***WORK IN PROGRESS*** Music for recorder quartet and songs for guitar and three voices
The end of January saw the completion of Coyote, an exciting work for women choir that will be premiered by the vocal ensemble Sve:A in Gothenburg. The piece is almost 12 min long, with lyrics by the Japanese poet Hiromi Ito (1955-). The text is unusual and modern. The female perspective is central, and the poem is suggestive, magical and epic. There are multiple generations of primarily women, both dead(!) and alive. Incantations. Mother’s milk that flows. The women’s voices chant of the mother, of the grandmother, and so on while the child yet only speaks with the coyote, in the language of the coyote. It is hard to describe, you have to hear it!
Yet another premier is in the works, but since the pandemic I guess it is a tad uncertain if it will happen during the festival Norrköpingsljud at the beginning of June by the choir MSK or at fall with the chamber choir S:t Olai. I really look forward to hearing Clare Coast in reality. Clare Coast is based on a dramatic poem by Emily Lawless (1845-1913) and is filled with the pain and collective darkness among the mercenaries who long for home. But it is bright and beautiful all the while, with dance and mystery too. I feel that this poem suits choir music unusually well due to the collective voice in it.
SHEET MUSIC: More compositions are deposited at the organization Svensk Musik. Go to svenskmusik.org if you want to buy the sheet music to either Strömmen, Clare Coast, Juldagen or Hope (is the thing with feathers)! See more info about the works under ”Works” below.
Molly Teleman, born in 1982, is a Swedish composer based in Norrköping, Sweden. During the childhood she received lessons in piano playing and singing and when she was old enough to attend a professional music high school, she also took on studies in composition for composer David Swärd. Piano playing and singing followed her, but composition became more and more prominent as time went on.
Music studies at Ingesunds Folkhögskola included composition, while piano was her main subject, and was followed by college studies in composition, piano and music theory at the Music College of Ingesund with Sverker Magnusson as mentor. She then left for Bergen, Norway and the Bergen University; the Grieg Academy. Teleman studied composition for the late Morten Eide Pedersen. Guesting lecturers were among others Kaija Saariaho and Bent Sørensen. She completed her fine arts degree in composition in Bergen in 2007.
After her degree Teleman moved back to Sweden and studied subjects such as Culture Journalism, Creative Writing, History of Ideas and Literature. In 2018 she finished a master degree in Library and Information Science.
Molly Teleman writes for all kinds of acoustic ensembles and is as yet particularly enthusiastic about choir and chamber music. Her works have been performed by Forsvarets Musikkorps, Unge Musikere, Musikaliska Sällskapets Kammarkör, Östgöta Kammarkör, KFUM:s Kammarkör, Oskarshamns Folkhögskolas Kammarkör, among others. Her music has been represented at the Borealis Festival, Norrköpingsljud and Sound of Stockholm.
She has also been active as a music and film critic in Östergötland since 2007, for news magazines such as Norrköpings Tidningar and Östgöta Correspondenten. Since 2014 she has written program notes for orchestras such as the Symphony Orchestra of Norrköping (SON) and the Symphony Orchestra of Gothenburg (GSO).
She is a member of FST (Society of Swedish Composers), STIM (The Swedish Performing Rights Society) and KVAST (for female composers).
I Jorden skall minnas dig bygger Teleman upp en gedigen komposition med dramatiska ansatser och kromatiska bergsvandringar i dödens gränsland. Ur diktsamlingen Hjärtats sånger har texten till Som en våg hämtats. Teleman låter dock inte sin stämföring förföras av några känslosvall på ytan utan komplicerar den sensuella ambivalensen genom spänningar som slutligen mynnar mot den ensamma klangen. Ett harmoniskt vågspel.
Michael Eriksson, NT 29/3-2010
Artwork by Stefan Teleman.
Layout by Tobias and Molly Teleman
