composer
Klas Torstensson was born on January 16, 1951, in Nässjö, Sweden.
Education
Klas Torstensson studied composition at the Ingesunds Musikhögskola (Sweden), musicology at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden), and electronic music at ...
related works
Miniatures : for bass clarinet / Initiated and edited by Fie Schouten
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Clarinet
Instruments:
cl-b
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and large ensemble; Electronics and singing voice(s) with or without instrument(s)
Instruments:
recit 1111 1210 perc pf(cel) 2vl vla vc cb tape
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Mixed choir and orchestra; Mixed choir and HaFaBra; Electronics and singing voice(s) with or without instrument(s)
Instruments:
6recit sopr alt ten bas 2GK4 MK4 6rec 2222 4330 perc hp 3org str wind-band: 1131 3sax 1202 3crt barh euph perc cb
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Voice and large ensemble
Instruments:
ten fl cl-b timp 4perc pf str
composition
Urban songs : soprano, large ensemble, computers / Klas Torstensson
Other authors:
Torstensson, Klas
(librettist)
Description:
Program note (English): As a composer I feel attracted to writing series - or 'families' - of compositions, a method which enables me to concentrate, over a longer period of time, on a specific problem or on a specific definition of a problem. An example is my triptych Licks & Brains for saxophones and ensemble (1987-88). In the case of Urban songs, for soprano, large ensemble and computers, the 'family' is small; apart from this piece, the only other 'family member' is a composition for soprano solo, Urban solo (also written for Charlotte Riedijk). The traditional Libanese folksong Abu Zeluf - as sung by the Libanese singer Dunya Yunis - could perhaps also be considered as a part of this 'family'; Urban Solo as well as Urban Songs (first song) were partly inspired by this folksong. The song itself, however, is not quoted; similarities are rather to be found in certain kinds of ornamentation, and in the speech-sounds that are used (stripped of their semantic meaning!). Where the first part (song)
could - in spite of the title of the composition - in some ways be called 'rural', the second part (song) is definitely 'urban' in character. It not only refers to an urban style of music (no one can probably fail to notice which kind of music is meant), but also the 'montage'-like structure would be unthinkable without modern urban technologies such as the technique of sampling. - KLAS TORSTENSSON