Trio Lagerkvist

In 1974, one of Sweden`s most influential modern writers, Pär Lagerkvist, passed away. In 2004, 30 years after his death, appeared a group who has specialized in performing music set to his lyrics. It`s actually a bit strange that no such group has appeared before, considering how well his poetry is suited for this.

“Pär Lagerkvist was born in 1891 in Växjö, Sweden. He studied in Uppsala, and spent much of his youth abroad in Denmark, France and Italy. His fame started growing, and he received The award of The Nine in 1928, became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1940, and was awarded the Nobel prize in 1951. In the 1910s and 20s, Pär Lagerkvist was one of the boldest renewers of Swedish poetry, drama and epics. He started as an expressionist, with poetry filled with anguish, but also with love of Nature and the simple things in life as well as with the darkest pessimism. You often find both realistic and symbolic comments to the evils of his time in his work. A central life trauma for him, which is particularly evident in his later works, was the clash between the emotional need for a belief and the rational insight that the gods are dead.” (From Litteraturhandboken (1984) Forum AB)

Trio Lagerkvist has set the poetry of Lagerkvist to a music which is heavily influenced by Scandinavian folk music, which is not so odd considering that the composer Pär Moberg is a folk musician, and at least to our ears, this blends very well with the poetry. But there is also a broad spectrum of other influences, such as jazz, singer/songwriter, pop and rock, and actually, it feels almost unnatural to put a label on this music. Like Lagerkvist`s poetry, its mood stretches from the fragile and fair to the violent and dark. The lyrics are of course the most central part, but they are well matched by the music, which is often allowed to bloom on its own in melodies and improvisations.

Trio Lagerkvist is:
Pär Moberg, composer, saxophones, backing vocals

Pär (who by the way spells his name with an ä because of his mother`s admiration for Lagerkvist) has for several years worked with setting Lagerkvist’s lyrics to music: several of the pieces that the Trio plays have previously been performed by the folk rock band Fareld. Otherwise, he is most known as member of Swedish klezmer band Tummel, but also plays with several other constellations, as well as teaching at the Academy of Music in Malmö, Sweden.

Anna Elwing, vocals and fiddle
Anna has a background as a jazz singer, but has for a long time mainly played folk music, and received splendid credits for the debut cd of her band Alwa. She has also teached both at the Jazz institute and the Academy of music in Malmö, Sweden, and she previously played with well-known Swedish folk group Plommon.

Henrik Hansson, piano

Henrik is a frequent appearer on all kinds of stages and records in southern Sweden, be it funk, rock, gospel or country. So no wonder that he fits in well in this constellation, where he is the rhytmical motor. He also teaches at the Highschool of Music in Malmö, Sweden.