Programme notes:

Different composers have differellt ways of relating to their texts. Miklós Maros, as a rule, does not slavishly follow the meaning of words. Music, to him, is most important. Anders Nilsson wrote his Aria as a vocalise, without words. This does not imply that he is uninterested in poetry or setting words to music, but here he makes it quite clear that he wishes to use the human voice instrumentally. He governs the character of the voice by means of tone-conditioning vowels and and consonants, an m, o, a, ze or we, with different sounds merging into one another. Anders Nilsson aspires to control the entire musical process. From the opening chord there emerge rapidly moving short intervals, the flutter of weightless wings. The voice swells almost imperceptibly out of these organ sounds. Here, as towards the end, are the chamber-music registrations. But in the central section the organ rises in a tremendous climax and accelerando up until the moment when the soprano's top C darts forth like a flash of lightning. The piece then comes to an end, it stops, the pulse no longer beats. Text: Ulla-Britt Edberg. From Phono Suecia nr 37 (1988) Translation: Roger Tanner