Rolf Martinsson

Rolf Martinsson is one of Sweden's internationally leading composers. In this CD five works are gathered. One work is for soprano and string orchestra: Garden of Devotion is a collection of poems by Rabindranath Tagore set to music by Martinsson in 2013. In To the Shadow of Reality, the soprano is istead accompanied by string quartet in these five songs with lyrics by Swedish poetess Karin Boye. A.S. in memoriam is a piece for string orchestra. Composed in 1999; it is a homage to Arnold Schoenberg. A piece called Landscape for solo violin is dated 2010 and takes its inspiration from The Strand, a painting by Edvard Munch. The disc closes with a work for chamber orchestra, Kalliope, composed in 2004.

Jonathan Östlund is a Swedish composer who has recently been living in London and is now in Romania. He has manifested an avid interest for music from an early age and has pursued his passion with a BA and MA in Composition at the Luleå Tekniska Universitet, in Sweden. He has studied under the artistic guidance of Prof. Rolf Martinsson, Prof. Jan Sandström and Prof. Sverker Jullander, among others, and has so far completed almost 100 works, including several orchestral pieces and concertos for both violin and piano, and has been awarded many prizes in international competitions.

The Malmö Symphony Orchestra is one of Sweden's major orchestral ensembles. For a regional group, it has an unusually wide musical footprint, featuring an international group of players, conductors, and guest artists.