Sven-Erik Bäck: Vid havets yttersta gräns

Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra & Choir, Östen Sjöstrand, Gun Robertson, John Zacharias, The Basel Percussion Ensemble, Paul Sacher

The album Vid havets yttersta gräns from 1985 is now available as a long-awaited digital reissue from Caprice Records! The album contains two of the composer Sven-Erik Bäck‘s most emblematic works: At the Outermost Edge of the Sea and Signos.

The Basel Percussion Ensemble and conductor Paul Sacher. Photo: Niggi Bräuning

At the Outermost Edge of the Sea is a cantata for mixed choir and orchestra based on poems by poet Östen Sjöstrand. It was commissioned by the Swedish Radio for the inauguration of the Berwaldhallen concert hall in Stockholm in 1979. Herbert Blomstedt conducted the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Radio Choir in this suggestive live recording. The poetic lyrics are recited by Östen Sjöstrand, Gun Robertson and John Zacharias.
The second piece, Signos, is a percussion composition dedicated to the Basel Percussion Ensemble and its conductor Paul Sacher, who also performs the work here. The recording was made in Basel in 1981.

Sven-Erik Bäck and Östen Sjöstrand. Photo: Per B. Adolphson

Caprice has made several albums with Sven-Erik Bäck’s music, but this was the composer’s first “solo record” on our label. The album was originally released on vinyl, just in time for the composer’s 65th birthday.

The album is now available on all digital streaming platforms.