Jan Sandström (born 25 January 1954) is a Swedish classical music composer. His compositions include the so-called '' Motorbike Concerto'' for trombone and orchestra and his choral setting of '' Es ist ein Ros entsprungen''.

Career

Born in

Vilhelmina Vilhelmina ( Southern Sami: ''Vualtjere'') is a locality and the central town of Vilhelmina Municipality in Västerbotten County, in the province of Lapland, Sweden with 3,657 inhabitants in 2010. Vilhelmina is situated by Lake Volgsjön in the ...

Västerbotten County Västerbotten County (), sometimes called Westrobothnia, is a county or '' län'' in the north of Sweden. It shares the borders with the counties of Västernorrland, Jämtland, and Norrbotten, as well as the Norwegian county of Nordland and the ...

, Sandström grew up in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. He studied at the

Luleå University of Technology Luleå University of Technology is a Public university, public research university in Norrbotten County, Sweden. The university has four campuses located in the Arctic, Arctic Region in the cities of Luleå, Kiruna, Skellefteå, and Piteå. With ...

Piteå School of Music The School of Music in Piteå is a music school located in Piteå in northern Sweden. It is a part of the Department of Music and Media at Luleå University of Technology. The school was founded in 1978. Well known professor Professor (c ...

(1974–1976) and completed his music training at the

Royal College of Music, Stockholm The Royal College of Music, Stockholm () is the oldest institution of higher education in music in Sweden, founded in 1771 as the conservatory of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The institution was made independent of the Academy in 1971, and ...

, studying music theory (1978–1982) and composition with

Gunnar Bucht Gunnar Henrik Bucht (born 5 August 1927) is a Swedish composer and musicologist. Life and career Born in Stocksund, Bucht studied composition with Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Carl Orff, and Max Deutsch, among others. He earned a doctorate in musi ...

Brian Ferneyhough Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and ...

and

Pär Lindgren Pär Lindgren (born 16 January 1952 in Gothenburg) is a Swedish composer and composition teacher, cited as one of Sweden's leading composers of electroacoustic music, and one of the most important Swedish composers of orchestral music of his gener ...

(1980–1984). He joined the faculty of the

in the 1980s and was appointed professor of composition in 1989. In 1988 to 1989 he composed his first concerto for trombone and large orchestra, which became famous as the '' Motorbike Concerto'', revised in 2002 to a ''Motorbike Odyssey''. In 1990 he composed '' Es ist ein Ros entsprungen'' (''Det är en ros utsprungen''), placing the familiar

Praetorius Praetorius, Prätorius, Prætorius was the name of several musicians and scholars in Germany. In 16th and 17th century Germany it became a fashion for educated people named "Schulze," "Schultheiß," or "Richter (disambiguation), Richter" (which mea ...

setting in slow motion in an eight-part

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

setting. In 1991 he completed ''Från Mörker till Ljus'' (From Darkness to Light) for reader, baritone and chamber orchestra, based on poems by Folke Isaksson, were inspired by an altarpiece from Antwerp in

Gammelstad Gammelstad Church Town () is a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated in Gammelstaden 10 km north of Luleå, Sweden, at the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia. It is the best preserved example of a type of town that was once widespread througho ...

, with a focus on the Passion. The poems are partly spoken, partly sung, some accompanied by the orchestra; the tenth of 14 movements, ''Klarheten'' (Clarity), is purely orchestral. The work was recorded in 2002 with the singer of the premiere, Peter Mattei, speaker

Sven Wollter Sven Justus Fredrik Wollter (11 January 1934 – 10 November 2020) was a Swedish actor, writer, and political activist. Wollter is one of the most renowned Swedish actors, he was awarded Best Swedish actor twice. In his native country, he becam ...

and the Norrbotten Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Petter Sundkvist. In 2008 his ''Rekviem'' (

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

) on a Swedish text by Christine Falkenland was first performed at Stockholm's Hedvig Eleonora Church. A review summarised: "99% Pärt, 1%

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

". In 2009 his ballet ''The Tale of a Manor'' was recorded on DVD by the

Royal Swedish Ballet The Royal Swedish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Gustav III of Sweden, King Gustav III founded the ballet in 1773 as a part of his national cultural project in response to the French and Italian ...

and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jonas Dominique. In October 2013, a new choral work entitled ''Do what is fair'' was first performed in

Uppsala Cathedral Uppsala Cathedral () is a cathedral located between the University Hall (Uppsala University), University Hall of Uppsala University and the Fyris river in the centre of Uppsala, Sweden. A church of the Church of Sweden, the national church, in t ...

, as part of the Young Cathedral Voices festival. This new setting by Sandström of a text from

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...

, for four choirs and four organs, was performed by choirs from Uppsala,

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Llandaff Llandaff (; ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of the Bisho ...

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

and

Solothurn Solothurn ( ; ; ; ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains. The town is ...

Selected works

Orchestra

Concertos

* ''A dance in the subdominant quagmire'' for soprano recorder and string orchestra, 1994 * Flute Concerto, 2008 * Clarinet Concerto, 2001 * ''My assam dragon'', alto saxophone concerto, 1994 (for John-Edward Kelly) * Trumpet Concerto No. 1, 1987 (for Håkan Hardenberger) * Trumpet Concerto No. 2, 1993/96 (for Håkan Hardenberger) * Trumpet Concerto No. 3, 2007 (for Ole Edvard Antonsen) * Trombone Concerto No. 1, ''Motorcykelkonserten'', 1988–89 (for Christian Lindberg) ** shortened version: ''A short ride on a motorbike'', 1989 ** revised version: ''A motorbike odyssey'', 2002 * Trombone Concerto No. 2, ''Don Quixote'', 1994 (for Christian Lindberg) * ''Ecos de eternidad'', concerto for two trombones, 2009 * ''The Lemon House'', Tuba Concerto, 2004 * Piano Concerto No. 1, 1995 * ''Bona Spey'', Piano Concerto No. 2, 2001

Orchestra

* ''Era'', 1979–80 * ''Snowflakes'' for chamber orchestra, 1980/84 * ''Acintyas'' for string orchestra, 1986 * ''Indri'', 1988/89 * ''Kejsarvisan'', 1993 * ''Ocean child'', 1999/2004

Vocal

Opera

* ''Bombi Bitt'', 1991–92 * ''Macbeth²'', 1996 * ''K. Beskrivning av en kamp'' (K. description of a fight), 2005 * ''God Natt Madame!'', 2006

Choral

* '' Det är en ros utsprungen'' (Praetorius/Sandström) for two mixed choirs a cappella, 1990 * ''Sanctus'' for male or female choir, 1990, version for mixed choir 1993 * ''Te Deum'' (1996) for choir and orchestra * ''Biegga luohte'' for mixed choir, 1998 * ''Across the bridge of hope'' for soloist and for mixed choir, 1999 * ''Ett svenskt requiem'' for choir, soloists and small orchestra, 2007, text by Christine Falkenland * ''The word became flesh'', 2010 * ''Do what is fair'' for two mixed choirs, two treble choirs and four organs, 2012

Chamber music

* ''Wahlbergvariationer'' for cello and wind quintet, 1990 ** version for saxophone quartet, 1993 * ''Sång till Lotta'' for trombone and piano, 1990

References

External links

*
Jan Sandström
publisher's website *

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandstrom, Jan 20th-century Swedish classical composers 21st-century Swedish classical composers Luleå University of Technology alumni Royal College of Music, Stockholm, alumni Swedish male classical composers Swedish musical theatre composers Academic staff of the Luleå University of Technology Composers for piano Litteris et Artibus recipients Best Original Score Guldbagge Award winners 1954 births Living people People from Vilhelmina Municipality Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music Swedish male film score composers 20th-century Swedish male musicians 20th-century Swedish musicians 21st-century Swedish male musicians Musicians from Västerbotten County