In its November 2024 issue, the prestigious British (and internationally distributed) music magazine Gramophone presents a portrait of Karin Rehnqvist and her music. She is presented as the first Swedish composer in the article series Contemporary composers.
The music writer Guy Rickards starts from the very earliest impressions of the work Puksånger – Lockrop (from 1989) on the CD David’s nimm and states 25 years later that he is still “in shock”.
– It was the vocal cycle Puksånger – Lockrop (1989; “Timpanum Songs—Herding Calls”) that pinned my ears back, although nailed them to the sides of my head might be more accurate!
– By the time I came to select my Critics’ Choice that year, when we had the luxury of six choices, I concluded merely with “the stunning CD of Karin Rehnqvist, from which I am still in shock”.
Guy Rickards of course also draws attention to Karin Rehnqvist’s focus as a composer on the power of children and their voices and, among other things, mentions the piece Ljus av ljus/ Light of Light for treble choir and symphony orchestra as a shining example:
Her most notable work involving children’s voices is Light of Light (‘Ljus av Ljus’ in Swedish) from 2003, a cantata in three movements (Bright, shimmering—Dark, compelling—Bright, Intense) designed, in the composer’s words, as “a Song of Praise. A praise to the wonderfulness in our existence, to life, to nature.” Sometimes described, not really accurately, as a choral symphony, this quarter-hour-long work was commissioned jointly by Radio France, Swedish Radio, and the Swedish Concerts Institute and premiered in January 2004 at the Présences Festival, Paris. Manfred Honeck’s account with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra was issued on the Swedish Grammy-award-winning album Karin Rehnqvist—LIVE.
The Gramophone overview of Rehnqvist’s work notes that many of her orchestral compositions remain unrecorded; but several are played by orchestras around the world.
Arktis Arktis! (from 2000/2001), from the CD of the same name, is an example of an orchestral piece for string orchestra that has become a repertoire piece in several places. It can be seen as an early entry of the sounding, musical kind about our relationship with nature and climate.
Rehnqvist’s varied production of orchestral pieces have been relatively less well represented on disc, but not Arktis Arktis! (2000-1). Another product of her Swedish/Scottish Chamber Orchestral residency, its origins lay in her impressions of the Arctic Ocean after taking part in a Swedish polar expedition in 1999. Rehnqvist is not the first Swedish composer to portray the top of the world after seeing it first-hand—think of Nystroem’s Ishavet—and she provided a detailed account of the experiences behind the music, from “the panoramic views, the horizons, the quivering effect when hot and cold air meet”, the tundra of the sub-polar regions, its flora and fauna and the intense “shimmering, glimmering light”.
Read the Karin Rehnqvist article in the Gramophone series Contemporary composers ›
Contemporary composers previously featured in Gramophone:
Timo Andres (US), Daniel Bjarnason (IS), Oliver Leith (GB), Robert Saxton (GB), Elena Ruehr (US), Arlene Sierra (US/GB), Thomas Larcher (AT), Stuart McRae (GB ), Benet Casablanca (ES).
