During our visit to the 2024 Nordic Church Music Symposium in Copenhagen, we asked participants to recommend pieces by Nordic women and non-binary composers. These were their choices!

Below are notes on the pieces written by ELNA’s communicator Siri Landgren.

Cecilie Ore – Calliope (1984)

In Calliope, Cecilie Ore lets the music arise out of the text, taken from Gertrude Stein’s The Making of Americans. The written word passes via whispers and speech as a springboard toward sung notes in high registers. The diversity of techniques creates a richness of timbre through the voice alone, marking off distinct elements that interweave in a kind of polyphony and offer large dynamic contrasts. The work’s phrasal directedness and repetitive structure remind us of Stein’s poetry, often characterized by a rhythmic, minimalist style.

Karin Rehnqvist – Solsången (1994)

“I saw the sun / how she shone / mighty she seemed” – these are some of the words of the Icelandic poem that underlies Karin Rehnqvist’s Solsången (“The sun song”). The music, too, feels mighty, with an introductory movement where the orchestra keeps us in a tight grasp of shivering chords. The intervals are dominated by octaves that create a sense of something monumental, with dissonant clusters instilling a sense of awe or perhaps fear. The work is dedicated to Lena Willemark who has also performed its vocal solo part, and is a prime example of what can be achieved through an intimate collaboration between composer and musician.

Kristina Forsman – Aria Pandemía (2022)

During the peaks of the Covid pandemic, musicians were affected severely by the inability to meet in physical spaces. Kristina Forsman’s Aria Pandemía reminds us of the privilege of being able to breathe the same air – especially notable since the work is centered on vocalists (mezzo-soprano and chorus). The four movements depict different aspects and phases of the pandemic, from initial panic to the dreariness of lockdown, with emotional states ranging from comical to heart-wrenching.

Sollerö långdans efter Reser Anna Larsdotter

Reser Anna Larsdotter stands as a historical example of the gendered music traditions of animal herding songs and other vocal music. She started playing the blowing horn already at age nine, and made a name for herself at some of the first Swedish folk music competitions arranged by Anders Zorn with the aim of integrating traditional music as part of Sweden’s national heritage.

Cecilie Ore – Dead Pope on Trial! (2016)

Cecilie Ore’s Dead Pope on Trial! tells the absurd – but true! – story of Formosus, a 9th century pope who was accused of crimes and had his claim to the papacy challenged after his death. His body was exhumed and dressed in formal garb to be put on trial, in a process that became increasingly grotesque – “But how do you punish a corpse?”. The vocal ensemble suggests a gossiping mob trying to wrap their heads around the bizarre events unfolding around them.

Ingunn Ligaarden – Ur vinterns mörker

Ingunn Ligaarden, born in Sweden but with Norwegian roots, is a composer but also a pianist and organist with a deep connection to sacred music. Ur vinterns mörker (“Out of the dark of winter”) is a Christmas song available in various versions for choir and accompaniment. The piece is available on Spotify, performed by the choir of Swedish Lutherska missionskyrkan.

Paula af Malmborg Ward – Missa Praesentis Dialectica (1999/2021)

In Missa Praesentis Dialectica, Paula af Malmborg Ward lets the old intermingle with the new: Latin and Greek mass texts enter into dialog with poems by Tomas Tranströmer, Wisława Szymborska and other modern authors. The work is extensive both in terms of its ensemble (vocal soloists, choir, trumpet and string orchestra) and its 50 minute duration. Malmborg Ward also shows a stylistic breadth – perhaps echoing the church’s ambition of welcoming all.

Florence Price – Praise the Lord (1951)

Florence Price’s Praise the Lord is a setting of the biblical Psalm 117, whose Hebrew title gives us the word “hallelujah”. Consequently, this is a dynamic composition, with an intimate central portion framed by jubilant exclamations. The gestures are vigorous, daring bold harmonic leaps. The work is written for mixed choir and piano or organ – Price herself was a virtuoso organist.

Sirkku Rintamäki – Once Again I Am So Restless

Sirkku Rintamäki is a church musician in Helsinki, and has written an artistic doctoral thesis on the role of the hymn – historically, in the present and the future. In a post on Katarina Ruderus’ blog, Rintamäki describes how she writes so-called “wild hymns” in an attempt to invigorate the genre beyond the authority of canonization. She sources her lyrics from Finnish poets, and borrows stylistically from both Gregorian chant, impressionism and the folk music of her native Finland.

Agathe Backer-Grøndahl – Piano Suite in G minor op 20 (1887)

In this composition, Agathe Backer-Grøndahl shows an interest in older music symptomatic of the 19th century’s increased awareness of history. The work is structured like a baroque dance suite, featuring movements like the gavotte and minuet often found in 18th-century suites. However, it also renews the genre by incorporating a nocturne, one of the major innovations in piano music of Backer-Grøndahl’s time, and the whole work utilizes the strengths of the piano in ways that were unthinkable to the baroque period’s more instrument-agnostic style of composition.

Mette Nielsen – Contour (2009)

Contour is a sculptural piece where the organ’s homogeneity of tone and articulation is used to highlight harmonic relations. Intervals like minor and major seconds give rise to acoustic beatings that make the notes almost tangible. The work is located strictly in the higher registers, utilizing an unusual 2-foot stop in the pedals to add even more treble to the organist's palette. This makes for a cold, slowly shifting landscape of sound, reminiscent of a frosty fall morning in the Nordics.

Agneta Sköld – Natten skall vika (2019)

Agneta Sköld’s Natten skall vika (“Night shall pass”) stems from a composers’ competition focusing on choral music for use in religious service. The piece is performable by amateurs, with its short duration and absence of virtuosic excess. It is written in an elegant renaissance style, polyphonic and through-composed, which makes it all the more striking that the lyrics (from the Book of Isaiah) are sung in Sköld’s native Swedish rather than Latin, as we might traditionally expect. Natten skall vika stands as an example of the possibility for church music to be artistically complex while remaining accessible to a broad range of musicians.

Liv-Benedicte Bjørneboe – Cortège (2005)

Just like NIelsen’s Contour discussed above, Liv-Benedicte Bjørneboe’s Cortège also uses the organ to create an almost tactile sonic object, although the pieces differ greatly in mood and motion. Cortège, true to its title, makes music that slowly flows by the listener, like a river where eddies and ripples form and vanish, all part of the greater whole. It draws on an impressionist tradition, using ostinatos and modal tonalities rather than strict polyphony and functional harmony to create a sense of something natural, not made by human hands.