Evento

KVANDAL and BÄCK - a double centennial

In this single summer concert, The Esoterics will celebrate the life and work of two Scandinavian choral composers who were born eight days apart in 1919: the Norwegian Johan Kvandal (8 September), and the Swede Sven-Erik Bäck (16 September).

Kvandal was the son of a composer, frequented artist colonies in his youth, and studied with Nadia Boulanger at the Conservatoire de Paris. With strong influences from both Norwegian folk music and international contemporary composition, Kvandal developed his own language, what he called a modern tonality, and stood out against the prevailing forces of the avant garde.

Sven-Erik Bäck, upon completion of his studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Stockholm, traveled to Rome to study with Goffredo Petrassi, a leading teacher of European modernism. While the vast majority of Bäcks choral music sets conservative texts from the Bible, his compositional treatment of these verses is anything but traditional.

In this program, The Esoterics will perform all twelve of Sven-Erik Bäcks 'Motetter för kyrkoåret' [Motets for the church year] in Swedish, arranged in the order that they occur during the church year, from Advent through Pentecost. Bäcks twelve motets will be interspersed with Johan Kvandals sacred pieces for unaccompanied choir, including four short motets, 'Ballade om freden' [Ballad of peace], and the triptych 'Underet' [The miracle].

This program will be a fascinating remembrance of these two composers, and their not-quite-parallel lives in choral music.

The Esoterics will offer only one performance of KVANDAL & BÄCK. Please join us as we celebrate at St James!