From deepest doubt to the peace of grace
The concert's second work was Anders Nilsson's "Requiem", which was performed for the second time in its entirety after its premiere in 2010. This artistically high-level work is an existential drama with breathtaking depth, moving between the extremes of dread and grace.
Already in the first bar of "Introitus", the listener is thrown into a decisive spiritual battle with the greatest imaginable built-in contradictions. Timpani and bells initiate the choir's ascending lines in "Requiem aeternam", lines that are crossed by descending ditto in strings and winds, and the spirit of the work is thus manifested. With the annihilating grief as starting point, the struggle of the soul is carried out in the ascending lines of hope and the descending lines of discouragement.
The performance was led by Bengt Eklund who, together with choirs and orchestra, interpreted the first movement's tormented wavering and subsequent upward journey in such an organic way that the four minutes of music felt like a single breath.
The choir began the following Kyrie quietly and cleanly, and then transitioned into a deeply expressive and painful chromaticism. Gradually supported by warm string sounds, the choir tried to rise again, but an undeniable anxiety took over, and the panic rising in the music was magnificently portrayed by the conductor, choir and orchestra.
In "Dies irae" a clear message was given about the acute crisis of the soul when a harsh dance in the orchestra and low choir parts formed the background for the sopranos' astringent melodic quotation "The great day of wrath is near" from the corresponding Gregorian chant. Towards the end of the movement, baritone singer Olle Persson made his first brilliant solo effort when he sang “What should I answer then?”, as if he had never done anything other than interpret this very solo part.
“Recordare” began with an exceptionally beautiful pastoral flute solo, after which Olle Persson's thoroughly convincing vocal narration took over, gently supported by the orchestra and conductor.
“Confutatis” is a virtuoso parade number for choir and orchestra, where the grimly threatening and frightening sections of “Confutatis maledictis” alternate with beautifully gentle parts at “Oro supplex.” The ensemble's characterization of these diametrically opposed moods was flawless.
In this Requiem, “Lacrimosa” is a beautiful and gently mournful choral song introduced by clarinets, accompanied by string pizzicato, and then developed by the soprano part and full choir. The movement, like so many other movements in this work, demonstrates the composer’s eminent ability to find significant themes, develop them and orchestrate them to the greatest possible expressiveness. The ensemble’s interpretation of the movement was heartfelt.
The second part of Anders Nilsson's "Requiem" begins with "Libera me". The movement is one long build-up to the drama's climax, "Offertorium", and a fine example of the composer's striking ability to shape individual movement into an inseparable part of a larger coherent whole.
The offertory is a terrible and grotesque dance where the cloven hoof is more than glimpsed in the orchestra's brusque accents, while the choirs cry out their terrified prayers asking to escape punishment. Then everything turns at the choir's plea for guidance to the power of light, and its voices slowly soar towards "In Paradisum”.
In "Subvenite" Olle Persson appeared again. The music's victorious path upwards was now clear, and with Old Testament poise and his own warmth, the soloist led the choir to the final steps towards the light of grace.
In Anders Nilsson's "Requiem", these two steps consist of "Agnus dei" and "Lux aeterna", and the slowly rising and completed peace of these movements has an indelible beauty. Olle Persson's uniquely expressive closing solo led the redeemed choir and the angelic-sounding orchestra to the very last step into the eternal light.
Magnus Löwendahl