The award-winning ensemble Hoor Barock is releasing a full album featuring the music of Antonio Vivaldi. The pride of Skåne, Hoor Barock, is the small baroque orchestra that has made a name for itself with it's passionate interpretations of baroque music. The group has been praised for it's virtuosity, sensitivity, stylistic brilliance, and joyful, playful approach to performance. Hoor Barock has four critically acclaimed recordings behind them and won a Swedish Grammy in 2020 together with Dan Laurin. In the new production "Vivaldi in the North," Hoor Barock's temperament and musicianship flourish in Antonio Vivaldi's beautiful and vibrant music. The album includes solo concertos and ensemble works with varying moods and characters. Featured soloists are recorder player Emelie Roos, baroque violinist Hannah Tibell, and lutenist Dohyo Sol. Some of the works on the album deserve special mention - the flute concerto "Il Gran Mogol" was discovered only fifteen years ago and is here recorded for the first time with a recorder instead of a transverse flute. The violin concerto in G major and the string symphony in B minor have a special Swedish (Scanian) connection, as the only surviving manuscripts are preserved at Lund University Library. Hoor Barock has previously recorded works from this nearby library and is keen to highlight the rich historical cultural heritage found there. Vivaldi's music was present in the Nordic countries during the Baroque era and continues to inspire us today. The ever-present drama in Vivaldi's music-whether depicting proud autumn storms, mirror-like icy landscapes, or exuberant dancing joy-can be found in the Nordic nature just as much as in the Mediterranean world of Venice.

Goteborg Baroque Magnus Kjellson The long-awaited release of Goteborg Baroque's recording of Dietrich Buxtehude's "Membra Jesu Nostri" is finally out! This legendary musical work has been interpreted countless times, and yet Goteborg Baroque brings something new to the table. Recorded in arstads kyrka outside the Swedish town of Falkenberg, artistic director Magnus Kjellson and his group of musicians succeed in delivering an intimate and genuine rendition of "Membra Jesu Nostri", with the unmistakable quality that the ensemble has become acclaimed for: the live feeling, that of being in the room with the musicians even when listening to a recording. Goteborg Baroque is pleased to share a most human and heartfelt interpretation of one of the most wondrous works in music history.

This CD contains some of my compositions from the years 2020-2022; the period when I studied composition under Staffan Storm at the Malmo Academy of Music. Some works originate from the period just prior to my studies and some from the period immediately after. The four organ works (tracks 1, 2, 6 and 7) summarise quite well my journey as a composer during these years. They begin with the arrangement of the chorale O giv oss, Herre, av den tro, (O give us Lord, the faith) composed in the summer of 2020. After that I explore O glad dig, Guds forsamling nu (O rejoice, the Church of God) with another type of harmony built on chords by fourths. Here the melody of the chorale is treated more freely than in the first chorale arrangement, using more accidentals. The short Gregorian paraphrase Terribilis est builds on a kind of canon technique alternating with warmer, free-floating sonorous islands as a contrast to the canon parts. Polytonality, i.e. The simultaneous use in the music of several melodious tonalities, has become a significant and characteristic ingredient in my music. In the piece entitled In nomine Jesu I explore this technique both by overlapping chords and a more linear melodic sequence. The last organ work has been performed on the gallery organ in the church and the three other organ works as well as the cantata Tatt intill korset (Close to the Cross) are performed on the choir organ. /Hampus

Vindla String Quartet is something quite unique, a string quartet composing it's own repertoire. In September 2024 they are releasing their second album "Med ljus och lykta" on NAXOS Sweden. The music has it's very own sound, a mixture of influences from classical compositions, jazz, folk and pop. Vindla has established a creative universe, open to new ideas on joint music making. It all started during the Pandemic when restrictions made public performances impossible. The quartet's members started sending bits and pieces of music back and forth to one another, building on each other's ideas. The end result is 9 songs created from the desire to make something together that could not have been done by one of them alone. ' Vindla String Quartet was founded in Malmo in 2008. The quartet is known for it's many collaborations with artists from various genres. Debuting with an album in their own name in 2018 they are recognized as one of Sweden's most interesting chamber music constellations. They aim to widen the idea of what a string quartet can be and do. By making compositions collectively they want to challenge the idea of the composer as a lonesome genius and musicians as interpreters and not creators.

Musicam semper amavi ("I have always loved music") - Martin Luther In Reformationssvit, I wanted to create a musical journey through the history of Christianity with a series of hymns, composed or modernised by Martin Luther, as well as some Swedish hymns, both well-known and little known, which I have arranged in different styles. Most of the hymns can be found in the Swedish hymnbook from 1697, some of which are still included in the present day hymnbook. I have used the old translations, amongst others those by Olaus Petri. The journey begins in Jerusalem in the first century. People are playing music in the streets and market places and singing can be heard from the temple. We also hear Jesus' last words on the cross. Then, via the Coptic church, we arrive at the Gregorian chant with it's modes: Mixolydian, Lydian, Dorian, etc. Martin Luther makes his entry with his high and clear voice. Many of the Swedish hymns have three beats to a bar, which was unusual at the time, and was perhaps considered a little too dance like. I have chosen some of my favourites here. Luther thought that the prayer "Our Father" was rushed through and babbled in the whole world without consideration for it's depth of meaning and holy ritual. Here, it is represented in Swedish folk style, with Luther's text in contrary motion. As with many other melodies, Luther modernised the Gregorian chant "Veni Creator Spiritus". Here, I have woven the two existing versions together. Sometimes I have included citations of Luther or Jesus as a counterpart to the hymns. "Glad dig du kristi brud" is a well-known hymn, but here it is heard with the old text "Frojda dig du Kristi brud", giving a different rhythm to the melody. Everything is tied together by Luther's five "solas" Sola Scriptura: "Scripture alone" Sola fide: "faith alone" Sola gratia: "grace alone" Solus Christus: "Christ alone" Soli Deo gloria: "the glory of God alone" Many of the translations are from Olaus Petri who most likely had met Luther and who had a great impact on the reformation in Sweden. All the melodies I have used were originally single line melodies, so all the voicing and harmonisation have been created by me. Jonas Dominique Reformationssvit had it's premiere in 2017 in Soderledskyrkan with S: t Jacobs Chamber choir and REBaroque

New duo CD with Swedish Grammy winners Hoor Barock! What really happened during those long summer days in Leipzig, when master lutenist Silvius Weiss visited the home of Johan Sebastian Bach? Improvisational duels of excellence, or a more relaxed musical dialogue between friends? Contemporary witnesses recall there being "rare and elegant music played during this time". We also know that it was during this period that Bach added a congenial upper part to music originally composed by Weiss purely for solo lute, namely his sonata in A Major. This augmentation added a new dimension and perspective onto Leopold Weiss' already masterful composition, earning it a place in the catalogue of Bach's works, as BWV 1025. On the CD "Meetings with Bach", we are also presented with Bach's second cello suite in Dohyo Sol's own transcription for lute. Of the encounters with Bach on this colourful recording, we are met with his son, Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach, whose dynamic and frequently eruptive music stands in stark contrast to the more fashionable gallant-style of the time. Lutenist Dohyo Sol, and recorder player Emelie Roos, are both admired virtuosos on their respective instruments, and highly regarded on the Early Music scene- that of the music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Residing in the small village of Hoor in Skane, Emelie and Dohyo are the founding duo and artistic directors of the award winning and internationally acclaimed ensemble Hoor Barock, along with it's affiliated festival of the same name. Among the many accolades bestowed on Hoor Barock over the years, we must mention the Swedish Grammy win for their CD 'Golovinmusiken'. Aside from this recording, Hoor Barock have released three more critically acclaimed cds that have attracted international attention: "Devotion, artistry, esprit and expertise" (Klassik Heute, Germany) "... The performances are so well executed, stylish and sunny" (Gramophone, UK). Despite the fact that Emelie and Dohyo have been performing together for many years, the CD 'Meetings with Bach' is their highly anticipated debut recording as a duo.

Duo Delinquo presents Fragile Phrases, an album of works by various composers which were written for the duo. Duo Delinquo is Peter Fridholm and David Harenstam. Flutist Peter Fridholm currently serves as soloist in the Royal Court of Appeal. He has also been Artist in Residence at the Banff, Canada Center of Fine Arts, and was a soloist with the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra's China tour 2002. Since completing his higher musical studies for an Advanced Diploma under Professor John Mills at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, David Härenstam has worked on a long list of albums and radio and TV recordings. He has toured Europe, China and Australia both as soloist and with various ensembles, performing music that ranges from Baroque to modern art music, often including improvisations together with his own "David Härenstam Trio".

Performing the music of Mozart is like trying to tell a story everyone knows and has heard many times as if it were the very first time it has been told. It is a combination of musical pleasure and a wealth of variation in it's execution. The Concerto for violin nr. 3 in G major was composed in Salzburg in 1775, when Mozart was 19 years of age. We know from his letters that Mozart dreaded the first performance of the work by Concert Master Antonio Brunetti, who, according to Mozart was a blunt, reeking, mediocre violinist. He was however, greatly relieved when Frans Xaver Kolb performed the premiere instead. Kolb was a considerably more accomplished (and probably less offensive-smelling) violinist. The G major Concerto has always been a personal favorite of mine, and together with Rebaroque, I consider it a privilege to make it "ours," To tell, with our own eyes, ears and Jonas Dominique's fantastic wind arrangements, such a beautiful and moving story as this.

Putting aside any presumption of “authentic performance”–which guitarist David Härenstam acknowledges at the outset of his informative liner notes–this turns out to be a very engaging, entertaining project that honors Bach’s music while offering a thoughtful interpretation and uniquely distinct and vibrant sonic result. Although Bach didn’t write these sonatas (or any works) for violin and guitar, there’s no reason why two skilled and creative performers shouldn’t explore the possibilities, taking on the challenges of contrast and compatibility with guitar rather than keyboard as continuo.

Nils-Erik Sparf, whose recording resumé is quite respectable and varied, is not a baroque specialist–his use of baroque violin here was more for aesthetic and technical reasons related to learning and understanding the music than for any attempt at period “authenticity”–but he’s an experienced practitioner of 18th-century music and is well-versed in style. He employs a restrained vibrato technique that’s mostly used on longer-held notes, an approach that allows a compatible match and favorable balance between the bowed and plucked instruments. Härenstam also notes that to help make the tonal balance even better between his modern guitar (built in Holland in 1994) and Sparf’s early-1700s violin, he “tuned the guitar down in pitch” (he doesn’t give details).

The playing and interaction between the performers is expert and exciting, with the melodies more exposed against the quick-decaying notes of the guitar than we would experience with a harpsichord continuo. There are some very beautiful moments (the gentle interplay between violin and guitar in the Andante and Adagio of BWV 1033), and even surprising ones, as in the first movement (Adagio) of BWV 1021, where you might think you’ve temporarily wandered into a rendition of some French love song. In that same movement we also encounter some of Sparf’s consistently tasteful and affecting ornamentation. Härenstam offers his own improvisational expressive touches, and although the violin has the dominant role, the accompaniments clearly have a certain independence even as they support the “soloist”, and with his clear articulation Härenstam makes sure we don’t miss the interesting happenings in his own part.

The sonatas featured on this program are not among the six (BWV 1014-1019) usually performed and recorded, the ones with fully written out keyboard accompaniments. Two of them–BWV 1020 and BWV 1022–are of disputed provenance–and another two (BWV 1021 and BWV 1023) are for violin and continuo with only a written out figured bass line (the accompanist, within certain rules, freely fills in the harmonies). BWV 1033 exists as a sonata for flute and continuo in the hand of C.P.E. Bach, and its attribution to J.S. is not certain. All of which provides no end of interesting study and investigation for historians and musicologists, and is certainly worthy of notice by anyone who is a lover of Bach’s music. However, for the purposes of listening to this recording, it matters little: these two performers have made these pieces work very well in a context that’s both stimulating to the ear and artistically fulfilling. The studio sound is intimate without being too close (you do hear an occasional squeak or click of fingers on guitar strings or fingerboard), while the instruments have a natural presence and pleasingly resonant, realistic timbral quality. Strongly recommended.

-- David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

“The music on this CD is an artistic statement of Thomas Fonnesbæk’s bass playing and composing. Even though the members are the same as in Lars Jansson Trio this is Thomas’ work of art. Fonnesbæk’s music has a lot of strong grooves, exciting compositions, nice chords to “blow” on and some beautiful melodies.” –Lars Jansson

Jonas Holgersson, born in Furulund (Sweden), has established himself as one of Scandinavians most skilled and well-known drummer. After completed studies at Kungliga Musikhögskolan, Stockholm, he soon became a musician in great demand in various bands and projects.

It is rare to hear a composition for big band paired with a classical chorus, but composer Siobhan Lamb is known for bringing these seemingly disparate elements together with a deft hand. Pairing this musical palette with texts from the Oscar Wilde story of the same name yields a unique result. The Nightingale and the Rose was originally commissioned by the WDR Big Band and Symphonic Choir in Germany, but is here performed in a new incarnation by the Danish Radio Big Band & Choir.

Siobhan Lamb is a classical musician with a background in jazz, making her particularly well-suited to explore and play with the boundaries between the two. A foot in both worlds makes for an evocative and explorative mix of different and distinctive sounds on this release. Allow this release, thoughtfully performed by the Suoni Ensemble under Gerard Presence, to help you meditate on the seam between the two genres, and perhaps to let it melt away.

(SACD-HYBRID) Fredrik Malmberg, conductor and artistic director of the ensemble, is one of the most sought-after of choral conductors in Sweden today. Harmony of Voices was formed in the autumn of 2003 and rapidly established itself as one of the most exciting vocal ensembles in Sweden. The repertoire of this album is concentrated on Early Music and the ensemble's capacity to combine historical authenticity with creative interpretation has won it considerable renown. This disc is an ideal demonstration of the superior clarity, detail and coherence of the SACD Medium.