Press - Reviews

A. S. in Memoriam (1999) - Rolf Martinsson

"The "A. S." in the title refers to Arnold Schoenberg, a composer whose creation of the mathematical 12-tone compositional style makes his very name disdainful to many classical and romantic enthusiasts. But Martinsson draws his inspiration from Schoenberg's early music, post romantic and Wagnerian in style and affect, and his 12-minute homage is so passionate that, were it available on commercial recordings, this music critic (no fan of the aesthetics of 12-tone) would recommend it highly. Reflecting on the NJSO's performance of this work for strings makes The Star-Ledger's recent report that the orchestra will sell all or most of its Golden Age Collection of string instruments to save the organization from "crushing debt and the specter of bankruptcy" even more tragic than it would appear to the average arts-section reader. The symphony's string players have taken such advantage of the collection's prized instruments, and the most striking moments of the NJSO's interpretation of A. S. in Memoriam came from the superior caliber of those strings. The violins were sometimes a bit brash on particularly high forte passages, but the lower strings had a wonderful, rich tone quality, and the deep, dark sounds the musicians drew from their instruments for the piece's muted ending were beautiful and melancholy."

A. S. in Memoriam (1999) - Rolf Martinsson

"...In the first piece (A. S. in Memoriam), which is a lyrical ode to Schönberg's "Verklärte Nacht", the deep and organic quality of the strings evoked a sense of quiet yearning..."

A. S. in Memoriam (1999) - Rolf Martinsson

"The opening piece, "A. S. In Memoriam" by the contemporary Swedish composer Martinsson (1956-).....were of exceptional quality. It is possible to regard these selected works as a mere greeting by the orchestra..."

A. S. in Memoriam (1999) - Rolf Martinsson

"...this piece definitely has the impact to reach an international audience..."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...A bright, appealing work, it is no surprise that it has proved popular with critics and audiences alike and won an ASCAP award in the USA."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...Martinsson's Bridge is in a single, 26-minute span of three main sections, linked by trumpet cadenzas. In the first part the music builds in plushly scored comfort to a climax that is half Scriabin, half Hollywood; after a slower, rather featureless central passage, the finale surges forth in an urgent, jazz-flavoured chase. Martinsson may not have a particularly individual harmonic profile, but by God he can chuck an orchestra around..."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"The 25-minute Trumpet Concerto (1998) by Rolf Martinsson (born 1956) also made a big impression. Its three movements linked by two cadenzas have enough contrasting material in each to effectively make it 'three movements in one' (and the cadenzas are brief). Occasionally the soundworld is all-purpose but Martinsson's material is vividly communicative, sonorously and decorously scored (not least the eerie use of wineglasses!), and the invention has a filmic appeal (certainly atmospheric, sometimes bluesy), the composer allowing himself some 'purple passages' within a range of lyrical and rhythmic entrees. Håkan Hardenberger's virtuosity was fearless and near-perfect..."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"New music is often intelligent, engaging, amusing and moving, but it's hardly ever thrilling. Rolf Martinsson's Trumpet Concerto ("Bridge"), vintage 1999, is thrilling. Swedish trumpet whiz Hakan Hardenberger, for whom it was composed, played the daylights out of it Friday evening, with guest conductor Carlos Kalmar and an inspired Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. A nervous, jagged, jazzy edge marks one extreme of the music. Think Bernard Hermann's score for "Psycho" or Duke Ellington's for "Anatomy of a Murder". The other extreme is a lush, bluesy lyricism that recalls the extravagant slow themes in Gershwin's symphonic music. Martinsson made these influences his own by using them to celebrate Hardenberger's staggering virtuosity and by subjecting them to his fantastical yet convincing formal procedures. Two cadenzas - the first muted and moody, the second open and aggressive - connect the three movements. The first builds on a fractured theme of toe-stubbing rhythms and unlikely, leaping intervals. It sticks in the mind, to the extent that the organic development that follows makes compelling sense. The florid, lyrical outpouring of middle movement tops out in a climactic flood of melodic and orchestral lusciousness. The finale is a rave-up of speed and power, and Hardenberger has the chops to make it work. Kalmar was right on top of this piece..."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...The centerpiece is Bridge (Trumpet Concerto 1, 1998) by Swedish composer Rolf Martinsson, a showy tour de force that runs for 26 minutes. The polychromatic work includes spectacular virtuoso displays in both solo and orchestra, long moments of quiet rumination by the unaccompanied trumpeter, the delicate sound of water goblets, exchanges between trumpet and specific orchestral instruments or sections, and a ferocious ending that concludes several minutes of a driving pulse."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...Instead Bridge, his Trumpet Concerto No. 1, is aurally coherent, skilful in its scoring, big on melody and ultimately a resounding tour de force of virtuosity, adrenalin and exhilaration.....Martinsson has a vivid ear for effect and scoring, a feature that comes through regularly as he pits soloist against orchestra in music that can often progress from passages of combative challenge to waves of bittersweet melody, almost Hollywood-like in their climactic lushness. The piece was written in close collaboration with Hardenberger and draws some fine, technically formidable playing from the soloist who is every bit as exciting and exacting as you would expect from a master of contemporary repertoire. The booklet notes mention that the work has been a real hit with audiences and it is not difficult to see why. I found it difficult to keep off the edge of my chair for much of the piece, particularly the white-knuckle ride of the headlong last seven minutes."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...A lot of present day works sound extremely forced when they have to try to sound modern while at the same time giving the listener melodic harmonies to associate pleasant feelings with. But Bridge is brilliantly composed! Here, harmony and discordant tensions meet in a natural way. This makes the concerto interesting from start to finish. At the same time as you want to stop the flow and allow the wonderful sounds to melt in your mouth, you cannot wait to hear what will happen just around the corner. Definitely the best trumpet concerto for many years..."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...Martinsson's amazing trumpet concerto was the big surprise of the evening. After its elusively spooky opening, few could have expected the opulent outpouring of Hollywood-style schmaltz that enabled Hardenberger to show off his complete vocabulary, from astonishing technical virtuosity to teasing out a golden-flavoured lyricism even Miles Davis would have been proud of..."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...it is clearly a brilliantly theatrical addition to Hardenberger's repertoire, progressing from a tenebrous opening to a frenzied and blazing finale..."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...Best of all was Rolf Martinsson's trumpet concerto no 1. It had its orchestral roots as much in the lush sounds of 30s jazz or film music as in modern classical music. The startling brilliance of soloist Hakan Hardenberger matched the musical gymnastics of Miles Davies with the best of classical playing, and it vied for attention with the unusual orchestral effects. This was a performance I found thoroughly entertaining and exhilarating..."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...But, before the carousing began, the crowed was treated to the U.S. premiere of a new trumpet concerto by Swedish composer Rolf Martinsson (born 1956), a 25-minute, one-movement work of bristling excitement and invention that balances immediate appeal with lasting depth. The music begins ominously with rumbling bass drum and an eerie scrim of strings from which the trumpet explodes in stuttering phrases. The piece sways between bustling activity and lyrical passages spread out in rich jazz-like chords. The pacing is subtle, the soloist often moving faster than the accompaniment and the music sliding between prickly and suave episodes. Martinsson also favors tumbling lines that fall in large intervals, advanced harmony, atmospheric orchestration and syncopated polyrhythms. The superb Swedish trumpeter Hakan Hardenberger, for whom the piece was written, was the soloist, revealing electrifying technique. Jarvi shaped the music in vast peaks and valleys of dynamics. Jarvi's rhythmic confidence translated into virtuoso playing from the DSO..."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...It is more than understandable that Rolf Martinsson's trumpet concerto, commissioned by the Göteborg Symphony Orchestra and performed for the first time this spring, appeals to the musical vein of both Järvi and Håkan Hardenberger. The piece is characterized by an immediately capturing, playful development from shimmering diffuse sound constellations to an increasingly tense dialog in the interplay between soloist and orchestra, an accelerating tour de force that finally takes the breath away from both performers and audience. The basically romantic concerto is made easy to grasp being divided into three parts with bridgering cadenzas. It should have the qualifications to become a repertoire piece and maybe it will also became Martinsson's public break through. Splendidly did Hardenberger perform the demanding solo part. Jan Sandström's Motorbike Concerto for trombone has got a challenger for the trumpet."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...Best to view the Hummel as a warm-up for the two further concerti offered consecutively by the remarkable Hakan Hardenberger, for what came next was the demandingly substantial Trumpet Concerto no.1, Bridge, by Swedish composer Rolf Martinsson, here present to witness his work's British premiere (the only previous performance was in Gothenburg last month) recorded for subsequent BBC broadcast. Scored for a gargantuan orchestra including two harps and a pair of tuned water glasses, the piece happily parades its composer's fashionably polystilistic language. It climbs from the depths (as in Ravel's Left-hand Piano Concerto), it erupts into wind and string coruscations, moves into a bluesy big band sequence and climaxes in a lush romantic tune on full orchestra. From this material Martinsson builds a satisfying 25-minute structure, the solo trumpet virtually ever-present, often reiterating a rhythmic repeated-note figure, and imperceptibly climbing towards the highest reaches of its register. Sympathetic and understanding, Hardenberger's performance was delivered with security and stamina, concluding with a high-pitched blast of well-deserved triumph. The GSO under principal conductor Neeme Jarvi collaborated with vigour and sensitivity..."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...Birmingham and Glasgow will be made aware of the orchestra's commitment to the newest of new music. Järvi was so impressed by a brand new trumpet concerto written by Sweden's Rolf Martinsson for Hakan Hardenberger that he is insisting on adding it to a Birmingham programme which also includes virtuoso concertos by Hummel and Arvo Pärt..."

Bridge (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...They were even genuinely thrilled to hear a new piece of music. But with Håkan Hardenberger the spinetingling soloist in the world premiere of Rolf Martinsson's Trumpet Concerto No. 1, what's not to enjoy? Certainly, with the full force of the Gothenburg Symphony sweeping through the sumptuous, film noir melodic line at the heart of his concerto, this piece has more body (and curves) than Jessica Rabbit. Sadly, Martinsson's marvellous concerto isn't scheduled on the GSO's British tour...(except Birmingham)..."

Cello Concerto No. 1 (2005) - Rolf Martinsson

"The term "film music" is sometimes used as a feeble way of describing newly written music, presumably with intent to reinforce the feeling of detachment since one may think the material not strong enough in itself. But what, then, if the music gives way to lively and unstoppable pictures passing through ones head? These are the thoughts awakened by Rolf Martinsson's new cello concerto. The work was commissioned by cellist Mats Lidstrom for his London project From Sweden. Its structure is of a large scale and incites the imagination. The orchestration is truly full of finesse and élan, resembling that of Richard Strauss, there are hints of a big band with romantic overtones as well as a tone language which could easily associate with the later movies of Clint Eastwood. Is it just by coincidence that I have a sensation of a dark river - a Mystic River - in the lower register of the orchestra...? Is that Mats Lidstrom's cello floating as a fluorescent bridge, daringly swinging high in the sky...? The music becomes a reminder of how quality is created from the core of tradition, but at the same time there is sound distance to what could easily be labelled as 'skilful'. This is enhanced by the unique personality of Mats Lidstrom. A strong feature of the piece is displayed in the opening with interactions of great variety between soloist and orchestra. Instantly, the ability of the cellist to completely unite with his instrument becomes obvious. Mats Lidstrom melts the weightless with the substantial into a new alloy and freely, eagerly, climbs the tonal ladder. He does the unexpected before there was time to expect anything at all. Still, it is the result of listening rather than eccentricity..."

Coloured Flames (2004) - Rolf Martinsson

"Rolf Martinsson's (b 1956) Coloured Flames is sparse and ascetic, delving into an almost mystical ecstacy, teasing you with more than it delivers, and leaving you satisfied with the hollow, contrapuntal texture it gives."

Coloured Flames (2004) - Rolf Martinsson

"Martinsson's single movement work is Bergian in idiom. This is for the most part melancholically ruminative although it does stir its thews towards the end; no conflagration though. Think in terms of a meeting of minds between Berg, Nielsen and Bernard van Dieren... The recording is larger than life with plenty of depth and width... Another fine and well-chosen production from Daphne."

Dreams (1995) - Rolf Martinsson

"The program includes with Dreams (1995), a large orchestral work inspired by the Kurosawa film, where "a succession of concentrated dream scenes from a complex whole replete with musical associations". That pretty much describes the goings on in this colourful opus. Martinsson's dreamwork links angular abstractions with sultry romanticism, shimmering glitter, and airy flight. There's some scary nightmare to remember, of course, including a forbidding death march and some mysterious thuds and taps, but a gentle violin solo escorts us harmlessly out of the darkness. Martinsson is a fabulous orchestrator, and he held my attention completely through these 23 minutes......This (CD), then, is a real sleeper, and I give it my most enthusiastic welcome. Sweden is no stranger to neoromanticism, of course, but this composer is an impressive new contributor. Performances and sonics are exquisite."

Fairlight (2004) - Rolf Martinsson

"At the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra's concert under the baton of principal conductor Bertrand de Billy, the focus of the programme was clearly on more recent music: for example the Swedish composer Rolf Martinsson's trombone concerto "Fairlight" (2004), an analogue tribute to the eponymous first sampling synthesizer. A piece that is multi-coloured, noisy, humorous and effusive like several street fairs going on at the same time. And only a soloist of the calibre of Christian Lindberg can dance at them all. Sonorous legatos, capricious leaps, rumbling extreme depths: like some Paganini of the trombone Christian Lindberg places a range of expressions at the disposal of the work.....entertaining in the best sense and, thanks to Lindberg's effortless virtuosity, a thrilling experience."

Fairlight (2004) - Rolf Martinsson

"...piece with shining potential... [Christian Lindberg] showed that he still has no competitors with regard to the beauty of his playing in Legato passages and precision in quick passages...The structure of the piece is elegant with the three movements connected. The grand opening captivates with large gestures, lots of motion and broken chords from the deepest bass register. After a couple of minutes the orchestra takes a breath while descending string chords continue the motion. After that there is an ominous adagio where the tension is never relaxed...It is a convincing piece that has a potential for becoming a great success both in Sweden and internationally..."

Fairlight (2004) - Rolf Martinsson

"...Even the most narrow-minded listener lowers his guard to Lindberg's charm and lets himself be seduced by the most contemporary passages from the far north...Rolf Martinsson will have great success with his first trombone concerto. Not a single note was superfluous in his concerto which entertains on a high level, starting with the big bang..."

Gemini (1998) - Rolf Martinsson

"...Rolf Martinsson has composed a cycle of twelve piano pieces freely inspired by the Signs of the Zodiac. Three of these are recorded here. The composer describes his Zodiac pieces as written improvisations. For all their variety, the three pieces recorded here make one eager to hear the complete cycle some day. An all-Martinsson disc including the beautiful Kalliope Op.66 for strings and the Kurosawa-inspired orchestral work Dreams Op.35 is available from Daphne [Daphne 1022]..."

Kalliope (2004) - Rolf Martinsson

"Kalliope (2004), for string orchestra, is a nine-movement suite in homage to the nine Muses. If you love bathing in orgies of lush late-romantic string sonority, then this is your piece. Each goddess takes up about three minutes of space, and Martinsson offers them with a nice variety of personality in the predominant divided-string orchestra texture. Kalliope gets a dramatic French overture-like introduction, you can see Urania's flickering pizzicato stars, Euterpe's flute is a gleaming melody of unearthly harmonics, and so forth. Martinsson has a fine sence for expressive melodic line (see Melpomene's beautiful song) and a well developed theatrical flair. This would make a terrific ballet. No Stravinskian restraint here - this is over-the-top sensuality, but with metriculous craftsmanship and refined Nordic taste. A wonderful surprise.....This (CD), then, is a real sleeper, and I give it my most enthusiastic welcome. Sweden is no stranger to neoromanticism, of course, but this composer is an impressive new contributor. Performances and sonics are exquisite."

Kalliope (2004) - Rolf Martinsson

"...There is a typical Scandinavian chill or coolness in the marrow of this very adept and sensitive tonal string writing.....An intelligently assembled collection with Kalliope and At the End of Time standing strongly in the string orchestra and melodrama stakes."

Leo (1997) - Rolf Martinsson

"...Rolf Martinsson has composed a cycle of twelve piano pieces freely inspired by the Signs of the Zodiac. Three of these are recorded here. The composer describes his Zodiac pieces as written improvisations. For all their variety, the three pieces recorded here make one eager to hear the complete cycle some day. An all-Martinsson disc including the beautiful Kalliope Op.66 for strings and the Kurosawa-inspired orchestral work Dreams Op.35 is available from Daphne [Daphne 1022]..."

Libra (1996) - Rolf Martinsson

"...Rolf Martinsson has composed a cycle of twelve piano pieces freely inspired by the Signs of the Zodiac. Three of these are recorded here. The composer describes his Zodiac pieces as written improvisations. For all their variety, the three pieces recorded here make one eager to hear the complete cycle some day. An all-Martinsson disc including the beautiful Kalliope Op.66 for strings and the Kurosawa-inspired orchestral work Dreams Op.35 is available from Daphne [Daphne 1022]..."

Open Mind (2005) - Rolf Martinsson

"Occupying the middle ground between modernist complexity and postmodern accessibility seems to come naturally to Nordic composers. It certainly does to the Swede Rolf Martinsson - now in his early fifties and based in Malmö - whose 10-minute piece, Open Mind, was given its UK première by the Hallé. Starting with American-style pizzazz and frantic scurrying, Open Mind soon works its way round to more substantial matters, and its transition to soft-edged lyricism and swerve back to tough-minded energy are negotiated with impressive control. Without ramming the implications of its title down anyone's throat, this music does somehow feel mind-expanding, and Manfred Honeck, the Austrian who conducted its 2005 première, had his faith in the work amply borne out..."

Open Mind (2005) - Rolf Martinsson

"At the beginning of the evening he offered a UK premiere - of Open Mind, a short, overture-like piece by the Swede, Rolf Martinsson. If proof were needed that today's composers can still write attractive, comprehensible music, with a clear structure and real effect in the concert hall, this is it. One of its most striking features is the fact that, in his central slow section, as well as writing in accessible lyrical vein, Martinsson is able to reduce his music to the point of (almost) silence: it was one of those hold-your-breath moments when the listener hangs on the notes to discover what's going to happen next."

Shimmering Blue (2005) - Rolf Martinsson

"...I have listened to many first performances of contemporary music, but rarely has a work's orchestral attire conveyed such spontaneous and captivating beauty, nor has any solo part revealed so much of the instrument's hidden powers as in this solo concerto..."

Symbiosis (2003) - Rolf Martinsson

"...The quiet and atmospheric ending of this piece leads very naturally to another substantial work, Rolf Martinsson's Symbiosis, which is also crafted - in principle - as a single movement (but this time divided with three clear sections). The duet plays the music very sensitively, the solos, colours and voice crossovers alternating very smoothly between the two performers..."

Triptyk (1987) - Rolf Martinsson

"Originally composed for Swedish bass clarinettist Tommie Lundberg, fellow country man Rolf Martinsson's Triptyk: Fantasy for bass clarinet & piano, Op. 22 (1987) seems to demonstrate in the Espressivo; Molto tranquillo a very slow, emotional dark theme - rather imitating the dismantling of a madman's mind. The leggiero movement continues in the same vein, more brisk and somewhat hysterical - the madman speaks, at times with somewhat lucid moments. This is a very interesting and disturbing work."

Vid tidens slut (2002) - Rolf Martinsson

"At The End of Time (2002) is, believe it or not, a dreamy orchestral fantasy on "As Time Goes By", overlaid with a bittersweet recollection of a summer romance (and romance in general) by Swedish poet Jaques Werup. He reads it here for all it's worth, but, unfortunately for American listeners, in Swedish, so that will limit the audience for this lovely tidbit. But I can easily imagine an enterprising American actor picking this up (in translation) and having a field day with it......This (CD), then, is a real sleeper, and I give it my most enthusiastic welcome. Sweden is no stranger to neoromanticism, of course, but this composer is an impressive new contributor. Performances and sonics are exquisite."

Vid tidens slut (2002) - Rolf Martinsson

"...This is a deliciously melancholic meditation on love and death.....An intelligently assembled collection with Kalliope and At the End of Time standing strongly in the string orchestra and melodrama stakes."

Violin Concerto No. 1 (2007) - Rolf Martinsson

"A couple of years ago Jan Stigmer visited Västerås.....I don't recall the piece but I remember Stigmer and his instrument, a lovely Stradivarius. Now it played the leading part in the hands of Stigmer in yet another contemporary violin concerto, one by Rolf Martinsson, written in collaboration with Stigmer. This is a stylish way of doing it since it does justice to this particular soloist. But if the piece is to be played in the future it will require musicians of the same brilliant quality. Stigmer brought out the rich capacity of the violin, the graceful melody, the elastic tender sound, the persistently expanding range, the thorough-paced energy and, above all, the crystal clear overtones. Such long flageolet tones, thin threads on which the music is suspended, can only be handled by a master."

Violin Concerto No. 1 (2007) - Rolf Martinsson

"Rolf Martinsson's violin concerto is written especially for Jan Stigmer and recently premiered by him and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra (...) Highly accessible and stunningly beautiful, this concerto speaks to the mind for sure (...) but it definitely stands out through its emotional quality. The solo part is incredibly handsome and beautiful, and with a soloist like Jan Stigmer there is absolutely nothing left to wish for. It's a great pity we haven't had the chance to hear him enough in recent years. But we have to make do with what we get, and on an evening like this he just gives so unbelievably much."

Dreams (DAPHNE 1022)

by Rob Barnett/Musicweb International 2005
Dreams (1022)/Jaques Werup, Malmö Symfoniorkester, Christoph König, Markus Lehtinen

"Martinsson at last enjoys a disc dedicated to his orchestral music. It comes his way just two years short of his fiftieth birthday. All praise again to the Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs and to Daphne's guiding genius Björn Uddén who made the disc possible.

Martinsson has his own website at: http://www.rolfmartinsson.com/ where you can find out more about him. The key facts are that studies at Malmö (1981-85) were with Sven-David Sandström, Sven-Erik Bäck, Hans Eklund and Sven-Eric Johanson. He now teaches composition and arrangement at the same Malmö Academy. He is the Malmö orchestra's composer-in-residence. Martinsson has upwards of eighty compositions to his name.

The lengthiest piece here is the nine movement, 26 minute, Kalliope, a dance suite for string orchestra. Each movement celebrates a particular muse. It wasn't all that long ago that I was reviewing Cyril Scott's Third Symphony The Muses but that elusively exotic work, written in an idiom very different from that of Martinsson, portrays only Melpomene, Thalia, Erato and Terpsichore.

A few words about the muses. The Muses are the goddesses of culture and the arts. The Greek legend has it that Zeus lay with Mnemosyne ("Memory") for nine days. She gave birth to the Muses who then inhabited Mount Helicon -- "nine voices united in one song." Their companions are the Graces. Their leader is Apollo, the god of music and harmony.

The nine Muses are: Calliope, the fair of voice; Clio, the proclaimer; Euterpe, the giver of pleasure; Melpomene the maker of songs; Terpsichore, the dancer; Erato, the muse of love poetry; Polyhymnia, the goddess of many hymns; Thalia, the comedic muse; and Urania, the heavenly muse. A good site with more detail is:
www.eliki.com/portals/fantasy/circle/define.html

Kalliope's dance movements are Kalliope (transparent, cool yet fervent); Urania (use of pizzicato, a swooning allusion to La Valse and a sweetly singing solo violin); Terpsichore (hysteria and whirling activity); Euterpe; Polyhymnia (a massed string orchestra 'in flight'); Melpomene (a melancholy solo violin over trembling confiding strings); Clio (poignant, muscular and assertive writing); Erato (music that emulates the passage of time - a ticking clock and searching string tone); and Thalia (as in Terpsichore and Polyhymnia, a sense of the unrelenting hunt, the music whirling, twisting and turning; episodes of Shostakovich-like bleakness). Each concise episode vividly sketches in moods and spiritual states. There is a typical Scandinavian chill or coolness in the marrow of this very adept and sensitive tonal string writing.

At the End of Time (Vid tidens slut) is a piece for narrator, flute, oboe, clarinet and strings. The narrator, towards the end (10:22), becomes the singer. The words are spoken by their author Jacques Werup. This recording is taken from a live performance on New Year's Eve 2003 - there's the occasional muted cough in the background. There is no bombast in this music; nothing of the parade ground. Instead we get a burning sincerity delivered through the gently underpinning music and Werup's wondering narration. This is a deliciously melancholic meditation on love and death and into the piece is woven a candid quotation from Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto (7:20). It is a roundedly sentimental soliloquy. The accompanying booklet includes an English and German translation of the text.

The overture-length A.S. in Memoriam leans on the full, expressive warmth of the Malmö Strings. This is said to be 'perhaps the best-loved of Martinsson's compositions'. A.S. is none other than Arnold Schoenberg and the work Martinsson celebrates is Verklärte Nacht written in 1899 with the Martinsson written in 1999. The music has a piercingly intense and rolling quality alternating in style between Schoenberg and Scriabin. The piece ends in a smooth and suave breath.

Dreams is a tone poem for full orchestra. The piece was inspired by, reflects and interprets the composer's experience in seeing Kurosawa's film Dreams during the early 1990s. It is for me the least impressive work here. Martinsson portrays a sequence melting kaleidoscopically between idyll and nightmare. The idiom is decidedly 1970s modern with volleys from percussion, riotous violence, stabbing little mottos, and goblin thudding (12.39). The writing is very allusive with Straussian moments crowding into Ravel's La Valse and gorgeous Scriabin-style sighs (1.40). From 9:00 onwards the music settles into Sargasso dreamland with static held string chords and harp whispers. There is a remarkable bleak solo violin passage at 21:20. As the piece ends there is a modest heartbeat from the strings - a gesture familiar from as in Erato in Kalliope.

The Malmö Symphony Orchestra performs under its Principal Guest Conductor Markus Lehtinen for At the End of Time and for the other pieces Principal Conductor Christoph König.

This is a very welcome new arrival in the Daphne catalogue which you can inspect at http://www.daphne.se/ Other highlights from that Björn's roll-call include the upcoming Wirén string quartet series, the Nystroem songs, the Rosenberg piano concertos and two volumes of Rosenberg's solo piano music.

An intelligently assembled collection with Kalliope and At the End of Time standing strongly in the string orchestra and melodrama stakes."

by Allen Gimbel/American Record Guide 2005
Dreams (1022)/Jaques Werup, Malmö Symfoniorkester, Christoph König, Markus Lehtinen

"Swedish composer Rolf Martinsson (b 1956) studied at the Academy of Music in Malmo and includes Brian Ferneyhough on his roaster of teachers, but you'd never think of that name as you listen to this lush, romantic music. He currently teaches there and is composer-in-residence for this fine orchestra through 2006.

Kalliope (2004), for string orchestra, is a nine-movement suite in homage to the nine Muses. If you love bathing in orgies of lush late-romantic string sonority, then this is your piece. Each goddess takes up about three minutes of space, and Martinsson offers them with a nice variety of personality in the predominant divided-string orchestra texture. Kalliope gets a dramatic French overture-like introduction, you can see Urania's flickering pizzicato stars, Euterpe's flute is a gleaming melody of unearthly harmonics, and so forth. Martinsson has a fine sence for expressive melodic line (see Melpomene's beautiful song) and a well developed theatrical flair. This would make a terrific ballet. No Stravinskian restraint here - this is over-the-top sensuality, but with metriculous craftsmanship and refined Nordic taste. A wonderful surprise.

At The End of Time (2002) is, believe it or not, a dreamy orchestral fantasy on "As Time Goes By", overlaid with a bittersweet recollection of a summer romance (and romance in general) by Swedish poet Jaques Werup. He reads it here for all it's worth, but, unfortunately for American listeners, in Swedish, so that will limit the audience for this lovely tidbit. But I can easily imagine an enterprising American actor picking this up (in translation) and having a field day with it. The "AS" memorialized here is Arnold Schoenberg, specifically the Schoenberg of Verklärte Nacht, which is quoted liberally in this streamy homage, written in 1999 for the 100th anniversary of that glorius tone poem's completion.

The program concludes with Dreams (1995), a large orchestral work inspired by the Kurosawa film, where "a succession of concentrated dream scenes from a complex whole replete with musical associations". That pretty much describes the goings on in this colourful opus. Martinsson's dreamwork links angular abstractions with sultry romanticism, shimmering glitter, and airy flight. There's some scary nightmare to remember, of course, including a forbidding death march and some mysterious thuds and taps, but a gentle violin solo escorts us harmlessly out of the darkness. Martinsson is a fabulous orchestrator, and he held my attention completely through these 23 minutes. This, then, is a real sleeper, and I give it my most enthusiastic welcome. Sweden is no stranger to neoromanticism, of course, but this composer is an impressive new contributor. Performances and sonics are exquisite."

Open Mind (DAPHNE 1029)

by David Moore/American Record Guide May/June 2008
OPEN MIND (DAPHNE 1029)/Mats Lidström, Magnus Båge, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Norrköpings Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck, Mats Rondin

"Rolf Martinsson (b. 1956) knows how to make an orchestra sound exciting without making them sound crazy. This composer accepts music and musicians in a traditional kind of way, complete with all the fixings, harmony as she is taught, instruments as they are played, and, perhaps most important, life as it is lived. Then he expresses it all effortlessly in colourful, deeply felt orchestral expression, feeling no need to exaggerate any of life's elements at the expense of others but carrying us off into the world as it is, not as he wishes it were. Perhaps I should note that part of my enthusiasm is probably in response to some of the other recent composers I have been hearing who don't seem to feel satisfied with the world for one reason or another. But it is good to hear an excitingly colourful orchestral piece like Open Mind, a demanding but highly satisfying cello concerto played by a really fine cellist like Lidstrom. And then, just in case you liked the cadenzas, we have a solo cello piece based on that material, called Expose. Finally comes a considerable 26-minutes-in-one-movement flute concerto called Shimmering Blue, emphasizing both a flute glissando technique and a matching orchestral sound. It is a lovely piece of many moods, played with considerable tonal variety by Bage. The whole program is recorded in beautifully resonant sound and I found it a satisfying experience with a sensitive composer."

Open Mind (DAPHNE 1029)

by Sofia Nyblom/Svenska Dagbladet 2007-11-07
OPEN MIND (DAPHNE 1029)/Mats Lidström, Magnus Båge, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Norrköpings Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck, Mats Rondin
Rate: ***** (5 of 6)

"The name of Rolf Martinsson's flute concerto is "Shimmering Blue", and blue is also one of the main colours in the composer's spectrum of colours, like jazz and closely related impressionism. His musical language is stunning and attractive, revelling in sounding beauty - close to the Frenchman Henri Dutilleux. In the tone poem "Open Mind" (2005) as well as in the flute concerto, the composer paints impudently filmic, with foaming string waves crowned with cymbals like Korngold. But it is the introvert slidings which rise like whale singing from the deep oceans, and save Martinsson's work from being kitschy - and superbly played by both Mats Lidström and the flute player Magnus Båge."

Solo (DAPHNE 1018)

by Hubert Culot/www.musicweb.uk.se
Solo (1018)/Anders Kilström/piano

"Rolf Martinsson has composed a cycle of twelve piano pieces freely inspired by the Signs of the Zodiac. Three of these are recorded here. The composer describes his Zodiac pieces as written improvisations. For all their variety, the three pieces recorded here make one eager to hear the complete cycle some day. An all-Martinsson disc including the beautiful Kalliope Op.66 for strings and the Kurosawa-inspired orchestral work Dreams Op.35 is available from Daphne [Daphne 1022]."