About the composer
Bengt Johansson was born in Helsinki, Finland, in 1914. He started studying
cello and had to take a job as a restaurant musician. During these years he
studied composition at the Sibelius Academy. He completed his studies in 1947
and in 1952 took a job as sound engineer with the Finnish Broadcasting Company,
which he kept until 1975. This work brought him in contact with electronics and
he composed the first Finnish electronic piece of music Three electronic
studies, which has been performed many times. Nevertheless, he did not see
himself as a modernist composer, influenced as he was by the music of Sibelius.
After an instrumental period he more and more turned to composing choral music,
often sacred, incorporating elements from Renaissance and Romantism. He died in
1989.
| Date | 1951 |
| Performers | Mixed choir |
| Length | 17.33 minutes |
| Particulars | The work is divided into five sections: Introduzione, Corale e fughetta, Interludio, Aria, Fuga e finale. The work is written in a neo-classical style with some fugal sections in the third and fifth parts, and is pleasant to listen to. |
| Textual variations | The "Analecta"-version of the text is used,
with one variations: - Stanza 16, line 2: Not "Passionis eius sortem" but "Passionis fac consortem" |
| CD | Brain Music OSBR 20025: Carmina Saeculi, 100 years of European Choral Music |
| About this CD | The CD has been sponsored by the Elisabeth
University of Music in Hiroshima, Japan. The choir consists of students and
graduates of this University, was established in 2003 and is building a
repertoire with special attention to religious music. It was recorded at the Cecilia Hall of the University, December 2003. I received the CD as a present from the conductor, Timo Nuoranne. |
| Choir | The Elisabeth Singers |
| Conductor | Timo Nuoranne |
| Other works | Alfred Janson: Sonnet No.76 (Shakespeare) Ralph Vaugn Williams: Three Shakespeare Songs Gustav Holst: Five Partsongs Charles Stanford: Three motets, Op.38 Max Reger: Vier Kirchengesänge Darius Milhaud: Trois Psaumes de David, Op.339 Tarik O'Regan: Gratias Tibi |
| Added | 2004 JOH 01 |
E-mail:
stabatmater@dds.nl