Britta Byström: "A feeling of forward movement when everything else stood still"
In collaboration with the Gothenburg Symphony, the chamber ensemble Gageego and Fst, Stim announced in December 2019 a composition competition with a focus on chamber music. The prize sum was 50,000 kronor together with performances by Gageego and four other top European ensembles. The composers Britta Byström, Henrik Denerin and Leilei Tian won in their respective categories.
Britta Byström, you won the solo work category – tell us about your piece Baum in der Stadt!
– In 2014 I was faced with composing a series of solo string works and wanted to write an étude, a practice piece, for myself as a composer. I began at a very technical end with certain building blocks that I combined – but gradually I experienced that something began to grow that had a life of its own out of what I had constructed. Hence the title, which I, by the way, borrowed from a painting by Paul Klee. The city is the construction and out of that something grows with its own roots and its own life cycle – the tree.
– As a composer you constantly ask yourself during the work, "does this have enough vitality or should I try another idea?" And then suddenly you find something that takes over and which you yourself have to adapt to, instead of the other way around. It kind of arises out of nowhere and feels like magic.
What did winning the Swedish Chamber Games mean to you?
– For one thing it was of course very enjoyable – it also came at an opportune time during the pandemic's first, gloomy months. It was a shaky time for many in the industry as much had been cancelled and concert halls were closed, so it was a welcome contribution! Financially, of course, but also because it gave a sense of forward movement when almost everything else stood still.
– It then happened that the fact I won specifically in the solo category proved ideal, since solo works were a part of musical life that could be kept going despite the pandemic. That same spring I had also written a quartet for two married couples, which likewise worked well from an infection-control perspective. Whatever restrictions were imposed, at least these musicians could rehearse together.
What has happened since then?
– Baum in der Stadt was performed by Øyvor Volle during a live-streamed award ceremony in Gothenburg – together with the other two winning entries that I am very fond of. What followed was that the Athelas Ensemble in Copenhagen, with violinist Anne Søe, performed my piece, and just a week later they also premiered a cello concerto I had written for a solo cellist and the entire Athelas Sinfonietta. Both works were recorded and will now, together with two more works by me, be released on an album.
– I am of course now looking forward to and hoping for further performances of Baum in der Stadt, now that the restrictions are finally easing around Europe.
