Glöden
Maciej Bałenkowski (b. 1993)
Sinfonietta Polonia (2017)
Johan Ullén (b. 1972)
Syldavian Dances (2023)
Alice Klint
Allt som var (2023) arranged by Carl Vallin
Alice Klint, Kristin Kennemark (violins)
Skallsjö Sommarorkester
rec. 2024, Hemsjö Church, Sweden
Swedish Society SCD1194 [51]
Glöden (glow) is the debut album from the Skallsjö Sommarorkester founded in 2013 when all the members were between 15 and 18 years old. The young players felt that classical music had developed a reputation for being boring and was dying. They set about changing this, believing that classical music is enjoyable and has something for everyone. Now consisting of 21 members and no conductor, this album proves that they were right. The three works recorded here are testament to the versatility of classical music and what it can be in the 21st century.
The disc opens with ten minutes of high energy in the Sinfonietta Polonia by the young Polish composer Maciej Balenkowski, which won the orchestra’s 2020 composition competition. The piece is dedicated to fellow Pole Wojciech Kilar, and the dynamic writing seen in the older composer’s works such as Kreszany is apparent. There are also hints of the brilliant string writing in Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony or Britten’s Les Illuminations, particularly the second movement Villes. Add to this a resolute tonality from minimalism, and you have an undoubted hit.
The work begins with an energetic opening pulsing figure and steadily builds on this with seemingly impossible intensity. The pulsing is always there but a long lyrical theme gradually appears and softens the works harder edges as it passes among the players. The musicians each have individual parts, and what could have been 21 soloists play as a single organism. It is one the most exciting works for string orchestra I have ever heard. I imagine it is exhausting to play, not least because of the energy needed throughout, never mind the technical difficulties. There are apparently 163 time changes in the work and for an orchestra to manage these without a conductor is nothing short of miraculous.
For the next work, the Syldavian Dances by Johan Ullén, which the orchestra commissioned for its 10th anniversary in 2023, we go into the realm of fantasy. Syldavia is not some little-known region of Sweden but the imaginary Balkan kingdom from the Tintin comic book King Ottokar’s Sceptre. The composer, taking note of the works of Bartók, Kodály et al has invented the folk music with its peculiar rhythms, harmonic quirks and traditional instruments of the fictional country. He clearly has a great sense of humour and contributes some wonderfully tongue in cheek liner notes. It is years since I read the book, but I do not think any listener needs to know the book to be drawn into the Syldavian sound world.
The first movement, Welcome to the Mountains of Zymylpathia!, is a moderately paced piece that draws a picture of a Balkan idyll. For me, the music conjures birds flying in a clear blue sky and lush valleys with fields of corn and trees blowing in the gentle breeze. There is rich writing for the full ensemble and opportunities for solos to appear out of the textures. Gradually, a folk dance builds up in speed and the players, like the dancers, have great fun.
Nocturnal Serenade in the Valleys of the River Moltus: Songs and Fiddles of the Shepherds at almost ten minutes is the longest movement and the most intricately constructed. It is an atmospheric, melancholy movement reminiscent of some of Bartok’s night music. There is extended writing for solo violin, brilliantly played by the leader Carl Vallin. The passionate writing is often interrupted by things that go bump in the night; maybe there are vampires in Syldavia.
The finale, Festivities in Klow: “Blushtika” Dance, Coronation of King Muskar XII, Church Bells and Hymns, is a brilliant celebratory rustic dance mixed with Slavic sounding hymns. The bells sound as though they could do with some tuning and are brilliantly recreated by the string players. It ends with a madcap rush to the finish much like Kodaly’s Dances of Galanta, though with a decidedly non-committal last chord. This is a wonderful work that takes what was a tongue in cheek concept and elevates it to the realm of the masterpiece.
Violinists Alice Klint and Kristin Kennemark were members of the ensemble from 2014 and now make up the folk duo Vågspel, and the disc ends with Klint’s suite Allt som var arranged for two violins and strings by the orchestra’s artistic director Carl Vallin. In promotional materials, Allt som var is variously translated from Swedish as All That Was or Everything that were. A Swedish friend combined the two and said it is Everything that was. Perhaps a true translation is not possible, but the composer tells us that the work is based on musical memories from her childhood heard anew through the ears of an adult. The suite comes across as an organically conceived optimistic musical journey where Swedish folk music is viewed through a contemporary classical lens. Anyone familiar with the work of Dag Wirén or Lars-Erik Larsson will find much to enjoy here.
In the first movement Havet (The Sea) the composer sees the sea as “an irregular waltz”. In a movement based on a swirling dancelike figure, the two soloists move in and out of the ensemble like waves rushing up a beach. The opening figure is a real earworm, so be warned. I do not know what the original version of this sounded like, but the arrangement is superbly atmospheric with every sound available from strings used, even percussive slaps. It is truly magical.
After the sea we enter a darkened Swedish forest in Skogen. It begins with soft, high notes and swirls of harmonics before a brisk dance in asymmetrical meters takes over. There is much bending of pitches as the folk music roots are made explicit. The abrupt cut off mid phrase is, to my ear, not entirely successful.
The finale is called Glöden from which the album takes its name. At ten minutes long, it is the same length as the two earlier movements combined. It begins as another quick, funky, dance in asymmetrical meters before the central section revisits slower material from the earlier movements in new contexts. The funk reappears, and the work ends exultantly with a marvellous surprise that I won’t write about so as not to spoil it. It makes a truly radiant end to a magnificent CD.
The liner notes tell us that the orchestra simply wanted “to record the most fun and best music we knew”; in this, they have most definitely succeeded. There is so little life-enhancing contemporary music but all the works here are just that and I most definitely finished listening experiencing a glow of pleasure. All of the works deserve the widest audience, and I hope that the disc will aid in their dissemination. The sound of the Hemsjö Church is just right for the ensemble: rich and warm, with just the right amount of reverberation. The producers have done a wonderful job in capturing the sound and, I dare say, the joy of the players, and also in producing a CD with a very useful booklet. The only downside I can see to the disc is that it lasts only 51 minutes and I want more.
Paul RW Jackson
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