Jacob Mühlrad Time

Jacob Mühlrad is undoubtedly one of Sweden’s most celebrated composers, including internationally.  He has received acclaim for his partnership with Swedish House Mafia and the work Time, which premiered last autumn and toured worldwide, and was performed by some of the world’s leading choirs. He has also given a talk on Swedish Radio’s Summer programme, and he is currently writing his first book for Norstedts.

On the album Time, which was followed up with portrait concerts in Malmö and at Konserthuset Stockholm, Jacob Mühlrad presents a collection of some of his foremost works. In this music, he reflects on the legacy of the universe – and on his own. The concert and album are a reflection on “the only note,” which is a metaphor for the story of creation as the first musical event. In four of his most acclaimed and praised works, Nigun, Anim Semiraus, Time and Kaddish, Mühlrad explores his own legacy and the legacy of the universe.

“Through music’s course of events, we are reminded of the genesis not only of our own existence, but also of the universe,” says Jacob Mühlrad.

The choral work Time is based on the Old Testament story of the Tower of Babel, one of the Bible’s most familiar stories, in which the people are building a city with a tower reaching up to the sky. To prevent the people from succeeding, God creates all the world’s languages. Time is a metaphor for the challenges of our era, in which different languages and cultures converge and the need for conversation across national borders increases, and it is simultaneously timeless, because in all ages, people have been dependent on communicating with one another. 

Jacob Mühlrad grew up in a Jewish family and was deeply religious as a child. He saw music as God’s creation. Today, he considers music to be holy in and of itself. But the religious element is prominent in his work, both thematically and musically. He describes the Big Bang as a major musical event and refers to the time in which we live as a “a continuing resonating note,” like the echo of a gong.

In cooperation with Universal Music Sweden