Stellan
Sagvik must be one of the most prolific composers in Sweden
with a production spanning almost all genres. Besides that he
has studied singing, acting, woodwind instruments and journalism.
He has been a music teacher and theatre musician and also runs
his own record company, releasing a steady stream of both classical
and contemporary music. This mass was a commission from Judith
Linder, choir leader at Maria Magdalena Church, situated just
south of Stockholm’s Old Town. The church is big and Sagvik
utilized the whole space of the building with choirs and soloists
spread out at distances up to 30 metres. The church has good
acoustics, as I well know from several visits there, but recording
this complex work set the technicians a severe test. Each of
the more than 40 microphones had to be timed individually, sometimes
delayed to give the impression of simultaneousness. Since the
mass was recorded at actual performances everything had to be
set in advance and it says a lot about the competence of those
responsible that the sound-picture is in the main impressively
well balanced and atmospheric. That soloists sometimes seem
to be at variable distances from the listener may be intentional;
especially Jesus varies slightly and the angel that appears
in the 12th movement, At the tomb, seems distantly
and dimly recorded, but he/she is of course heavenly and should
rightly be in a different dimension.
The
Stockholm Wind Symphony is an impressive band and the choirs
more than live up to the expected high standards of choral singing
in Sweden. Stellan Sagvik’s free-tonal musical language often
gives them a hard time but they negotiate the complexities superbly.
Of the soloists the versatile Olle Persson, who is an eager
champion of contemporary music, sings his demanding role with
impressive tone and sings with excellent enunciation. Annika
Skoglund, whose repertoire spans most genres, from opera to
jazz, sings Maria Magdalena’s part with such confidence and
such intensity that I doubt I’ve heard her better and the young
Hannah Holgersson’s crystal clear soprano sails beautifully
through Martha’s high-lying part. High-lying are also the Evangelist’s
readings and Carl Unander-Scharin, who also is a successful
composer, can’t quite avoid sounding strained sometimes but
he too is extremely articulate. Among the minor roles Staffan
Alveteg makes his mark with his dark-hued bass.
So
much for the performance. In other words: it could hardly be
bettered. And the music? I have been lucky to review quite a
number of NOSAG records, among them also several Sagvik compositions,
which have always seemed to me quite accessible, without in
any way rubbing the listeners the right way. His free-tonal
harmonies and his way of structuring the compositions need a
good share of bravery to come to terms with, but in the end
I have always felt he has something to say and says it personally
and with finesse. Missa Maria Magdalena is the largest-scale
work of his I have encountered and a time-span of almost 80
minutes needs a lot of substance to become meaningful and engaging.
Structurally it is laid out along the same lines as Bach’s passions
with an evangelist reciting the biblical texts, choruses personifying
the people and soloists acting the main characters. There are
no arias, most of the music is held as recitatives but the solos
are very often considerably cantabile and require beautiful
and expressive voices, which they certainly get. The story is
not continuous, since Jesus’s encounters with Maria Magdalena
were only intermittent, it is more a matter of pictures and
between these pictures – or scenes – Kyrie, Gloria, Credo,
Agnus Dei and Sanctus are interspersed, thus motivating
the title Missa. Musically these movements are often
the most central, the core of the work. The story is however
also related with considerable skill and power. The first scene,
Adulteress, begins from almost nowhere with a solo flute,
more woodwind are added, creating a warm atmosphere. Then all
of a sudden the full orchestra breaks in with tremendous power
and a chaotic chorus, depicting the people agitated over Maria’s
adultery. This is an efficient opening but later on I sometimes
felt that the music was idling. There are numerous repetitions
of text, as was common in baroque practice, even from the Evangelist
and they make me impatient, the action is halted, frozen almost
in cinematic slow motion but without the musical substance one
had hoped for to be the reason for the break in the dramatic
flow. The scene with Lazarus’s death and resurrection (tr. 7)
feels especially long-winded. The atmosphere becomes more tense
towards the end of the work and At Golgata is high-strung
drama, the chorus shouting “Crucify!”, the orchestra commenting
with barbaric rhythmic music ā la Rites of Spring. In
the penultimate scene, At the tomb, the orchestra has
a field day in the earthquake music, worthy a John Williams
in its magnificence. These scenes are as gripping as anything
I have heard lately in a work of this kind.
As
I said it is however the five movements from the mass that form
the musical core. Kyrie is hushed and frail, Gloria
gloriously powerful, the long Credo possibly the highspot
of the whole composition with a dramatic solo part for Maria
Magdalena, where Annika Skoglund impresses greatly. Her Et
incarnates est is a section of infinite beauty, discreetly
accompanied by the organ and Crucifixus for the chorus
is aggressive, percussive with an insistent bass drum spreading
gloom. Agnus Dei starts with Gregorian simplicity that
is gradually condensed to aching intensity. The concluding Sanctus
starts powerfully, only to bit by bit die away and thus tie
together the end of the work with the beginning.
Apart
from some of the longueurs mentioned this mass must be counted
as an important work and the Credo especially is something
I will often return to. I could also imagine the mass movements
to be performed separately to great effect. The work is sung
in Swedish – the mass of course in Latin, but in Agnus Dei
Martha and Maria first sing the prayer in Swedish, whereupon
the chorus repeats it in Latin – and the booklet has full texts
and English translations. The cover picture shows Annika Skoglund
as Maria Magdalena.
Göran
Forsling
Annika Skoglund (mezzo) – Mary from Magdala; Olle Person (baritone)
– Jesus from Nasaret; Hannah Holgersson (soprano) – Martha; Carl
Unander-Scharin (tenor) – Evangelist; Liselotte Lindgren (contralto)
– Angel; Staffan Alveteg (bass) – Joseph from Arimathea; Björn Blomberg
(tenor) – Disciple/Pharisee;
