Åkallan (2013)
(for orchestra)

Åkallan means ”invocation” or ”conjuration” and is based on the traditional Swedish folk music Kulning. Kulning is a female way of singing that was used to call for the herds from mountain to mountain. The use of kulning in Åkallan ranges from clear quotes of a kulning by Karin Edvardsson Johansson to a more general use of the same scales with their multitude of microtonal intervals. Microtonality exists in Swedish folk music since a long time and the practice was called ”blue” notes - several hundred years before the emergence of Blues or Jazz.

Åkallan (2013) is the first piece in a trilogy commissioned to the three major symphony orchestras in Sweden. The other two pieces are: Ärr (2014) which is based on extreme Metal band Meshuggah and dedicated to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Baldur Brönnimann. Öde (2015) which is based on recordings by classical singers like Jussi Björling and Birgit Nilsson and dedicated to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding.

Commissioned by Vara Concert House for their 10th anniversary. Premiered by Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano at Vara Concert House 27/2 2014