#4 Wish-night by Linda Alexandersson

In the autumn of 2021, Gehrmans Musikförlag and the Swedish Society of Composers launched a call for works by female and non-binary composers. Of the many pieces submitted, six are nominated by an external committee and will be published in 2022. Linda Alexandersson paints her own starry sky in Wish-night, which was premiered by 140 girls and women in a concert that commemorated Swedish suffrage.

See the film about Linda Alexandersson and her work HERE!

The piece was composed with two ideas in mind. Partly, to mirror the feelings of hope, comfort and trust that the poem conveys. And partly, to paint a picture of the poem’s starry sky by deriving inspiration from the astrological signs, constellations and meteor showers of the April night sky. In other words, to depict a musical night sky to set the scene for Karin Boye’s words.
Linda Alexandersson, May 2021

Linda Alexandersson
Linda Alexandersson (b. 1984) is a composer, conductor, arranger and works as a choir teacher at Lund's School of the Arts, where she leads several youth choirs. She studied composition, music theory, music pedagogy and conducting at the Malmö Academy of Music and is the artistic director of the internationally known women’s choir Korallerna based in Lund. With her great passion for the voice as a means of expression, her work with children and youth and her expressive and straightforward tone, Linda Alexandersson has established herself as one of our most interesting choral composers.

Önskenatt (Wish-night)
Text: Karin Boye (1900-1941)
SSAA in three choir groups
A cappella
Medium level
Durata appr 7 min
In Swedish, with an IPA pronunciation guide and an English translation of the poem (translation by David McDuff)

Önskenatt (Wish-night) was commissioned by Körcentrum Syd, written for three choirs in the treble register (one girls’ choir and two women’s choirs). The piece is dedicated to the women’s choir at the Malmö Academy of Music, the women’s choir Koritsia and the girls’ choir Köramellerna. Önskenatt had its premiere 4 May 2022 at the Malmö Live Concert Hall and the concert was a feature of Malmö Live’s theme year “100 women – 100 years”. 

#swedishchoralmusic 2022
is a collaboration between Gehrmans Musikförlag and The Swedish Society of Composers. It aims to balance the eqality in choral music, Swedish and international. The six pieces chosen will be published by Gehrmans Musikförlag and spread to Swedish and international conductors and choirs. There will be one film for each piece, presenting the music and its composer, released in the series #swedishchoralmusic. The pieces are nominated by a committee of well known Swedish and international choir professionals. All pieces are anonymized before evaluation.

Committee of #swedishchoralmusic 2022
Karin Rehnqvist, composer and Professor of composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm
Krista Audere, Latvian conductor and winner of the 2021 Eric Ericson Award
Bengt Ollén, Choir Leader of the Year 2021
Simon Arlasjö, conductor and member of the board of The Swedish Choral Conductors' Association

Questions about the series? Please contact Janna Vettergren, producer and project manager of #swedishchoralmusic: janna.vettergren@gehrmans.se