One of Sweden’s most significant composers of our time, Sven-David Sandström, has passed away on Monday. He was 76 years old. He wrote over 500 works in all art music genres – from opera, choral and chamber music to symphonies – and he wrote a lot for church and reached a large audience.
Sandström got his breakthrough in 1972 with the orchestral work Through and through, and with the Requiem which was premiered in 1982. The work was also a start of a more romantic period for Sandström, when he began to write less dissonant and more harmoniously. Among his great works are High Mass, the operas Staden, Jeppe and Bat Seba and Christmas Oratorio.
