Composers
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Högberg, Fredrik (b. 1971) |
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| FREDRIK HÖGBERG – HOMO LUDENS | |
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 A playful human being questioning the hierarchies of art musicThere are two newspaper articles hanging, framed and behind glass, on the wall in composer Fredrik Högberg’s study on the second floor of what was once an old courthouse in Ådalen in northern Sweden. In the first he receives condescending criticism for what was perhaps his very first work before an audience – a concerto performed by him and others while under water in an enormous aquarium. The whole thing almost came to a bad end for Fredrik Högberg – staying under water for such a long time and blowing a pipe caused a lack of oxygen, with the result that he had to see a doctor. In the second article the Catholic Bishop of Newcastle gives him a scolding and cancels a concert with works by Högberg in his church. The reason for the Bishop’s strong reaction was Högberg’s trombone concerto The Return of Kit Bones, taken from his suite for brass, which was inspired by western movies. The various soloists engage in gunfights with one another in the manner of all the spaghetti-western stereotypes. The suite was marketed in Newcastle with such headlines as “Murder in the Church”. The concerto is a kind of theatre version of the film Brassbones that was produced a few years ago on classic ground in Spain with trombonist Christian Lindberg and trumpeters Ole-Edvard Antonsen and Håkan Hardenberger in the leading parts as Kit Bones, Old Ed and Hawk Hardon. The concerto ends with the soloist “shooting” the conductor with his instrument and then taking over and conducting the final measures on his own. The film Brassbones had its premiere in Dallas, and since then it has been shown in more than ten countries. The Return of Kit Bones has been performed in countries throughout Europe and on the other side of the Atlantic. TRANSGRESSING BOUNDARIES Transgressing boundaries, musical as well as hierarchical, is something of a hallmark for composer Fredrik Högberg, who seems to have a very close relationship to his own homo ludens – the playful human being. He is now 33 years old and his career started early. At the age of 24 he presented his very first official work, the children’s ballet Higgins and Mr. Wrengengengengeng premiered in Luleå. Högberg says he was given a boost in his career by Jan Sandström, his professor of composition at the College of Music in Piteå. When Sandström was fully booked with commissions, he simply recommended Fredrik Högberg instead, and his commissioners took a chance and put the young man to the test. One thing led to another, musicians and producers became aware of him, and the commissions started to roll in. PROLIFIC YEARS Gehrmans Musikförlag signed a contract with Högberg back in 1995 and one of his first published works was PlastMusikk for clarinet and percussion, today often played by clarinettist Martin Fröst. In the same year Högberg wrote Music for Strings for string orchestra. A couple of years later he began a fruitful partnership with saxophonist Anders Paulsson, for whom he composed his Concerto for Soprano Saxophone, a work he still likes to mention, PopMusikk for soprano saxophone and tape, The Bubble Tune for soprano saxophone and organ, and Concertino for Soprano Saxophone and String Orchestra. It was during this time that Högberg also established his first contact with trombonist Christian Lindberg with Subadobe (1992/94), which over the years has been followed by many compositions, not least the large-scale western suite for brass, including works such as the trombone sextet The Ballad of Kit Bones and the previously-mentioned The Return of Kit Bones. Fredrik Högberg also came into contact early on with ballet music, and among his large-scale productions he himself prefers to list Subtrain Eroticism (1997), In-Vita (1997), Standing Waves (1999) and Slice of Time (2003). THE COURTHOUSE – A CENTRE FOR MUSIC AND CULTURE Perhaps everything went too fast and Fredrik Högberg almost ended up in a commission trap, with all that this involves in terms of urgent deadlines and working under pressure. This was intolerable for a composer who regards composition as a pleasurable adventure. He found the solution in an old courthouse in Nyland, in the province of Ångermanland. The large whitewashed building was built in 1897 in what was then a flourishing centre in a rural community that was starting to be affected by early industrialism. Saw and pulp mills were going up in the vicinity and from his windows he could look out over the timber sorting works in Sandslån, at the time one of the largest in Europe. Like the surrounding landscape, the vicissitudes were dramatic. The majestic building with its clock tower was originally intended as a hotel and theatre but was never finished. Many years later it was transformed into a courthouse and the auditorium turned into a courtroom. With Högberg’s help, however, the building has come closer to its origins over the past four years. Together with dancer Annika Ölund, he runs Tinghuset Musik AB in the building, with a dance room, residence, a concert hall in the old courtroom, practice rooms and a recording studio. In the former hotel section there are plenty of guest rooms for colleagues who need somewhere to work. Högberg and Ölund also run a record company, called Courthouse Music (of course). Being near an airport and well served by public transport, it is handy for musicians, and many have now chosen to hold their rehearsals and recording sessions in peaceful Ådalen. Often there will even be a public concert or two in the old courtroom, and an annual chamber music festival at Midsummer. Courthouse Music has so far released eight records, mostly chamber music, but also folk music and a CD with selections of recordings from the first two years there. Högberg plays a major role in all the activities, especially as producer and sound supervisor. Lately he has felt the need to strike a balance with his various roles. This job rotation does indeed seem to have yielded desirable results. Just now his composing predominates and for this his diary is full until 2006. Högberg is, in other words, a composer in demand whose works are among those most frequently played right now. His partnership with trombonist Christian Lindberg and clarinettist Martin Fröst has, in particular, brought considerable international acclaim. PERFORMANCES AROUND THE WORLD During the summer Christian Lindberg went on tour in Brazil and played the trombone concerto The Return of Kit Bones with the Sao Paolo Symphony Orchestra, to be recorded on the BIS label. Yet another work on the same theme written expressly for Christian Lindberg is to be premiered in Japan this coming spring. For clarinettist Martin Fröst Högberg has written Invisible Duet for clarinet and tape (2002/2003), which will be performed during the autumn in Helsinki, Oslo, London (Queen Elizabeth Hall, a concert to be broadcast by the BBC), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw) and Vienna (Mozart Hall). In July his Bogo Bogo for oboe and tape was performed for the first time by Helen Jahren at the chamber music festival in Båstad. One of the many enthusiastic listeners in the audience was Melanie Ragge, professor of oboe at the Royal Academy of Music in London, who is planning to make the work a compulsory examination piece for her students. At present Fredrik Högberg is working on a new opera entitled Cain’s Woman, the first draft of which is nearing completion. Cain’s Woman is a full-length family opera and was commissioned by the Norrland Opera in Umeå. It is based on an original plot created by Högberg with the librettist Tove Alsterdal. Other recent works by Högberg include Kit Bones and the Rascher Bunch for trombone and saxophone quartet, commissioned by Christian Lindberg and the Rascher Quartet, and Deja Vue for chamber ensemble, commissioned by BIT20 of Bergen, Norway. For the symphony orchestra at the Norrland Opera he is also composing a trumpet concerto for the internationally famous Norwegian trumpeter Ole-Edvard Antonsen, to be premiered in the autumn of 2005. Other collaborations and commissions that will soon be under way involve pianist Niklas Sivelöv, organist Hans-Ola Eriksson and the saxophone quartet Rolling Phones. Playfulness, crossing boundaries and striking titles form the Leitmotivs of Fredrik Högberg´s imposing catalogue of works. But it is play that is meant to be serious, a challenge not least for the soloists – both musically and socially. It takes courage to get the maestro himself down on his knees, as in The Return of Kit Bones, just as it takes conviction to stand alone on stage accompanied only by music recorded on tape. TRUE ART HAS DIFFERENT SIDES As a composer Fredrik Högberg always has his tongue in his cheek, but he is also seriously challenging the prevailing hierarchies of art music. Above all he seems to want to spread music to new groups of listeners, perhaps to a younger generation, even his own. It is an urge that is driven by an adamant purposefulness that bears witness to a firm belief in the potential of music. Not all the works by Högberg tend toward the comical, even though one sometimes gets that impression from many of the titles. Thus, for example, the opera Cain’s Woman is a tragedy full of nuances that seems to be open to different interpretations, just like many other works by him. According to him art must – just like humans – have different sides to be really true and convincing, and for him comedy and tragedy are two equally strong sides of the same coin. But perhaps it is our deep-rooted expectations of art music that are shocked by Högberg’s compositions – which often give us the unexpected. The blend of moods, of high and low, of tonal and atonal, of styles and rhythms. The borrowings from popular music, from rock and folk combined with the multicoloured palette of art music. He pays homage to the versatility of man and represents, himself by virtue of his age, a generation that is in itself boundary-transcending, not least musically, but also socially. Therefore breaking all the visible and invisible rules of art music does not seem to scare him one bit; rather, he sees it as an interesting challenge. It is vital for Högberg to pass on his knowledge to others. In his courthouse he takes on one student each year, an apprentice intending to go on to higher education in music. As an assistant to Professor Jan Sandström at the College of Music in Piteå, he taught composition to very young pupils at the municipal music school. THE STARRY SKY In Ångermanland, where Högberg now lives, he has frequently brought together world-famous musicians and talented locals in stimulating cooperation, and he fights by all the means at his disposal to overcome what he calls a devastating careerist mind-set. Naturally, he delights in his successes, and in his case this means that he can do what he most enjoys in the world – creating music. Moreover, this gives him the opportunity to travel worldwide and to meet interesting and creative colleagues. But on his home turf, in a sparsely-populated region of northern Sweden, he experiences a peace and silence that he finds hard to be without. Or, as he puts it one late evening out on his doorstep with a view of the wide river Ångermanälven: “Here we can see the starry sky. You can’t do that in New York. I have everything I need here – silence when I desire it, tranquillity when I want it, stimulating company when I long for it. Then I can get on a plane that will take me anywhere in the world in just a few hours. That’s why my centre is right here.” Marianne Söderberg |
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