work for solo voice and electronics to which I have written the text will be premiered. And three weeks from today I… Continue reading Tears for the Living