Philharmonic Close-Up – Three Sextets

Krzysztof Penderecki is one of Poland’s most distinguished composers. His music has also reached beyond the classical concert hall and been used in celebrated films such as The Exorcist, The Shining, Wild at Heart and Shutter Island.

During the 1970s, he moved away from his most radical sound experiments towards a sometimes almost Romantic language, without losing his expressive intensity. In the Sextet, the instruments form different small groups that challenge one another with swirling cascades, lyrical episodes and driving rhythms in music that is both surprising and compelling.

The Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor Ernst von Dohnányi was a central figure in Central European musical life around the turn of the 20th century. His Sextet for clarinet, horn, piano and strings is full of late-Romantic warmth, elegance and humour.

The concert opens with new music by Konserthuset’s own pianist Stefan Lindgren, who is also a composer with several piano concertos, a symphony and a wealth of chamber music to his name. Here, we hear the world premiere of Divertimento for sextet.