Programme notes:

Concerto Grosso, for saxophone quartet and orchestra, was composed in 1995. Its vivid rhythm as well as its lyric expressiveness in the mould of a three-parted concerto form give evidence of a musical language beyond criterias of ’contemporary’ as well as that of ’traditional’ music. The first movement is dramatic with high-registered melodic lines above the ryhthmical context of the solo parts. The second movement is a rondo, based upon the lyrical ritornello, with contrasting interludes of more vivid rhythmical character. The third movement begins right after the last fading chord of the previous movement, with an extended and dramatic introduction to a passacaglia, which forms this last movement. The initiative behind the composition was a request for a concerto by the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet, as a result from an earlier piece, ’Krasch!’, written for them and the Swedish percussion ensemble Kroumata. Concerto Grosso was commissioned by the Swedish Concert Institute, Svenska Rikskonserter, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the summer concerts, ’Musik på Slottet’, and premiered at the Royal Palace in Stockholm in July, 1995. In 2000 Concerto Grosso was awarded the Christ Johnson prize, one the biggest prizes given to a Swedish composer. Concerto Grosso is dedicated to the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet. Anders Nilsson