Symphony No. 3 "Sinfonia Rustica"
Symphony No. 5 "Quadri"
Symphony No. 11 "Sinfonia Piccola"

I applaud composers who view the orchestra not only as a large number of instruments grouped together by families or sections, but also as a single, sentient organism that can, contingent on the composer's orchestration skills, generate a palette of colors, moods and settings that in fact create soundscapes from its component parts. Swedish composer Hans Eklund (1927-1999), studied composition with Lars-Erik Larsson, and also compares well with some of his compatriots like Hilding Rosenberg, Gösta Nystroem, and especially Allan Pettersson mainly because of their outlook. Pettersson's music is nothing if not dark, bleak and pessimistic, and the booklet notes state that Hans Eklund was a very pessimistic person quoted as saying: "My despair for the future is infinite", and this is mirrored in his music. There is one major difference between the two composers though. I would make this analogy between the two: Two boys standing on the edge of a lake. Pettersson first dips his toes in, then slowly, inch by inch, immerses himself in the cold, dark water. Eklund on the other hand, takes a run for it and leaps into the deeper waters instantly dealing with the shock and its outcome.

Whereas most of Pettersson's symphonies are structured as a long single movement developed around micro motifs, these three symphonies by Eklund are all built around three short movements. His music is filled at times with brutally violent outbursts, percussive elements, episodic statements and fractured ideas, all strongly rooted in tonality and very well orchestrated. Here and there I sense the shadow of Shostakovich (final movement of No. 3). The whole symphony is built around a barrage of quick left and right blows to the body, all performed with pinpoint accuracy by the musicians of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra. In my opinion, the Symphony No. 5 "Quadri" is a stupendous orchestral tour de force, at times relentless in its forward onslaught, once again well captured and projected by the members of the orchestra and conductor Hermann Bäumer. Seriously, if you play this loud and the neighbours can hear it, they will either have you arrested or committed. Oddly enough, most of Eklund's symphonic movements start with a bang and end with a whimper, as if the conflict remains unresolved, or the antagonist has been terminated.

There are too few recordings of Hans Eklund's music available at the moment. Please CPO, we want more!