{"id":231,"date":"2026-11-12T11:30:49","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T10:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/?page_id=231"},"modified":"2026-11-12T11:30:49","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T10:30:49","slug":"the-music","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/en\/the-music\/","title":{"rendered":"The Music"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--:en--><\/p>\n<h2>Violin Concerto (2020)<br \/>\n002*1*2220 00 0 str<\/h2>\n<p>in memory of G\u00f6ran Rydberg<br \/>\nCommisioned by Swedish Radio Chanel 2<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Catturami, se puoi &#8211; un galoppino per un quartetto di sassofoni (2015)<\/h2>\n<p>dedicated to the Stockholm Saxophone Quartett<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Politikerveckan &#8211; en video (the politician week &#8211; a video)<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Politikerveckan i Visby\" width=\"629\" height=\"354\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SA9NS8BGmQ4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Nostalgic scenes &#8211; a medley\u00a0for trombone solo and Symphonic Wind Band\u00a0(2015)<\/h2>\n<p>Composed for and dedicated to Nils Landgren<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"I  Celestial Steps\" width=\"629\" height=\"354\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Dm2r2DZOc2w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"II  New York, Sunday Morning\" width=\"629\" height=\"354\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DO3eOfxrFDw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I.\u00a0Celestial Steps<br \/>\nII. New York, Sunday Morning<br \/>\nIII. Cool Heat<br \/>\nIV. \u00a0Pussywiggle Stomp, Don Ellis 1965<\/p>\n<p>Commisioned by\u00a0Bl\u00e5sarsymfonikerna with\u00a0Nils Landgren\u00a0as soloist, supported by Swedish arts council<\/p>\n<p>First performed\u00a0in Stockholm April\u00a025, 2015 by:<\/p>\n<p>Stockholm Symphonic Wind Band with soloists:<br \/>\nNils Landgren, trombone<br \/>\nJonas Knutson, alto saxophone<br \/>\nMats Schubert, keyboard<br \/>\nAnders Johnsson, electric bass<br \/>\nRobert Ikiz, drums<br \/>\nJonas Lindeborg, trumpet<\/p>\n<p>Joakim Hallin, conductor<\/p>\n<p><em>My comment on the piece:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Nostalgic scenes &#8211; to look ahead by a look in the rearview mirror. For me, musical creativity always is listening back and rephrase. Let your ears be a sort of prisms that leads the music in new ways of possibilities, sometimes colorful, sometimes black holes.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Nostalgic scenes end with a homage to the prematurely deceased American trumpeter Don Ellis, by performing an excerpt from his Pussywiggle Stomp from 1965. Ellis was my youth idol as a trumpeter and composer. This piece is in my opinion one of the coolest big band songs written, a hysterical sprightly cheerful outlook on life.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Nostalgic scenes are written for and dedicated to Nils Landgren.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Pavastique, for saxophone quartet (2014)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>subtitle Runaway\u00a0Beauty<\/p>\n<p>Composed\u00a0for and dedicated to the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet<\/p>\n<p>uruppf\u00f6rt 21 november 2014 in V\u00e4xj\u00f6<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>TicoPhobia,\u00a0for saxophone quartet (2013)<\/h2>\n<p>TicoPhobia &#8211; or hov to get rid of an ear worm<\/p>\n<p>Commissioned by Stockholms saxophone quartet with support by Swedish arts council<br \/>\nUruppf\u00f6rt i Reykjavik den 2 februari 2014<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"TicoPhobia\" width=\"629\" height=\"354\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/frqMlTgI2Yw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Canzone 62,\u00a0for mixed choir accapella SATB (2011)<\/h2>\n<p>Padre del ciel, dopo i perduti giorni,<br \/>\ndopo le notti vaneggiando spese,<br \/>\ncon quel fero desio ch\u2019al cor s\u2019accese,<br \/>\nmirando gli atti per mio mal si adorni,<\/p>\n<p>piacciati omai col Tuo lume ch\u2019io torni<br \/>\nad altra vita et a pi\u00fa belle imprese,<br \/>\ns\u00ed ch\u2019avendo le reti indarno tese,<br \/>\nil mio duro adversario se ne scorni.<\/p>\n<p>Or volge, Signor mio, l\u2019undecimo anno<br \/>\nch\u2019i\u2019 fui sommesso al dispietato giogo<br \/>\nche sopra i pi\u00fa soggetti \u00e8 pi\u00fa feroce.<\/p>\n<p>Miserere del mio non degno affanno;<br \/>\nreduci i pensier\u2019 vaghi a miglior luogo;<br \/>\nramenta lor come fusti in croce.<\/p>\n<p>Commissioned by Gustaf Sj\u00f6kvists Kammark\u00f6r with support by Swedish arts council<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Canzone 7,\u00a0for mixed choir accapella SATB (2010)<\/h2>\n<p>La gola e \u2019l somno et l\u2019ot\u00efose piume<br \/>\n\u00c0nno del mondo ogni vert\u00fa sbandita,<br \/>\nond\u2019\u00e8 dal corso suo quasi smarrait<br \/>\nnostra natura vinta dal costume;<\/p>\n<p>et \u00e8 si spento ogni benigno lume<br \/>\ndel ciel, per cui s\u2019informa humana vita,<br \/>\nche per cosa mirabile s\u2019abbita<br \/>\nchi v\u00f2l far d\u2019Elicona nascer fiume.<\/p>\n<p>Qual vaghezz di lauro, qual di mirto?<br \/>\nPovera et nuda vai philosophia,<br \/>\nDice la turba al vil guadagno intesa.<\/p>\n<p>Pochi compagni avrai per l\u2019altra via:<br \/>\nTanto ti prego pi\u00fa, gentile spirto,<br \/>\nNon lassar la magnanima tua impresa.<\/p>\n<p>Commissioned by Gustaf Sj\u00f6kvists Kammark\u00f6r with support by Swedish arts council<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Full i Fan for\u00a0Violin and\u00a0Violoncello (2010)<\/h2>\n<p>Commissioned by Musik i G\u00e4vleborg with support by Swedish arts council<\/p>\n<p>First performance: Hudiksvall februari 2011, Terje Moe Hansen and Hilde Sponberg<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Djylib\u00f6ytta Sj\u00e5ong,\u00a0for altsaxofon and organ (2006)<\/h2>\n<p>(The Song Thrush Sings)<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; an nature poetic inferno.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Canzone 365\u00a0for mixed choir accapella SSAATTBB (2005)<\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019 vo piangendo i miei passati tempi<br \/>\ni quai posi in amar cosa mortale,<br \/>\nsenza levarmi a volo, abbiend\u2019io l\u2019ale,<br \/>\nper dar forse di me non bassi exempi.<\/p>\n<p>Tu che vedi i miei mali indegni et empi,<br \/>\nRe del cielo invisibile immortale,<br \/>\nsoccorri a l\u2019alma disv\u00efata et frale,<br \/>\ne \u2018l suo defecto di Tua gratia adempi:<\/p>\n<p>si che, s\u2019io vissi in guerra et in tempesta,<br \/>\nmora in pace et in porto; et se la stanza<br \/>\nfu vana, almen sia la partita honesta.<\/p>\n<p>A quel poco di viver che m\u2019avanza<br \/>\net al morir, degni esser Tua man presta:<br \/>\nTu sai ben che \u2018n altrui non \u00f2 speranza.<\/p>\n<p>Commissioned by Eric Ericsons Kammark\u00f6r<\/p>\n<p>First Performance: Stockholm Consert Hall (2005), Eric Erocsons Kammark\u00f6r, cond. Eric Ericson<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Spa\u00a0for oboe and percussion (2004)<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-47\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/spa-sid-1.jpg\" alt=\"spa-sid-1\" width=\"521\" height=\"371\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/spa-sid-1.jpg 521w, https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/spa-sid-1-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/spa-sid-1-381x272.jpg 381w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 521px) 100vw, 521px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-46\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/spa-sid-2.jpg\" alt=\"spa-sid-2\" width=\"521\" height=\"372\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/spa-sid-2.jpg 521w, https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/spa-sid-2-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/spa-sid-2-380x272.jpg 380w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 521px) 100vw, 521px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>First performance: The Swedish Arts Grants Committee 2009 december 8<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Giacometti\u00a0for string orchestra (2003) 9 vln, 3 vla, 3 vlc, 2 cb<\/h2>\n<p><em>From the fragile to the furious, from brittle stumbeling to sweeping thunder. -In Giacometti, inspired by the artists extract thin, heavy iron sculptures, Sten Melin offers the listener the possibility of exploring the line between ugly and beautiful with help of 17 stringed instruments. The celestial delicate notes in the beginning of the piece periodically breaks the atmosphere, continuing with heavily blunt which sweeps the listener into waves with warm and aggressive strength. It is paradoxical music \u2013 extract, compressed \u2013 minimal, maximal \u2013 delicate, bombastic \u2013 soft and atrocious. Where does it convert from one to the other? Where is the line between pleasure and suffering and why is it that the hard easily breaks when the soft bends and rebirths?<\/em><br \/>\n\u2013 Ann Lagerstr\u00f6m (Translation by Petra Melin)<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Seven heaven\u00a0for sopranino saxophone, piccolo, didjeridu, ukulele, percussion and male voices,\u201dthe Hooligans\u201d (1998\/ 99)<\/h2>\n<p>From the four corners of the world, viva la musica globale, in quest of eternal bliss. With traces of aborigines, Balkan, Cajun pop and the barbaric yawp that can only come from a fotball fan\u2019s throat. Flower power of the nineties for consuming souls. A musical outburst by the composer Sten Melin.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sten Melin: Seven Heaven\" width=\"629\" height=\"354\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fGe7YQQVTs0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Hyssj for flute and guitar (1995)<\/h2>\n<p>Instead of trying to make itself heard above the carpet of sound that has covered our existence, this music tries to remind us of what we have lost and that is waiting to be rediscovered. Fluid whistling sounds from the flute and the guitar produce four minutes of tranquillity and presence. A tribute to sounds that have been drowned, to the wind blowing through cracks, to footsteps through leaves and the breathing of a light sleeper.<\/p>\n<p>The piece makes demands on the audience. The notes are long and so transparent that the slightest cough may drown them. Whisper something to your neighbour and the music will be lost. Zap between mundane thoughts and the moment is gone forever. hyssj is a piece for the ear\u2019s most sensitive nerves. Music for a closet.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>K\u00e4llarback Variations for saxophone quartet (1993)<\/h2>\n<p>Recipe<br \/>\nA familiar theme<br \/>\nA number of stylistic clich\u00e9s<br \/>\nA fearless approach to dirty tricks<br \/>\nThe best musicians imaginable<\/p>\n<p>Mix ingredients at top speed in a mental mixer<\/p>\n<p>Use refrain as a mouthwash<\/p>\n<p><em>K\u00e4llarback Variations<\/em> is dedicated to my three children, who nearly danced themselves silly while I was working on the composition, and also to the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet whose zest for music-making made the piece possible.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Ce n\u2019est pas possible \u2026<\/h2>\n<p>\u2026 ghiribizzo per pianoforte (1993)<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Keep the change\u00a0for chamber orchestra (1993) &#8212; 112*1* 1110 02 1 str, 2git, 2pf<\/h2>\n<p>I spent the summer of 1988 in a small, rented cottage in the village of Lyme Regis on England\u2019s southern coast. The cottage lay next to the church where they practice change-ringing several times a week. It was during this more or less constant noise that I began to think about a new composition. I decided it would build on a change-series for eight bells, the same number as at Lyme Regis.<\/p>\n<p>The piece was written in the spring and summer of 1989, the same time as my first child was born ten weeks prematurely. The constant trips between my home and the hospital, my desk and the incubator \u2013 this being a parent but lacking the child in the crib, a feeling af unreality that came over me in the midst of this inferno\u2026 During this period my life moved in two parallel tempi \u2013 one nimble and rapidly, the other extremely slowly and messily. The inability to separate life and death was never far away, feelings that left deep impressions on <em>Keep the Change<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>n\u00e4nns for string trio (1991)<\/h2>\n<p>like the scent of last year\u2019s lingonberries thawing in the spring sunlight<br \/>\n<em>n\u00e4nns<\/em><em>: old Swedish word wich means \u201cto be bold, eager\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Tv\u00e5 s\u00e5nger \/ Two songs for baritone and piano (1991)<\/h2>\n<p>Text Folke Isaksson<\/p>\n<h3>Lampan \/ The Lamp<\/h3>\n<p>This poem is taken from <em>\u201cOn board the Twilight Express\u201d,<\/em> which was published in 1988. The book consists entirely of prose poems, an unassuming art form which doesn\u2019t <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">sing<\/span> like a rhyming poem, admittedly, but which still has a sort of musicality.<br \/>\nIt is a composition with strong contrasts. The calm words in the first verse, \u201cthe hum of a distant source of power\u201d, are presented here with a violent flow of power.<\/p>\n<h3>S\u00f6mnl\u00f6s Odysseus \/ Sleepless Odysseus<\/h3>\n<p>Sten Melin himself discovered this poem, which was published in 1959 in the anthology \u201c<em>Sign Language<\/em>\u201d. I had almost forgotten it myself, but when I read it now I can see that it has intensity. The poem refers to the story of Odysseus\u2019s visit to the Underworld and can be said to be about the emptiness of dictators, loneliness and the nightmares of a man returning from war. Perhaps Eyvind Johnson\u2019s novel <em>Return to Ithaka<\/em> played a part in the poem\u2019s conception.<br \/>\n<em>Folke Isaksson<\/em><\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Sonora for piccolo trumpet and piano (1985)<\/h2>\n<p>A sonorous blend of barbed wire and His Master\u2019s Voice<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<h2>Q is Q for string quartet (1983)<\/h2>\n<p>Sten Melin\u2019s quartet <em>Q is Q<\/em> from 1983 is a musical Nor\u00e9n drama for four string-players; the piece poses the same questions as a theatre play about personal relationships. How many misunderstandings can a group survive? How many strong wills, outbursts and conflicts can there be between four individuals before their relationships break up and disintegrate?<\/p>\n<p>It starts off normally enough with energetically dancing strings in playful concord. But soon the instruments seem to loose the thread and the parts get entangled in each other in introvert, mumbled conversations. They brood and become increasingly disparate and fragmentary. It\u2019s like eavesdropping on the private, unuttered thoughts that unconsciously add spice to all human contacts. And then the musicians begin to question each other, to provoke each other. Partners become opponents. A minor squabble becomes a major argument. An exclamation is greeted with a long, uncertain silence. In their attempts to be convincing, the musicians and their instruments, as in so many of Melin\u2019s pieces, have to test their limits. They experiment and convince, in high and low registers, in forte and in piano, with accelerandos and diminuendos, in shimmering sounds and howls. A many-facetted gamut of emotions for four desperate voices.<\/p>\n<p>After hovering, bar after bar, on the utmost edge of sound production, they meet up at the very end and chafe against each other in quiet reconciliation.<\/p>\n<p><em>Ann Lagerstr\u00f6m<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>***<br \/>\n<\/em><em><br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Landet som icke \u00e4r \/ The land that is not<\/h2>\n<p>I long for the land that is not,<br \/>\nfor all that is, I am weary of requesting.<br \/>\nThe moon speaks to me in silvern runes<br \/>\nabout the land that is not.<br \/>\nThe land where all our wishes become wondrously fulfilled,<br \/>\nthe land where all our fetters fall,<br \/>\nthe land where we cool our bleeding forehead<br \/>\nin the dew of the moon.<br \/>\nMy life was a burning illusion.<br \/>\nBut one thing I have found and one thing I have really won \u2013<br \/>\nthe road to the land that is not.<\/p>\n<p>In the land that is not<br \/>\nmy beloved walks with a glittering crown.<br \/>\nWho is my beloved? The night is dark<br \/>\nand the stars quiver in reply.<br \/>\nWho is my beloved? What is his name?<br \/>\nThe heavens arch higher and higher<br \/>\nand a human child is drowned in endless fogs<br \/>\nand knows no reply.<br \/>\nBut a human child is nothing but certainty.<br \/>\nAnd it stretches its arms higher than all heavens.<br \/>\nAnd there comes a reply: I am the one you love and always shall love.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Edith S\u00f6dergran \u201dThe Land that is not\u201d, 1925)<\/em><!--:--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Violin Concerto (2020) 002*1*2220 00 0 str in memory of G\u00f6ran Rydberg Commisioned by Swedish Radio Chanel 2 *** Catturami, se puoi &#8211; un galoppino per un quartetto di sassofoni (2015) dedicated to the Stockholm Saxophone Quartett *** Politikerveckan &#8211; en video (the politician week &#8211; a video) *** Nostalgic scenes &#8211; a medley\u00a0for trombone [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-231","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233,"href":"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/231\/revisions\/233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stenmelin.se\/musik\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}