Music by Joel Engström to the poem "Förklaring" by swedish poet Karin Boye. Performed at Västerås Conerthall 2020.

Mezzosoprano - Emelie Thoor
Piano - Olga Tomilina

lyrics:
I din skönhet sänkt
ser jag livet förklarat
och den mörka gåtans svar uppenbarat

I din skönhet sänkt
bedja jag vill
världen är helig ty du är till

andlös av klarhet, ljusfördränkt
ville jag dö hos dig
i din skönhet sänkt.

-Karin Boye

I din skönhet sänkt

Composers workshop with the Baltic Youth Philharmonic

Sprickor

Premier performance by Ensemble Recherche (live) 21 sept 2013, Freiburg, Germany. Dedicated to Ensemble Recherche (fl, ob, kl, perc, 2pno, vln, vla, vlc)

Metric Dance

Om Människan (About Man) - Chamberopera, music by Joel Thoor Engström and text and stage direction by Linda Mallik, is a contemplation of mankind from different perspectives; above and below.

In her "heaven simulator" sits God, abandoned and disoriented with her last angel.

The angel broadcasts praises from earth to keep God's spirits high, but filters all things that might disturb the peace. On earth we meet a pig, determinally headed towards the animals great conference about man.  The pig is carrying her thesis which shows that man is abusing her power on earth. To gain legitimasy and authority in her demand for the abolition of mankind - the pig decides to ask God for help.

The performance experiments with scenic expressions and with dissolving the line between musical theatre and spoken theatre. The singers and musicians sometimes control the flow of the music through electronics. The audience is seated on the stage with the performance surrounding them.

The opera was premiered at Folkoperan in Stockholm in 2019 and was produced by Mallik/Engström/Ardelius, in collaboration with Folkoperan and with support from Konstnärsnämnden, Musikverket and the City of Stockholm.

Idea, script and stage direction: Linda Mallik. Music: Joel Thoor Engström, Costume and scenery: Anna Ardelius. Singers: Åsa Jäger, Monica Danielsson, Wiktor Sundqvist. Orchestra: KammarensembleN

Det Är Mikael!

Jag Kvävs!

Jag Dammar I De Låsta Rummen 2

Men Om Hon Får Veta

Människan Är Fantastisk!

Tillängnat och framfört av Norrköpings symfoniorkester 30 maj 2013 i De Geer Hallen i Norrköping. Dir: B Tommy Andersson

Musik För Orkester (excerpt)

Performed by the Swedish Radiochoir and KMH Kammarkör at St Jacobs kyrka in Stockholm on april 11 2014. Conducted by Philip Faber.

This piece is written as a dedication to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and as a reminder of the things he said. The text comes from a sermon called “But if not” that Dr. King gave at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on November 5, 1967.  He tells a story from the book of Daniel where the three Israelites, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, prisoners of the mighty king Nebuchadnezzar is commanded to bow before a golden image. They refuse, saying that even if their own god should abandon them they will not give in to evil.

Dr. King goes on and explains that these men practiced civil disobedience, which is one of the main tools in pacifist movements such as Gandhi’s cause for an independent India, and Dr. Kings own fight for civil rights in America. He also makes a reference to Nazi-Germany in the clause that human laws sometimes are out of harmony with a higher, moral law, hence calling for actions of civil disobedience.

But the most important point and the main essence of the 23-minute sermon is, in my opinion, best described in this passage:

 “Religion is not a bargaining experience. It is not a commercial relationship. [  ]…If you're doing right merely to keep from going to something that traditional theology has called hell then you aren't doing right. If you do right merely to go to a condition that theologians have called heaven, you aren't doing right. If you are doing right to avoid pain and to achieve happiness and pleasure then you aren't doing right. Ultimately you must do right because it's right to do right. And you got to say "But if not." You must love ultimately because it's lovely to love. You must be just because it's right to be just. You must be honest because it's right to be honest… [  ]… Think of love. Think of friendship. These things are not based on “if”, but they are based on “though”.




But If Not - Dubbelkör

Satirisk kammaropera med libretto av Hanna Borglund över den nuvarande arbetsmarknadspolitiken. Dur: ca 23'.

Kassandra är en otroligt vacker och framgångsrik jobbcoach på bemanningsföretaget som specialiserat sig på fas-3 i Jobb- och utvecklingsgarantin. Med positiva affirmationer och en smittsam optimism får hon sina klienter att finna mening och hopp i sin hopplösa situation.
Men räddar hon verkligen de svaga från utanförskap? Eller är hon med och skapar det? Och vad är det för positivt brus som dränker allt? Apollon vet allt men vill bara spela Fia med knuff och glömma framtiden.

För sop, mezz-sop, ten, fl, cl, vln, vla, vlc, pno, perc. kb.

joelengstrom

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