Thomas Jennefelt

Biography

Thomas Jennefelt is a Swedish composer born on April 24, 1954. His music has a strong vocal profile, from opera to choir music. Jennefelt is known as one of the most important choral composers of his generation starting with the success of his Warning to the Rich (1977) for solo baritone and mixed choir which has awarded him international acclaim. Other choral pieces include Dichterliebe (I-X) — a compendium of musical settings to Heine’s poems, famously musicalized by Schumann in his song cycle of the same title, and Villarosa sequences — a choral suite sung to an invented language based on Latin words. He has also written works for chamber and larger orchestras, and his music has been performed in Swedish halls as well as internationally.
Among his operas The Jesters’ Hamlet and Sports&Leisure are to be mentioned.

Biography

He grew up in Huddinge, a municipality in Stockholm, and his education was based at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm where he studied composition with Gunnar Bucht and Arne Mellnas from 1974 to 1980. He was part of what they called the Swedish Choral Miracle in the 1960s, a choral revolution that started with conductor Eric Ericson. Jennefelt was part of his choir, and he is associated with the composers around this movement. From 1994 to 2000, he was chairman of the Society of Swedish Composers.

Musical style

Jennefelt’s music is known for his expressive use of dissonance, grandiose textures, and stress on short syllabic structures. His interest in literature and his sensitivity to vocalization make his music easy to set in dramatic stages. He has written many operas including Albert och Julia, the full-length Gycklarnas Hamret (The Jesters' Hamlet), the chamber opera Farkosten (The Vessel), set to his own libretto, and Sport och fritid (Sport & Leisure) for the Royal Swedish Opera to a libretto by Niklas Rådström. The composer’s love for drama and literature is reflected in other genres as well. His orchestral work Musik vid ett berg (Music before a Mountain) was intended to be paired with text in a melodrama setting, but ended up being an exclusive instrumental piece that still contains the intense dramatic expression.

Awards and recognition

Thomas Jennefelt is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, and has been its vice president since 2004. In 2001, he was awarded the royal Litteris et Artibus medal.