Staffan Storm - Choral Works Erik Westberg Vokalensemble & Erik Westberg

• Staffan Storm (b. 1964): Nachtregen:
• 1 Storm: Nachtregen 09:47
• Aspects of Snow:
• 2 Storm: Aspects of Snow: At Tago Bay 02:09
• 3 Storm: Aspects of Snow: In the early light 02:13
• 4 Storm: Aspects of Snow: I look out and snow is falling 03:17
• Seelenherbst:
• 5 Storm: Seelenherbst: Frühlingsgruß 05:48
• 6 Storm: Seelenherbst: Die Mondesbrücke 04:29
• 7 Storm: Seelenherbst: Stille Frage 03:45
• 8 Storm: Seelenherbst: Am Rheine 06:23
• 9 Storm: Seelenherbst: Herbstlied 07:46
• Långt i försvunna tider:
• 10 Storm: Långt i försvunna tider: Stjärnöga 02:53
• 11 Storm: Långt i försvunna tider: Flickan knyter i Johannenatten 02:36
• 12 Storm: Långt i försvunna tider: Vore jag ett litet barn 03:04
• Total Runtime 54:10

Info for Staffan Storm - Choral Works

The three short movements in "Aspects of Snow" are united by the theme of snowy landscapes depicted in the poems and also share concentrated musical material. The piece was written in 2012 and premiered the same year by the Malmo Academy of Music Chamber Choir under the direction of Mats Paulsson. Else Lasker-Schuler (1869-1945) was one of the leading German writers in the decades after the turn of the century. She became famous for her expressionist poetry and her colorful performances. After the Nazis took power, she was persecuted and abused but managed to escape via Switzerland to Jerusalem, where she settled for the rest of her life. The short poem "Die Dammerung holt die Sichel" can here surround the prose sketch "Nachtregen" ("The Night Rain"). The work is written for choir a cappella and solo viola, which functions as a wordless voice in the vocal folds. The work was composed in 2018 and is dedicated to Erik Westberg and his vocal ensemble. The suite "Seelenherbst" ("Autumn of the Soul") for mixed choir and percussion was composed in 2021-22 and is based on a selection of poems by Luise Buchner (1821-1877). During her time, Buchner was a noted author of novels, short stories, and poetry. However, she probably became best known for her debate book "Die Frauen und ihr Beruf", which was printed in several editions during her lifetime. She also worked to ensure that the works of her late older brother Georg Buchner, including "Wozzeck", would be published. Luise Buchner's poetry has a personal romantic- symbolist touch where nature, special places, and environments reflect and relate to people's inner experiences and changing moods. Sometimes the picture expands with questions about the individual's place in the universe. The chosen poems form a suite of five movements, where the two outer move ments that frame the work depict a jour ney from winter to autumn, while the three middle movements are evening and night moods of different characters. This work is also written for and dedicated to Erik West berg and his vocal ensemble. "Långt i forsvunna tider" ("Far in By gone Times") takes it's starting point from three songs by Wilhelm Sten hammar, "Stjarnoga", "Flickan knyter i Johannesnatten" and "Vore jag ett litet barn". I selected these songs because they were more open to new musical angles due to their close connec tion to the Swedish folk song. Stenhammar 4 is here himself both freer in his use of har mony and in his part-writing, something I have underlined and partly reinforced. I have also placed the songs in surround ing wordless material as contrast and musi cal reflection, and here and there gaps also open up inside the songs when new material is used as contrast. Swedish Radio commis sioned the work for the 150th anniversary of Wilhelm Stenhammar in 2021 and the Swedish Radio Choir premiered it under the direction of Erik Westberg. / Staffan Storm

The Erik Westberg Vocal Ensemble
Erik Westberg, conductor

The Erik Westberg Vocal Ensemble
was formed in 1993 and consists of 16–20 singers. The members of the Ensemble work as soloists, church musicians and music teachers and come from northern Sweden and Finland. The Ensemble has commissioned and premiered about 60 works by composers such as Gunnar Eriksson, Paula af Malmborg Ward, Tebogo Monnakgotla, Jan Sandström, Sven-David Sandström, Carl Unander Scharin and Arvo Pärt.

The Swedish Broadcasting Corporation has, in close collaboration with the Ensemble, sent several live performances, both in Sweden and throughout Europe.

In 1996, the Ensemble’s first CD Musica Sacra was released on the Opus3 label. The Ensemble’s first collaboration with Studio Acusticum Records in 2010 resulted in the triple album Pater Caelestis – Terra Mater – Vox Humana. Since then, the Ensemble has had a good 15 CDs and phonograms issued by the record companies Opus3, Studio Acusticum Records and Naxos. Vita Nuova, featuring Swedish choral music, was rated ”world class” by the music magazine OPUS. In 2018, the album Amor Vita Mors was released on streaming services, accompanied by a 60-page physical book with programme notes. Recent releases include the innovative cooperation with violist Kim Hellgren and composers Johannes Pollak and Staffan Storm (Voices of the Viola, 2019); Bach’s Mass in B Minor (released on vinyl in 2020); the world première recording of Swedish romantic composer Andreas Hallén’s Missa Solemnis from 1921 (2021); SÁPMI (2022) in collaboration with Sami artist such as Frode Fjellheim and Katarina Barruk; and The Cloud of Unknowing.

The Ensemble has undertaken over 30 international tours to Europe, North and South America, Asia and Oceania. A particularly notable engagement was the project Choral Singing for Peace and Justice with a tour to Tonga and Samoa at the turn of the millennium, seen by more than 500 million TV viewers worldwide.

Erik Westberg
(b. 1956) studied choral conducting with Eric Ericson at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm 1976–1987.

He has been the leader of numerous choirs, including the YMCA Choir in Stockholm and the Oslo Philharmonic Choir, and he has also been guest conductor of the Swedish Radio Choir. Internationally, Erik Westberg has been engaged as guest conductor for Pro Coro Canada, Coro Nacional de España, Coro Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, and Jauna Muzika, Lithuania. He has also been Artist-in-Residence at Wollongong University, Australia. Since 2018 he is artistic director of the Swedish Youth Choir (Sveriges Ungdomskör).

His audio catalogue includes more than twenty recordings on the record labels Studio Acusticum Records, Opus3, Naxos, and Caprice, several of which have received excellent reviews. Erik Westberg received the Johannes Norrby-Medallion in 1993 and the Culture Prize of the Year from the newspaper Norrländska Socialdemokraten in 1997. In 1999 he was elected Choral Conductor of the Year by KÖRSAM (The Federation of Swedish Choir Associations) and received the Culture Prize of the Year from the Municipality of Piteå in 2002.

In 2006 Erik Westberg was presented with His Majesty the King’s Medal of the Eighth Size with the ribbon of the Order of the Seraphim “for significant achievements in Swedish Musical Life”. In 2016 he was awarded the Grant of Honour and Merit of Norrbotten County.

He has been a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music since 2008 and Professor of Choral Conducting and Choral Singing at the School of Music at Luleå University of Technology since 2003.

This album contains no booklet.