ACM – Andrea Casagrande Music – Composer For Film/TV

SVERIGE CONCERTO

Composed by: Andrea Casagrande
Production: ACM
Country: Ireland
Year: A.D. MMXVI
In Honour Of: Sweden

Opus Inspiration

The four movements are connected by five main melodies. Variations on these inspired the rest of the concert accordingly. This Opus is dedicated to Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland and one of the melodies was composed based on his names and recurs very often throughout the concert. When considering the names “Carl Philip Edmund Bertil”, the melody suggested was C-F-E-B. This comes from the C in Carl and F as in the Ph of Philip which in Italian is pronounced “F” and so forth. The Opus also uses this technique for Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden. As Gustaf, Carl and Adolf are ancestral names and names of the Kings of Sweden, the notes G, C, A and B (for Bernadotte) were used in the Symphonies (especially in Gioioso Impero which is the ceremonial composition of this Opus).

For the fourth Symphony “Swedes”, the motif was based on the notes B-E-D-E-B.
The notes B, C and G are the most important because they represent the B in Bernadotte and Bertil, the C in Carl and the G in Gustaf.

It is very important to consider that the entire work is not based solely on a cold technique of letters; on the contrary, at the heart of every single second of this Opus, the music comes from emotional and inspirational ideas; closing one’s eyes and evoking specific scenes or atmosphere during the scoring process.

Symphony No. 1 – Sverige

This Symphony will introduce you to the stunning Swedish landscape. The overture will represent the sunrise glimpsed through the branches of the trees. Then you will discover the immense and wonderful Rapa river and you will witness a hunting scene where an owl will try to catch a mouse; you will see bears and a hawk.

The music will attempt to paint an overall vision of a wild Sweden.

Symphony No. 2 – Forest

Swedish fauna represented by the music will attempt to describe the behaviour of animals in the forest. Particular attention is paid to the lynx, wolverine, wolf, brown bear, lemming, moose, and to birds including the Snowy Owl and the King’s Eagle. A specific study was made of the bird calls reproduced with the Ottavino.

Symphony No. 3 – Gioioso Impero

This movement was composed for the monarchs and includes melodies translated from the names of the Royals and the ancestral family names, using the letters of the names in order to find the melody. For instance, the names: “Carl, Gustaf, Adolf, Philip, Edmund, Bertil, Victoria, Madeleine, Silvia, Bernadotte, etc.” suggest the common notes C, G, A, F, E, B. Therefore, many melodies in this Opus were composed using those notes.

Symphony No. 4 – Swedes

A Symphony for the great and worthy people of Sweden. A rendering of traditional Swedish Music meets the Orchestra when the violin solo emerges. A personal and heartfelt homage to Swedes from the composer.