A spring evening with Vilhelm Ekelund in words and tone
contribute:
Kristina Nielsen-Jerneck
Johan-Magnus Sjöberg
Stina Otterberg Engdahl
JM's Vocal Ensemble
About the program:
The Scanian poet Vilhelm Ekelund (1880–1949) is one of our most widely read and beloved poets. In his poetry, he sings of the Scanian landscape, which also becomes an inner, spiritual landscape. Many composers have been attracted to set music to Ekelund's evocative and dreamy poetry.
This concert offers five Ekelund poems set to music, all themed around spring and music. We will hear “Music” set to music by Josef Hedar – legendary composer and organist at Lund Cathedral – as well as composer and organist Hildor Lundvik’s interpretations of “The First Spring Rain” and “Verlaine Mood”. Both songs have become classics in the choral lyric repertoire. In addition, the concert will feature two premieres of Johan-Magnus Sjöberg’s settings of the poems “Light” and “Colors”.
About the participants:
Kristina Nielsen-Jerneck is a priest in Lund. She is also a publisher's editor and attends the Writers' School at Lund University. Nielsen-Jerneck has worked for many years in the borderland between church and culture through her interest in the meeting of the arts.
Johan-Magnus Sjöberg, is a composer, choir conductor, organist and pedagogue. Sjöberg has been active as a church musician in Lund since 1972 and has taught choir conducting at the Malmö Academy of Music. His compositional work consists largely of chamber and vocal music.
Stina Otterberg Engdahl is a literary scholar and critic. She has a particular interest in the encounter between poetry and music, which is reflected in her latest book, Choral Lyric Readings. She has a background as a choir singer and often contributes with text introductions in concert contexts.
JM's Vocal Ensemble was founded in 2021 and grew out of the Allhelgona Motettkör, which was led by Johan-Magnus Sjöberg for nearly two decades. The choir works in project form and consists of experienced singers with an interest in artistic immersion and musical encounters. The repertoire ranges from classical choral poetry and church music to newly written works, with a special emphasis on contemporary music and text interpretation.