Discover Swedish music
SINCE 1893
Gehrmans Musikförlag
Gehrmans is one of the leading Scandinavian publishers of contemporary orchestral, chamber and choral music.Founded in 1893, Gehrmans represents and promotes internationally recognized Swedish composers ranging from Hugo Alfvén and Ingvar Lidholm to Karin Rehnqvist, Sven-David Sandström and Agneta Sköld.
Gehrmans’ choral publications offer both sacred and secular compositions for a wide variety of choral needs, ranging from songs for children’s choirs to polyphonic music for professional choirs. Our music is sung throughout the world, and our composers regularly receive commissions from top ensembles including the Swedish Radio Choir, The Esoterics, Voces8, the King’s Singers, the BBC Singers, the Netherlands’ Chamber Choir and many others.
Gehrmans actively supports gender equity with initiatives such as #swedishchoralmusic 2022 (six films about women composers and their music, produced in collaboration with the Swedish Association of Composers) and the Anders Wall and Allmänna Sången international Composition Award (AWSCA) for women composers.
Gehrmans is proud to be a part of the rich tradition, glorious present and bright future of Swedish choral music.
Featured composers
Linda Alexandersson
Tina Andersson
Anna Cederberg-Orreteg
Ulrika Emanuelsson
Nana Forte
Thomas Jennefelt
Anna-Karin Klockar
Olle Lindberg
Susanna Lindmark
Anders Paulsson
Matthew Peterson
Per Gunnar Petersson
Karin Rehnqvist
Sven-David Sandström
Albert Schnelzer
Agneta Sköld
Ann-Sofi Söderqvist
Carl Unander-Scharin
Alvin Vikman
Oskar Österling
Linda Alexandersson Tina Andersson
Linda Alexandersson is a composer, arranger, and conductor, based in the southern Swedish city of Lund. She is an important contributor for Sweden’s children’s and youth choirs and is the artistic director of the acclaimed female choir Korallerna.
She often incorporates minimalist and aleatoric elements, creating intricate rhythmic patterns and shifting tonalities. Her music is atmospheric, with a focus on conveying a sense of space and mood. Alexandersson’s compositions frequently explore themes of nature, memory, and human experience, drawing listeners into immersive soundscapes. She balances clarity with complexity, resulting in pieces that are both accessible and thought-provoking.
SELECTED WORKS
Inferno
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SSAA.
Medium/Advanced.
TEXT
Dante Alighieri (1265–1321).
ABOUT
Musical depiction from Dante's The Divine
Comedy with sounds like from deep dark forests.
A Room of One’s Own
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SSAA and solo ensemble.
Advanced.
TEXT
Virginia Woolf (1882–1941).
ABOUT
An eclectic setting of an excerpt by British iconic writer Virginia Woolf.
SELECTED WORKS
The Angel
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SSAATTBB.
Advanced.
TEXT
Mikhail Lermontov (1814–1841). In English.
ABOUT
Winner of the 2011 Abbey Roads Studios ”Anthem Competition”, recorded by Eric Whitacre and the Eric Whitacre Singers.
Tina Andersson had her breakthrough in 2011 when her choral piece The Angel was named one of the winning entries in Abbey Road Studios’ 80th Anniversary Anthem Competition, resulting in a recording of her work with Eric Whitacre and the Eric Whitacre Singers.
Andersson’s music explores the expressive potential of the human voice, using lyrical melodies and varying textures to evoke powerful imagery, influenced by literature and nature’s landscapes. Her choral works provide an excellent challenge for those who appreciate colorful, text-focused choral writing but who also enjoy the boundary-pushing and atmospheric qualities found in more contemporary works.
Three Songs from the Dominican
Sleep Little Baby, Sleep
Love’s Philosophy
Breviary
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
Mixed choir and 4 soloists from the choir.
Medium.
TEXT
From the Dominican Breviary.
ABOUT Hommage á Arvo Pärt.
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB divisi with solos from the choir.
Medium/Advanced.
TEXT
Christina G. Rossetti (1830–1894). In English.
ABOUT
A tribute to Christmas and to life, light and everything beautiful that we strive for.
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
16-parts mixed choir. Advanced.
TEXT
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). In English.
ABOUT
A bright and visionary composition with a large range.
Anna Cederberg-Orreteg
After a celebrated four-decade career as a music educator and composer, Anna Cederberg-Orreteg has a unique understanding of the human voice in song, especially in the developing years. Her compositions range from arrangements for children’s choir to advanced works for unaccompanied mixed choir. Her music is known for its creativity, craftsmanship, and artistic quality, and has been described as lyrical with refined simplicity and prominent elements of tone painting.
Anna Cederberg-Orreteg’s strong conviction of the importance of working seriously and longterm with musicians of all ages has given her music its characteristic relatability and depth.
SELECTED WORKS
That Night of Falling Stars (Natten då stjärnorna föll)
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB divisi with solos from the choir. Medium.
TEXT
David Carlson (b 1959). In Swedish or English.
ABOUT
An existential poem in a dreamy setting with playful sections for youth choir or mixed.
Music is my name
SETTING & DIFFICULTY SSA. Medium.
TEXT
Hanna Rydén (b. 1988). In English.
ABOUT
Expressive and humorous about Music’s many attributes.
Lux aeterna – The Music of Your Being
SETTING & DIFFICULTY Double mixed choir. Medium.
TEXT
Anna Högberg (b. 1969). In Latin and English.
ABOUT
A serene and heartfelt Lux Aeterna, renowned choral conductor Gustav Sjökvist in memoriam.
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Ulrika Emanuelsson (B.
Ulrika Emanuelsson is a celebrated composer and conductor based in the Southern Swedish city of Lund, where she directs the renowned Carolinae Women’s Choir. She composes for youth choirs and advanced mixed choirs. An experienced ensemble singer, she has shaped her preferences from inside the choir and created a musical universe with rich, atmospheric and modern sounds in settings of deeply existential poetry. Always challenging the singer, she uses extended harmonies, polytonality, and clustered dissonances. Her substantial expertise in Dalcroze Eurythmics has influenced her fascination with rhythm patterns and polyrhythm, which gives her music a unique and personal language. Her compositions are a rewarding experience for advanced choirs and an enjoyable repertoire for young singers.
SELECTED WORKS
Min tunga jublar (My Tongue Rejoices)
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SSAATTBB divisi.
Advanced.
TEXT
The Acts of the Apostles. In Swedish.
ABOUT
A powerful and joyous praise of God’s wisdom, with extended ranges and modern expression.
Arctic Elements
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SSAA.
Medium.
TEXT
The composer. In English.
ABOUT
A swinging dance inspired by Sami yoiks, dedicated to Susanna Lindmark and her young women’s ensemble
Arctic Light.
Längre in
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB divisi.
Advanced.
TEXT
Tomas Tranströmer (1931–2015). In Swedish.
ABOUT
Challenging and beautiful setting of Nobel laureate Tomas Tranströmer’s poetry.
(B. 1981)
Nana Forte
Slovenian composer Nana Forte is one of the most compelling and noteworthy contemporary choral composers in Europe. Her music is sung at concerts and festivals around the world and has been performed and premiered by many preeminent ensembles throughout Europe, including the World Youth Choir, the Bayrische Rundfunk Choir and the Netherlands Chamber Choir. Her connection to Sweden is strong though her close collaboration with especially the Radio Choir. Nana Forte’s music represents an eclectic and original style. She often employs double-choir textures and a fusion of ancient and contemporary techniques, including Renaissance polyphony and the sacred minimalism of Arvo Pärt. Her works are musically demanding, captivating, and rewarding for advanced and professional choirs.
SELECTED WORKS
En ego campana
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB+SATB. Advanced.
TEXT
The Carmina Proverbialia 45. In Latin.
ABOUT
Great Spirit Prayer
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SMzATBarB. Medium/Advanced
TEXT
Big Thunder/Bedagi (late 19th C). In English.
ABOUT
Four Sacred Pieces
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB+SATB. Advanced.
TEXT
The Bible. In Latin.
ABOUT
A grand suite of rich rhythmic invention and sophisticated sonic nuances between two choirs. explore our SCAN THE CODE select scores Welcome to
A powerful and joyous Captivating and fun, rhythmically and harmonically complex setting for double choir. Commissioned by the Swedish Radio Choir.
An urgent prayer for a wiser humanity, in a complex yet singable setting.
Thomas Jennefelt
Thomas Jennefelt’s choral compositions have earned international popularity, with their trademark profusion of choral color, often underpinned by a regular pulse and repetitive rhythm but with melodic lyricism. His music is not unequivocally minimalist, but his means of expression and composition are often reduced to a precise minimum. This kind of focus, with its heightened sensibility for the pithy, lends his music a unique directness. Jennefelt has strived consistently for this simplicity and along principles that have some affinity with American modernism.
Jennefelt’s extensive experiences as a professional singer with the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir had a profound influence on his choral compositions. His breakthrough came at age 22 with the intense masterpiece Warning to the Rich. The Villarosa Sequences, minimalist settings of his own Latin-like nonsense words, as well as O Domine, have become staple repertoire in Europe, and he continues to compose challenging music that invites performers and listeners alike into a contemplative and evocative world of sound, where beauty and subtlety are contrasted with moments profoundly visceral and dramatic.
SELECTED WORKS
Warning to the Rich
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB div + SATB, baritone solo.
Advanced.
TEXT
James 5:1–6 and 4:9.
In English.
ABOUT
Intense, ominous, and compelling. A unique experience for performers and audience alike.
Bön (Prayer)
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB. Medium.
TEXT
Karl-Gustaf Hildebrand (1911–2005). In Swedish.
ABOUT
Meditative setting of a prayer, with a calm and deeply felt duet of voices.
The Lilly SETTING & DIFFICULTY SSAATTBB. Medium/Advanced.
TEXT
William Blake (1757–1827). In English.
ABOUT
An atmospheric setting, to be sung pppp, molto legato with staggered breathing.
(B. 1960)
SELECTED WORKS
Speeches
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB divisi. Advanced.
TEXT
Olympe de Gouges (1748–93), Hinmuuttu-yalatlat (Chief Joseph, 1840–1904), George Graham Vest (1830–1904). In English.
ABOUT
Winner of the AWASCA award for women composers 2016. Three quite different speeches create a dramatic, comic and tensionfilled atmosphere.
Forever Hurts
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB+SATB with soloists from the choir. Advanced.
TEXT
Karin Boye (1900–1941) and Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906). In English.
ABOUT
Two choirs communicate with each other through texts by two different poets. Commissioned by the Esoterics and Eric Banks.
Limu limu lima
SETTING & DIFFICULTY SATB divisi. Medium.
TEXT Swedish folk song. In Swedish.
ABOUT
A quiet, beautiful arrangement of this folk tune, sung by countless choirs both in Sweden and abroad.
Anna-Karin Klockar
After more than two decades working in the Italian television and film music industry, Anna-Karin Klockar returned to the Dalarna region in Sweden, where she continues to work as a freelance composer. Her experiences as a film composer no doubt contribute to the dramatic and cinematic elements in her music. Her music displays on the one hand polytonality, challenging harmonic tension and non-traditional vocal techniques, on the other hand a deep connection to Swedish musical tradition. Her Speeches has travelled the world since winning the Swedish AWASCA women composers’ competition and her works are now being commissioned internationally.
Olle Lindberg
Olle Lindberg comes from one of Sweden’s most celebrated musical families; both his father Nils and great-uncle Oskar were renowned choral composers.
He is an accomplished guitarist and singer, and as a composer deeply rooted in the rich, Swedish choral tradition – but his compositions also fuse elements of classical music, folk music, rock, and jazz. He often receives commissions for festive church occasions and has composed several grand masses for choirs, soloists, and orchestra. His a cappella choral music is accessible yet complex and explores contrasts in dynamics and timbres. His extensive experience as an ensemble singer has influenced his beautifully singable and lyrical melodies.
SELECTED WORKS
A red, red rose
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB divisi. Medium.
TEXT
Robert Burns (1759–1796). In English.
ABOUT
An airy, swinging and cantabile setting of Burn’s famous poem.
Lacrimosa
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB divisi. Medium/Advanced.
TEXT
the Requiem mass. In Latin and English.
ABOUT
A cappella part from Lindberg’s Requiem for the living.
Lines written in early spring
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB divisi. Medium.
TEXT
William Wordsworth (1770–1850). In English.
ABOUT
A wonderfully bright and sunny song with spring feelings.
1967)
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Susanna Lindmark
Susanna Lindmark is a central force in northern Sweden’s musical vitality, both as a composer and conductor.
She is the founder and artistic director of Arctic Light, an award-winning female youth choir based in Norbotten. Lindmark’s compositional style can be recognized by her fusion of Nordic folk music, vocal jazz, and contemporary minimalist elements. Her music is fun, challenging, and modern, and features extended jazz-inspired harmonies, temporal and timbral fluctuations, rhythmic contrast, and lyrical melodies. She often selects texts connected to nature and the environment, reflecting her strong belief that music is a transformative force for change and inspiration.
SELECTED WORKS
Song of Hope
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SSAA. Medium.
TEXT
The composer. In English.
ABOUT
Lindmark’s most wellknown piece performed all over the world. Sincere and with a rhythmic groove.
To be a human
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SSAATTBB. Advanced.
TEXT The composer. In English.
ABOUT
Flowing legato lines, rhythmic turns and influences of yoik. Written for youth choir, asking: Is it enough to just be me?
Tschitta Saltunza
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SSAATTBB. Advanced.
TEXT
Arnold Spescha (b. 1941). In Romansh (Swiss minority language).
ABOUT
From the series of featured women composers
#swedishchoralmusic 2022. Inspired by the flight of a butterfly, with Lindmark’s characteristicly playful rhythms.
Anders Paulsson
Renowned for his exceptional virtuosity, consummate tone, and versatile performances, saxophonist Anders Paulsson has received international acclaim.
He is also a prolific composer, known for his contributions to choral music, particularly through his collaborations with choirs and vocal ensembles. His choral works feature rich harmonies, lyrical melodies, and a deep sensitivity to the text. His choral music often draws inspiration from his interest and advocacy for nature and environmental issues such as global warming and conservation.
SELECTED WORKS
Danjugan Sanctuary
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB divisi. Medium/Advanced.
TEXT
Gerry A. Grey. In English. ABOUT
A solemn procession of endangered species – music to benefit the conservation of coral reefs.
As Ice Was Melting, Oceans Rose
SETTING & DIFFICULTY SATB. Easy/Medium.
TEXT
Per Harling (b. 1948). In English. ABOUT Hommage to Greta Thunberg in lighly flowing tonal harmonies.
Rising Seas
SETTING & DIFFICULTY SATB + percussion and brass ad lib. Medium.
TEXT
Gerry A. Grey. In English.
ABOUT Jazz inspired harmonies and humanity’s perhaps most difficult challenge, climate change.
(B. 1961)
Matthew Peterson
Matthew Peterson was born and raised in North Dakota and studied with Sven-David Sandström at the Indiana University School of Music. He was granted a Fulbright scholarship to continue his studies in Sweden and has since become one of the country’s most celebrated contemporary composers.
Peterson moves dynamically between bold, socially relevant contemporary operas, vast orchestral works celebrating a great and powerful natural world, playful and virtuosic solos, and shimmering, innovative choral works.
Peterson’s music contains multitudes: seriousness, humor, power, tenderness, willfulness – the grand and sublime as well as the fragile and delicate. His music has been commissioned and performed around the world by leading ensembles including the Minnesota Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, the Swedish Radio Choir, Eric Ericsons Chamber Choir, and Stockholm Saxophone Quartet.
Whether writing for small ensembles or larger forces, Peterson’s choral music is characterized by a seamless blend of accessibility and complexity. It challenges the singers technically while remaining emotionally resonant for both performers and audiences alike.
(B. 1984) SELECTED WORKS
BrIght (from An Inner Sky)
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SSAATTBB.
Advanced.
TEXT
E.E. Cummings (1894–1962). In English.
ABOUT
As the winner of the Sven-David Sandström Composition Award, Matthew Peterson received a commission for the suite An Inner Sky from the Swedish Radio Choir.
Ljusfälten (from Ljusfälten)
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SMzATBarB divisi.
Advanced.
TEXT
Edith Södergran (1892–1923). In Swedish.
ABOUT
Jubilant, proud and bright like Finnish poet Södergran’s text.
Adoramus te
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SMzATBarB.
Medium/Advanced.
TEXT
The Bible. In Latin.
ABOUT
A serene prayer, inspired by Peterson’s mentor SvenDavid Sandström
Per Gunnar Petersson
Per Gunnar Petersson is one of the leading contemporary composers of choral and church music in Sweden with over 100 works for choir.
Petersson worked at the center of Swedish church music life, both as organist and choir director and with many prominent assignments throughout his career in the Church of Sweden. With intense expressiveness, lyrical beauty, deep connection to faith, and accessibility, Petersson’s music continues to appeal to singers, conductors, and organists in both the professional choral world and everyday church life. In recent years, his close collaboration with Danish conductor Mogens Dahl and his vocal ensemble has profoundly influenced his artistic output, with a focus on secular works for unaccompanied mixed choir.
SELECTED WORKS
Spring Has Now Unwrapped the Flowers
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB (or CtCtTB) + SATB divisi.
Advanced.
TEXT
The Piae cantiones (1582). In Latin.
ABOUT
A broadly flowing, dynamically changing praise of spring. Commissioned by the King’s Singers and Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir.
Libera me
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SSAATTBB.
Advanced.
TEXT
The Catholic Prayer. In Latin.
ABOUT
A serene yet intense prayer, suitable for cathedrals
Work with Love
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB divisi.
Advanced.
TEXT
Khalil Gibran (1883–1931). In English.
ABOUT
A gentle and complex setting of Gibran’s philisophical universe.
SELECTED WORKS
Var inte rädd för mörkret / Do Not Fear the Darkness
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB.
Also available for SA. Medium.
TEXT
Erik Blomberg (1894–1965).
In Swedish or English.
ABOUT Blomberg’s consoling text, in a setting inspired by Nordic folk song.
I himmelen / In Heaven’s Hall
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SA+SSA+4 soprano soloists.
Medium/Advanced.
TEXT
Laurentius Laurinus (1573–1655). In Swedish or English.
ABOUT
An astonishingly effective setting of the old Swedish hymn, with kulning (herd-calling, a folk singing technique).
Karin Rehnqvist
“In my music, trumpets are not allowed to play fanfares. No, with me the female voices are allowed to signal.” /Karin Rehnqvist
Karin Rehnqvist maintains her position in the ranks of Europe’s living composers. Her music has been the subject of portrait concerts, festivals, and scholarly theses, and although her instrumental works are well-known, vocal expression lies at the heart of her art. She is known for her unique approach to contemporary classical music, blending modern experimentalism with Nordic folk traditions.
She has created a unique musical language, where elements of the ancient singing technique kulning (herding-calls) have become one of her hallmarks.
Haya! Song For the Joy of Day
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB+SATB.
Also avail-
able for SATB div + solo
SAT.
Advanced.
TEXT
The composer and Native American poetry. In a nonsense language and English.
ABOUT
Striking and fun, imaginative with birds sounds and whispers in the morning light.
Rehnqvist’s contribution to high quality, powerful music for especially young girls’ voices is invaluable. She was Sweden’s first female professor of composition and created KVAST (the Swedish Association of Women Composers). In her art, she takes a stand on the most important and difficult questions of our time. Her Silent Earth, a climate oratorio for mixed choir and symphony orchestra, was awarded the Nordic Council Music Prize in 2022 and a recording with the Swedish Radio Choir is available.
Karin Rehnqvist continues to compose choral music that is both challenging for audiences and performers, and offers a rich, rewarding experience that connects with the essence of human expression through sound.
Sven-David Sandström
No Swedish composer has shaped contemporary music like Sven-David Sandström.
With more than 600 compositions, performed across the globe, his work spans a broad range of genres, including orchestral music, choral compositions, and chamber works. His choral music, in particular, is highly celebrated, with compositions like High Mass, Requiem and his reimagining of six motets based on Bach’s models being considered cornerstones of his legacy.
Sandström’s characteristic musical language evolved throughout his career, starting from avant-garde and serial techniques to more lyrical and accessible styles in his later works. His choral music is known for its emotional depth, intricate counterpoint, complex harmonies, and sophisticated use of rhythm and texture –and what Swedish singers call “the Sandström sound”, a low frequency staggered humming. A deeply spiritual composer, his works explore themes of existential reflection, faith, and the human experience.
Sandström was a faculty member at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm, and Indiana University Bloomington’s Jacobs School of Music, where he taught for fifteen years.
(1942–2019)
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SELECTED WORKS
April och tystnad
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SMzATBarB. Advanced.
TEXT Tomas Tranströmer (1931–2015). In Swedish.
ABOUT
Tranströmer’s poem about losing his language after a stroke is set with great musical sensitivity.
Lobet den Herrn
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB+SATB. Advanced.
TEXT Psalm 117. In German.
ABOUT
No. 1 of Sandström’s motets following Bach’s example. Virtuoso, playful and unmistakably Sandström.
Four Songs of Love
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SMzATBarB. Let Him Kiss Me also available for TTBB. Advanced.
TEXT the Song of Songs. In English.
ABOUT
A suite of love songs in Sandström’s most beautiful and visionary tonal language.
Albert Schnelzer
Albert Schnelzer is one of the most notable Scandinavian composers of orchestral and chamber music but has in recent years been inspired to write for choir and has received a number of commissions from top choirs in Sweden, including the Radio Choir. His choral music features the same signature sound as his instrumental works; a colorful playfulness combined with moments of austere beauty. Rhythmic drive is a prominent feature as well as inventive use of choral timbres. His choral works embrace the intellectual and visceral qualities of contemporary choral music, making them challenging and rewarding for performers and listeners.
Angels
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB and cello ad lib. Advanced.
TEXT
Tomas Tranströmer (1931–2015), William Blake (1757–1827), Leigh Hunt (1784–1859), Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906), Emily Dickinson (1830–1886), Andrew Barton Paterson (1864–1941). In English.
ABOUT
Five poems of angels, in five different moods, for choir and cello.
SELECTED WORKS
Glittrande kall
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB divisi. Advanced.
TEXT
Karin Boye (1900–1941). In Swedish.
ABOUT
An allegro con spirito setting of great Swedish poet Boye’s snowy poem.
After the Winter
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB divisi. Advanced.
TEXT
Claude McKay (1889–1948). In English.
ABOUT
Colorfully orchestrated harmonies and a playful middle section.
Agneta Sköld
Agneta Sköld is one of Sweden’s most acclaimed choral composers.
She is perhaps best known for her beautiful and skillfully crafted sacred music, influenced by her many years as a singer in the Swedish Radio Choir, cathedral organist and choir director, often composing new music for her various choirs, as well as her long and fruitful collaboration with Swedish-American conductor Gary Graden and his St. Jacob’s Chamber Choir.
With its lyrical melodies, primarily tonal harmonic language, and textural sensibilities, her writing encourages excellent intonation while providing nuanced depth and challenges for both amateur and professional choirs. There Is No Rose
SELECTED WORKS
Let Your Light Come
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SSAATTBB. Advanced.
TEXT Psalm 42. In English.
ABOUT
An exquisite setting of Psalm 42, a joy both to performers and audience.
SETTING & DIFFICULTY SATB. Medium.
TEXT
Anonymous (15th C). In English.
ABOUT Sköld’s most famous piece, sung at Christmas all over the world.
Unto Us a Child is Born
SETTING & DIFFICULTY SATB+alto or baritone soloist. Medium.
TEXT
Anonymous (15th C). In English.
ABOUT Commissioned for AnnSofie von Otter with St. Jacob’s Chamber Choir and Gary Graden.
(B. 1947)
Ann-Sofi Söderqvist
Ann-Sofi Söderqvist is a celebrated Swedish jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.
Her works combine rich harmonic, rhythm textures with a jazzy groove and intricate vocal writing, blending contemporary and traditional elements. Söderqvist’s choral compositions are marked by a deep sensitivity to text, reflecting themes of nature, spirituality, and human emotion. She frequently employs varied vocal techniques and modern soundscapes, pushing the boundaries of choral expression. Her collaboration with renowned Swedish vocal ensemble VoNo (former Voces Nordicae) has resulted in works used in their performances, recordings, and a music video.
SELECTED WORKS
What is Life?
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB divisi + soprano or jazz singer soloist. Medium.
TEXT
Malin Hülphers (b. 1965). In English.
ABOUT
Crossroads
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SMzATBarB. Advanced.
TEXT
Malin Hülphers (b. 1965). In English.
ABOUT
A tribute to being human, in a sonorous and rhythmic fabric that culminates in a tender unison.
Expressive harmonies and percussive rhythms with an existential theme. (B. 1956)
Carl Unander-Scharin
Carl Unander-Scharin is a composer, operatic singer, organist, and innovator. He holds a PhD in Media Technology at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. With his wife and artistic partner, choreographer Åsa Unander-Scharin, he invents electroacoustic instruments to enhance singers’ expression in both choral and operatic performances of his own making. Carl Unander-Scharin grew up singing in choirs and went on to a career as one of Sweden’s most sought-after lyric tenors in the fields of opera and oratorio while developing as a composer.
Unander-Scharin’s choral music is influenced by his own vocal artistry and love of poetry, theology, and philosophy. Modernist sounds, impressionistic melodies, virtuosic elements, rhythmic layers, thought-provoking choices of text, and a deep understanding of the human voice lend his choral compositions a distinctive and striking quality.
(B. 1964)
SELECTED WORKS
Calligrammes
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
Double, triple or quadruple mixed choir divisi. Advanced.
TEXT
Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918). In French.
ABOUT
Elegant settings of Apollinaire’s surreal and humorous poetry, for professional choirs.
Spiritual Exercises
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SMzATBarB. Advanced.
TEXT
St. John of the Cross (1542–1591). In English (also available in Swedish: Andliga övningar).
ABOUT
A flowing, expressive setting of this mystic, deeply spiritual text.
The Cloud of Unknowing
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB div + organ. Advanced.
TEXT
Anonymous (14th C). In English.
ABOUT
A suite of six movements which revolves around the timeless question of how to know God.
Alvin Vikman Oskar Österling
Alvin Vikman is a jazz pianist, choral singer and emerging Swedish composer, whose works are gaining increasing attention.
Despite his young age, he has several awaiting commissions from Sweden’s top choirs, including the Radio Choir. His musical influences include Ravel and Stravinsky, and music written for film and video games. Vikman is an avid student of Japanese and his Japanese Seasons, commissioned by the Erik Westberg Vocal Ensemble, has been hugely successful.
Oskar Österling is a composer, pianist, and singer active in Sweden and England. He studied composing in Stockholm with Matthew Peterson and in 2023 continued his studies at Trinity College of Music in London. Oskar’s compositions have been performed widely across the Nordics and the UK. As a performer, Oskar has sung with ensembles like the London Philharmonic, deepening his insight into vocal composition. His music has been praised as harmonically captivating, with attention to timbral nuances that lend his works delicacy and depth.
The Japanese Seasons
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB div.
Medium/Advanced.
TEXT
Japanese Medieval poets.
In Japanese.
ABOUT
A musical interpretation of the soundscape of ancient Japan.
Requiescat
SETTING & DIFFICULTY
SATB div.
Medium/Advanced.
TEXT
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900). In English.
ABOUT
Wilde’s poem of sorrow set in lavish harmonies.
Sing in Swedish
Swedish vowels are warm and rounded, and the consonants are formed mostly with the tip of the tongue loosely to the front of the mouth, resulting in a natural and relaxed singing style.
HERE’S A CRASH COURSE:
1. Sing on the consonants
Sommar (SUMMER) is sung with a long M, even in a nice, smooth legato.
2. The R is rolled or flipped like in British English
3. Keep the sounds natural and relaxed
4. All vowels have a long and a short version
Listen for the differences in your audio guide.
Ära (HONOR) long æ Rik (RICH) long i
6. Some consonant combinations form a new sound
N.b.: when singing older lyrics (in songs by for example Hugo Alfvén), it is common (but not necessary) to pronounce the letters separately: [’bɑ:rn]
5. Use less vibrato for easier intonation
Vänlig (KIND, GRACOUS) short ɛ R+N = ɳ like in barn (CHILD) [’bɑ:ɳ]
Liljekonvalj (LILY OF THE VALLEY) short ɪ etc
= ʂ like in först (FIRST) [’fœʂt]
Want to dive deeper? Learn the phonetics at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Swedish All scores with Swedish lyrics in our selection have IPA and audio guides.
What is the secret behind the “Swedish choral miracle”?
BY Sofia Nyblom
Swedish journalist, writer and singer
The phenomenon of choral singing in Sweden has as great an importance as sport. In fact, 600,000 Swedes are estimated to have an active involvement in choirs. Out of a population of just ten million, that’s a pretty impressive statistic! Even though singing was always big in the country that produced an extraordinary number of vocal talents, including Jenny Lind, Birgit Nilsson, Peter Mattei and Ann-Sofi von Otter, one person is generally credited with the popularity of this pastime: Eric Ericson, the choral director, who passed away in 2014, aged 94.
The conductor started out singing madrigals with a group of friends within his own Eric Ericson Chamber Choir in 1945, and then went on a mission to build a new repertoire of choral music whilst building up the Swedish Radio Choir in 1951. The skills of this increasingly professionalized group grew for each new commission by the major composers of the day: Stravinsky, Luigi Nono, Dallapiccola, György Ligeti and, most
significantly, the influence of Swedes such as Ingvar Lidholm, who refined choral composing in close collaboration with Ericson’s choirs.
Ericson’s vocal ideals, his musical preferences and interpretative strengths have colored those of generations of Swedes and strongly influenced the international choral society. As a professor of choral conducting, his passion for musical detail and his fearlessness in the face of challenges raised the quality of the overall choral singing in Sweden through his many students.
As important as Ericson was, the Swedish language is in itself a clue to the success of Swedish choirs on the international arena. The warm, rounded vowels and the consonants largely formed with the tip of the tongue to the front of the mouth makes for a relaxed pronunciation and a clear, natural timbre. The result is good intonation and a rich but translucent texture of sound.
The Swedish way and Eric Ericson’s work with choral singing is emblematic of the strength of a democratic society: pluralism of expression and submission under the vision of unanimity.
in 2014.
Want to learn more?
Read Richard Sparks: The Swedish Choral Miracle, Walton Music 2000
Published with generous permission by Bachtrack.
A longer version of this text (Sweden: Where many hearts beat like one) was published on bachtrack.com
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