Composers

These are biographies on some of the composers that Gehrmans Musikförlag represent.

• Hugo Alfvén

  (1872-1960)

  Hugo Alfvén is one of Sweden’s best-known and best-loved composers. His abundant output mainly comprises virtuoso orchestral music, romantic solo songs and choral songs in folk idiom.

• Tina Andersson

  (1966-)

  Tina Andersson was one of the winners in the Abbey Road Studios 80th Anniversary Anthem Competition in 2011 with her choral work The Angel.

  

• Kurt Atterberg

  (1887-1974)

  Atterberg’s musical strength ranges from clear and brightly melodious compositions on a small scale to grandly conceived symphonic works. His unflinching aim was to create living, substantial parts both for the melodic foreground and for the surrounding strata of the accompaniment. The solidity and saturation of his scores is also partly the result of an extensive knowledge of instrumentation.

  

• Franz Berwald

  (1796-1868)

  Franz Berwald belongs to the foremost Swedish composers of all times. Not least in his symphonies and in his chamber music he stands out as a prominent figure in Scandinavian 19th century music.

  

• Karl-Birger Blomdahl

  (1916-1968)

  Karl-Birger Blomdahl was a dynamic "natural“ who in time rose to be a leading Swedish music debater. A vivid personality, he worked energetically in a variety of fields.

  

• Laci Boldemann

  (1921-1969)

  Literary empathy played quite an important part in Boldemann’s production. Music drama, art songs and witty children’s’ songs, as well as vocal works with an orchestral accompaniment, are genres in which he made significant achievements. The purely instrumental works, with their solid workmanship and an atmosphere ranging from stimulating freshness to introspective intensity, complete the range of his artistry.

  

• Tobias Broström

  (1978-)

  Tobias Broström describes his music as full of frenzy and power, appearing in attacks and waves. Although the rhythm is an important component in Tobias' music – he is a percussionist himself – he is also a pronounced composer of harmonies.

  

• Sven-Erik Bäck

  (1919-1994)

  Violinist, incessant chamber musician and prankster with a deeply religious vein – in 2019 composer Sven-Erik Bäck would have been 100 years old. He was a strong force in twentieth-century Swedish art music with a broad network of contacts, many collaborations and a considerable and original production as a composer. Together with legendary conductor Eric Ericson he researched and renewed choral music, above all in the sacred sphere.

  

• Daniel Börtz

  (1943-)

  A composer in a constant state of development - It’s hard to detect any clear periods in Börtz’s works, and in this respect, he differs from other contemporary Nordic composers like Per Nørgård and Sven-David Sandström. As with Börtz’s great idol Bruckner, his compositional technique is subject to continual development, with a personal style - quite unique right from the start - that constantly derives nourishment from new experiences.

  

• Anna Cederberg-Orreteg

  (1958-)

  As an arranger and composer, primarily of music for children and youth, Anna Cederberg-Orreteg has become very much appreciated by choir leaders and fellow music teachers.

  

• Jörgen Dafgård

  (1964-)

  Shortly after receiving his diploma in composition the composer Jörgen Dafgård in 2000 was awarded first prize in a composition competition sponsored by the Swedish Radio and the Berwald Hall for his Veils for orchestra. Within a year Veils was performed at four well-attended concerts, first by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and then by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

  

• Cecilia Damström

  (1988-)

  "The ability to think and feel on a concious level is what makes us humans differ from other species on earth." This is also what Finnish-Swedish Cecilia Damström tries to achieve with her compositions; to make people think and feel.

  

• Hans Eklund

  (1927-1999)

  Eklund's artistic temperament is made up of aggressive power and a plaintive introversion. His humour is equally obvious, but also equally ambivalent, oscillating between the exuberantly burlesque and more complicated, grotesque eruptions.

  

• Anders Eliasson

  (1947-2013)

  His music grips the heart and reaches inside the soul – the soul of the music. His personal path leads inwards, towards the core of the divine, and outwards, towards the universal.

  

• Ulrika Emanuelsson

  (1965-)

  Ulrika Emanuelsson is a Swedish composer, singer and conductor. She has received international acclaim for her choral compositions, including awards at the Sacred Music Festival in New York and Cambridge Madrigal Singers in Boston, USA.

  

• Nana Forte

  (1981-)

  The Slovenian composer Nana Forte’s music has attracted large attention and is being performed in concerts and festivals all around the world.

  

• Gunnar de Frumerie

  (1908-1987)

  de Frumerie has attained a powerful position in Swedish music by virtue of an exuberant fantasy which derives its inspiration from several different sources. They include various idioms of folk music and numerous elements of traditional art music, e.g. the dance suites of the Baroque, variation forms and the refreshingly elegant musicality of the classical period. The piano plays a prominent part in his creativity, and his output includes a long succession of works such as sonatas, suites and works for piano and orchestra.

  

• Gabriella Gullin

  (1961-)

  Gabriella Gullin (1961-) is a versatile composer with works that span from choral to solo songs, chamber and organ music, cantatas and music for large orchestra. Her unique and colorful style, and her ability to integrate both emotions and intellect, has generated many commissions. Her music is often performed both internationally and in Sweden.

  

• Tommie Haglund

  (1959-)

  In his way Haglund is a romantic, but his music lacks vanity and is well beyond the insouciant use of effects that typifies neo-romanticism. As Erik Wallrup once so aptly said, Haglund’s music “tunes” its audience in the way that a musician tunes an instrument.

  

• Bo Hansson

  (1950-)

  Bo Hansson is one of the most versatile Swedish composers and his rich output is widely spread. He is also an experienced guitarist and teacher and has been a tutor for many students in the young generation of Swedish guitarists.

  

• Halvor Haug

  (1952-)

  There is no doubt that Haug´s music is firmly rooted in the Nordic symphonic tradition; from these roots has grown a musical world full of strong emotion, drama and intellect, reflecting the composers personality, feelings, temperament, courage, strength and originality.

  

• Anders Hillborg

  (1954-)

  He is an entertainer of considerable depth, with an ability to musically turn an orchestra on its head or wring unexpected sounds from an instrument or orchestral section. With humour and creativity and an ear for tender tonal sensualism and wild terpsichorean frenzy, Anders Hillborg demonstrates that originality can permeate range.
  

  

• Johan Hugosson

  (1973-)

  Johan Hugosson is one of Swedens up and coming young pianists. He performs regularly in Sweden and England in recitals and as a chamber musician. As soloist Johan has played Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Grieg, Brahms and Rachmaninov concertos with orchestra.
  

  

• Fredrik Högberg

  (1971-)

  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.

  

• Gunnar Idenstam

  (1961-)

  Gunnar Idenstam, born in in the far north of Sweden, is a concert organist, composer, arranger and folk musician. In 1984, he was awarded 1:st prize in the prestigious improvisation competition "Grand Prix de Chartres" and since then his career has taken him to many parts of the world.

  

• Thomas Jennefelt

  (1954-)

  ”There is a voice in the melodic arches, you can see the footprint but not the foot that makes it.” With these words Thomas Jennefelt describes one of his orchestral works, Musik vid ett berg (Music by a Mountain) (1991-92). For it just so happens that this Swedish composer of choral music, operas, orchestral works and chamber music must always hear an inner voice – with or without intelligible words, in a poetical text of his own or others – to be able to create his music, be it vocal or instrumental.

  

• Maurice Karkoff

  (1927-2013)

  Karkoff has given a voice to his impassioned, very engaged artist’s nature through an impressive array of works. His great capacity for form and constructions has also helped, rather than hindered, his natural sensitivity for the impulsive and spontaneously powerful.

  

• Anna-Karin Klockar

  Anna-Karin earned her degree in composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm in 1985, after studying with Lars-Erik Rosell, Daniel Börtz, Arne Mellnäs, Bengt-Arne Wallin, and Per-Gunnar Alldahl. After she completed her studies, Anna-Karin moved to Rome, where she worked for 25 years in classical, folk, and commercial music genres. She has taught piano, organ, and cello, and has conducted choirs in both Italy and Sweden. Much of Klockar's work in Italy was in the film and television industry, where she collaborated with Luis Bacalov, Riz Ortolani, Bruno Zambrini, Pino Donaggio, and Maurizio Abeni. Recently, Anna-Karin has returned to live in Falun, in the Swedish region of Dalarna. In 2014, she won the Swedish Church's composition award with her Missa Dalecarliensis, and in 2016 her work Speeches won the Allmänna Sången & Anders Wall Composition Award. She has also won the POLYPHONOS competition in 2017.

  

• Erland von Koch

  (1910-2009)

  I aim for a simple, clear, melodic style, often with elements of folk tone and with a definite rhythmic profile. I want the harmonies to be uncomplicated. The older you get, the more clearly you become aware of the importance of melody.

  

• Lars-Erik Larsson

  (1908-1986)

  In his constant striving for the greatest possible simplicity in musical style, Lars-Erik Larsson exploited his remarkable technical and formal skill. This simplicity, in conjunction with a stream of melodic inspiration and a lyrical-poetical attitude, has made Lars-Erik Larsson one of the most popular Swedish composers of all time.

  

• Mats Larsson Gothe

  (1965-)

  Mats Larsson Gothe, a full-time composer since 1995, composes works in most genres: stage works, orchestral works, solo pieces and chamber music. During the past few years his operas have attracted a great deal of attention.

  

• Ingvar Lidholm

  (1921-2017)

  Ingvar Lidholm (1921-2017) was a central figure in Swedish musical life. He started out as a bright romanticist and evolved into a noble-minded expressionist, with deep roots in the tradition. He seeked the unique in each work he composed.

  

• Nils Lindberg

  (1933-2022)

  To try to categorise the music by Nils Lindberg is virtually impossible. The well-known Swedish music critic Seth Karlsson once described him as a kind of musical knight, riding on the frontiers of music. He saw Nils as someone who resides in a musical borderland. As his coat-of-arms he bears the triangle. One corner represents jazz, one symphonic works and the third folk music.

  

• Olle Lindberg

  (1967-)

  Olle Lindberg’s choral music is colored by jazz and rhythmical elements. Sprung from the rich Dalecarlian folk music tradition, but more importantly, from a family of famous Swedish choral composers, Lindberg has created his own musical language. His aim is to move people and to let instruments and soloists interact with the choir in a constant dialogue. The beauty of nature is his greatest inspiration.

  

• Oskar Lindberg

  (1887-1955)

  Oskar Lindberg came of a dynasty of folk musicians, and his own musical output was profoundly influenced by folk music and the scenery of his native countryside. His music is National-Romantic in the best sense of the term, with touches of Rachmaninov, Sibelius and French impressionism.

  

• Bo Linde

  (1933-1970)

  The translucence of his melodies and the liveliness and distinct contours of his pieces have made Bo Linde a highly respected and much loved composer. His conscientious working approach was always aimed at achieving a solid but at the same time spontaneously accessible result.

  

• Peter Lindroth

  (1950-)

  Music has to come from within and it must express as well as arouse thoughts and emotions.
  For many years I’ve worked as a musician and a composer in different traditions. I find it very hard to put values, high or low, on all those musical impressions. It’s all music that I’ve been working with, that’s all, says Peter Lindroth.

  

• Carin Malmlöf-Forssling

  (1916-2005)

  Sound texture means a great deal in Carin Malmlöf-Forssling's works, which can be described as sensitive music permeated by a bright view of life and by creative responsiveness.

  

• Rolf Martinsson

  (1956-)

  Rolf Martinsson is one of Sweden's internationally leading composers, hailed for his masterly orchestral writing. He serves as professor of composition at the Malmö Academy of Music and is a Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

  

• Arne Mellnäs

  (1933-2002)

  The important position that Arne Mellnäs holds as a technical innovator and introducer of avant-garde styles to Swedish music can hardly be overestimated. The breadth of his understanding of the capabilities of different instruments is quite astonishing. The results of his explorative energy during the expansive 1960s crystallized into a personal musical language full of diverse moods.

• Helena Munktell

  (1852-1919)

  Helena Munktell already made a name for herself as a composer at her début concert in 1885, the programme for which included some of her own songs. They were regarded as pearls of music. Her bold harmonic style came to be regarded as indigestible in Sweden and Germany, but France was the country where she reaped her greatest successes.

  

• Tebogo Monnakgotla

  (1972-)

  Tebogo Monnakgotla is often inspired by poetry. Her music has a scent of French impressionism with a rich color palette that is both surprising and effective.

  

• Jacob Mühlrad

  (1991-)

  Rituals and ceremonies permeate the tone language of Jacob Mühlrad, who thanks to his persistence, obvious talent, and the burning love for music, in an astonishingly short time, has established himself as one of his generation’s most sought-after Scandinavian composers.
  
  

  

• Daniel Nelson

  (1965-)

  Daniel Nelson’s music has often been lauded for its rich rhythmic energy and colourful orchestration. He has written
  mainly orchestral music, but has also had much success with his works for the dance stage and the opera stage.

  

• Gustaf Nordqvist

  (1886-1949)

  Nordqvist composed on a small scale, but his output is impressively large and several of his 200 or more solo songs have become indispensible parts of the Swedish art song repertoire.

  

• Eva Nivbrant-Wedin

  (1956-)

  Eva Nivbrant Wedin is a Swedish Eurhythmic teacher. She graduated from Malmö Academy of Music in 1979 and continued her further studies at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm 1991 and 1998. She also combined the music studies with studies in Educational Sciences at Linköping University 1990 and in Psychology at Stockholm University 1994.

  

• Gösta Nystroem

  (1890-1966)

  A salt-stained composer with the sea in his blood
  
  Gösta Nystroem is usually reckoned among the first generation of Swedish modernists, i.e. the group of composers who made their début around the time of the First World War and who felt a strong need once the war was over to open the gates to Europe and the rest of the world. Nystroem, Hilding Rosenberg, Moses Pergament and the others wanted to get rid of stale romanticism and be a part of the new movements. They travelled abroad and eagerly absorbed the peacetime optimism on the continent and the belief in the future, the new spirit of the machine age and the audacious freshness of the glamorous twenties.

  

• Selim Palmgren

  (1878-1951)

  Selim Palmgren  was a composer, pianist and conductor.He studied with Martin Wegelius, Petzet, Melcer-Szczawiński and Karl Ekman (piano) at the Helsinki Music Institute in 1895–99 and continued his studies in Germany and Italy under Conrad Ansorge, Wilhelm Berger and Feruccio Busoni. Back in Finland he held appointments as conductor of the Helsinki University Chorus, for which he composed several partsongs. From 1909 to 1912 he conducted the orchestra of the Turku Musical Society, after which he worked solely as a composer and pianist.

  

• Anders Paulsson

  (1961-)

  Anders Paulsson is regarded as one of the foremost soprano saxophonists in the world. The fact that he is equally at home in a wide range of musical styles – in the classical repertoire with transcriptions of Bach and Mozart, in original compositions by contemporary composers and in jazz – is evidence of the breadth of his musicianship.

  

• Kjell Perder

  (1954-)

  Perder's music has been performed in over a dozen countries in Europe and North America and been recorded by several labels. His list of works includes chamber music, orchestral music, a vast production of choral works, a concert mass and operas.

  

• Matthew Peterson

  (1984-)

  Matthew Peterson was born in 1984 in the US state of North Dakota and was a composition student of Sven-David Sandström at Indiana University. His music ranges from lyrical choral works, to colorful orchestral scores, to socially-critical chamber operas. 2014 was Peterson's breakthrough year, when several of his works were awarded prizes in both the US and Sweden.

  

• Per Gunnar Petersson

  (1954-)

  Per Gunnar Petersson, born 1954, is a Swedish composer, organist and choirmaster.

  

• Allan Pettersson

  (1911-1980)

  Sixteen completed symphonies and the symphonically conceived concertos for violin and viola make Allan Pettersson (1911-1980) one of Sweden’s foremost 20th century symphonists. With its direct appeal and powerful imagery, Allan Pettersson’s music belongs to a Scandinavian tradition with Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius as the leading names, but his temperament is more intense and the conflicts in his music more bitter. Allan Pettersson’s music has also been choreographed and used in films and television documentaries.
  
  
  

  

• Ture Rangström

  (1884-1947)

  “Perhaps indeed my interest in music sprang from poetry, for it was the word, the ardent word of the poet, that aroused my remorseless desire to compose.“ Ture Rangström preferred to call himself a “song poet“, and it is as one of our leading vocal composers that he has acquired an international reputation.

  

• Karin Rehnqvist

  (1957-)

  One of the most frequently performed Swedish composers on the international scene, Karin Rehnqvist works in the borderland between folk music and art music. She has integrated the ancient female singing technique called ”kulning” (herding calls) into a deeply personal and unique tone language which has made her music an innovative contribution to the repertoire in the fields of chamber, orchestra and vocal music worldwide. In 2009, she was appointed the first female professor of composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and she was one of the founders of The Association of Swedish Women Composers.

  

• Georg Riedel

  (1934-)

  Georg Riedel's two main avenues of expression are his double bass and his pen. As a player, since the 50s he has been a popular regular in mainstream Swedish jazz circles, working with such eminent musicians as Jan Johansson, Thad Jones, Arne Domnérus and George Russell.
  As a composer, Georg Riedel's fame reaches beyond the realm of jazz and practically every Swedish child is familiar with his songs.

  

• Johan Helmich Roman

  (1694-1758)

  It would be hard to overestimate the central role of the instrumentalist, conductor and composer Johan Helmich Roman in the cultural life of Sweden during the Era of Liberty. The golden age of the Swedish Chapel Royal began with him, and he also organized the "Cavalier Concerts" in the House of the Nobility, which were the first public concerts ever given in Stockholm.

  

• Hilding Rosenberg

  (1892-1985)

  During a long life and a very long period of creativity, Rosenberg was able to enrich the Swedish musical treasury with an extensive output of all kinds. There are lingering traces of national romanticism in his early works, but he will always be referred to with veneration as our first great modernist.

  

• Marie Samuelsson

  (1956-)

  Marie Samuelsson's works are often physical and contain virtuosic parts. For the listener the music is exciting in its rhythm and at the same time beautiful in an almost impressionistic way, without ever abandoning her strong creative conviction and consistency, which have become her hallmarks.

  

• Jan Sandström

  (1954-)

  Jan Sandström is one of Sweden's most well-known composers, both at home and overseas. He is associated particularly with the highly evocative Motorbike Concerto, which has been performed the world over by trombonist Christian Lindberg.

  

• Sven-David Sandström

  (1942-2019)

  No composer has made such an impression on contemporary Swedish musical life as Sven-David Sandström. His catalogue of works, which includes some 600 compositions, gives proof not only of an impressive productivity, but also contains an amazingly wide range: everything from magnificent operas and oratorios to intimate choral and chamber music.

  

• Albert Schnelzer

  (1972-)

  Albert Schnelzer (b. 1972) belongs to the most widely noticed Scandinavian composers of his generation. He studied composition (1994-2000) at the Malmö Academy of Music, and at master’s level at the Royal College of Music in London, and had an international breakthrough in 2004 when his Predatory Dances was premiered at the Présence Festival in Paris.

  

• Jean Sibelius

  (1865-1957)

  Jean Sibelius is Finland's internationally most renowned composer, and he also had a great influence for the growing of a Finnish national identity. Among his best-known works you will find seven symphonies, a Violin Concerto, the symphonic poem Finlandia and Valse Triste.
  

  

• Fredrik Sixten

  (1962-)

  Fredrik Sixten (born 1962 in Västra Götalands län in Sweden) trained as an organist and conductor and has studied composition with Professor Sven-David Sandström. He has been organist and choir director in Vänersborg (1991-2000), artistic director and conductor of the Gothenburg Boys’ Choir (1997-2001), organist of Härnösand Cathedral (2001-2013) and Cathedral Organist in Nidarosdomen, Trondheim (2013-2014). During this period the number of commissions received led to his becoming a full-time composer from 2014.

• Martin Skafte

  (1980-)

  The Gothenburg composer Martin Skafte studied for two years at the Gotlands School of Music Composition. It was followed by five years of studies at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg. He has among others composed a piano suite Twelve Preludes, inspired by Claude Debussy's Préludes - premier livre.

  

• Agneta Sköld

  (1947-)

  In Agneta Sköld’s music, clear traces of her background as both a singer, an experienced choral conductor, and as an organist can be heard. It conveys a deep understanding of the voice and the choir as an instrument, often in cooperation with the organ. “Agneta Sköld’s music has a simple ingeniousness that settles close to the soul and evokes thoughts about the great mysteries or our existence: life, death and love”, stated the jury of the 2019 Stockholm Music Association Composition Award.

  

• Benjamin Staern

  (1978-)

  Benjamin Staern belongs to the leading Scandinavian composers of his generation. He made an early breakthrough with the symphonic work "The Threat of War". From this point on, Staern has developed a deeply personal style, where his ability to associate tones and timbres with different colours and tints is fundamental in his perception and the creation of his music.

  

• Wilhelm Stenhammar

  (1871-1927)

  Wilhelm Stenhammar is one of the finest and most versatile of Swedish composers. He has become with his long and impressive sequence of orchestral works, chamber music and songs, a cornerstone of Swedish musical literature and acquired a world wide audience.

  

• Staffan Storm

  (1964-)

  Staffan Storm (1964 in Karlskrona) is a composer and professor of music theory and composition at the Academy of Music in Malmö. Since 2020, he is a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music. He has a rich and varied list of works, including everything from solo and chamber music to orchestral works and opera. In recent years, vocal music has assumed a central role in his production.

  

• Sofia Söderberg

  (1972-)

  Sofia Söderberg studied singing, piano, organ and choral conducting at the Malmö Academy of Music and Baroque cello at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm.
  Sofia has established herself as a distinguished choral conductor.

  

• Lille Bror Söderlundh

  (1912-1957)

  Lille Bror Söderlundh was a musician of many talents, who composed ballads and wrote music for variety shows, for the theatre, for ballets and for films. He wrote music for children and he also composed profoundly serious music.

  

• Ann-Sofi Söderqvist

  (1956-)

  Ann-Sofi Söderqvist is a composer, musician, band leader, and teacher of composition, arranging and ensemble leadership at the Stockholm Royal College of Music. She has made a name för herself as a composer of music for big band, but also composes symphonic works, choral pieces, music for theatres etc.

  

• Mirjam Tally

  (1976-)

  Mirjam Tally, who hails from Estonia, has lived and worked at the island of Gotland in Sweden since 2006. Sounds and timbres are central in her music, which abounds with playful contrasts.

  

• Eduard Tubin

  (1905-1982)

  Tubin is recognised as an outstanding symphonist in Sweden and elsewhere and revered as the national composer of Estonia.

  

• Carl Unander-Scharin

  (1964-)

  Composer and Lyric Tenor

  

• Jonas Valfridsson

  (1980-)

  “What I strive for in my music is above all beauty, which for me is something fleeting and elusive. This is probably why my music is often distinguished by the mystical and fragile. Throughout the years I have developed a rather characteristic sound, a lyrical treatment of quite modern sonorities. We could perhaps discern influences that point back to Dutilleux and Saariaho.”

  

• Adolf Wiklund

  (1879-1950)

  As a composer Adolf Wiklund had a relatively small, but well-crafted output. His temperamental orchestration and the craftsmanship of his writing fully deserve respect.

  

• Dag Wirén

  (1905-1986)

  “Honest, straight to the point, balanced but uncompromising - such was the personality of the Swedish composer Dag Wirén. The same can be said of his music: it never tries to be anything but itself, it addresses the listener directly, it obeys unswervingly its own laws.”

  

• Lars Johan Werle

  (1926-2001)

  It was when Werle began to work with texts and the human voice that his creativity bloomed in full. Today he ranks among the foremost Swedish opera composers, with works as The Dream about Therese, Die Reise, Tintomara, The Animal Congress etc in his oeuvre.