Albert Schnelzer: Tales from Suburbia Claes Gunnarsson, Gothenburg Symphomny & Benjamin Shwartz

• Albert Schnelzer (1972- ): Cello Concerto "Crazy Diamond":
• 1 I. You Shone like the Sun 06:49
• 2 II. If the Cloud Bursts, Thunder in Your Ear 06:48
• 3 III. Re-arrange Me 'til I'm Sane 04:28
• 4 IV. Trade Your Heroes for Ghosts? 09:24
• Tales from Suburbia:
• 5 Tales from Suburbia 16:22
• Concerto for Orchestra "Brain Damage":
• 6 I. If Your Head Explodes 10:46
• 7 II. Folded Faces 07:38
• 8 III. Dam Breaks Open 08:12
• Total Runtime 01:10:27

Info for Albert Schnelzer: Tales from Suburbia

Born in 1972, Albert Schnelzer has established himself as one of the most successful of contemporary Swedish composers. Taking inspiration from both dance and literature, he writes music that has been described as pulsating with feverish tension and vibrating rhythms, outgoing but with room for fragile and lyrically expressive moments. The three works gathered here were composed between 2011 and 2014, with two multi-movement works flanking the single-movement Tales from Suburbia. The work is inspired by the idea of suburbs embodying the transition between countryside and urbanity, where the organic world of nature contrasts with concrete structures and where past meets present. Framing Tales from Suburbia are two concertos, one for cello and one for orchestra, which both owe a debt to the rock band Pink Floyd’s iconic album Dark Side of the Moon. The work titles – Crazy Diamond and Brain Damage – are both borrowed from the album tracklist, and the individual movements carry titles taken from the lyrics. As Schnelzer himself explains in his liner notes, he hasn’t used any actual musical quotations but the lyrics have provided catalysts for his own music. In the cello concerto his focus has been on the fate of Syd Barrett, one of the founder members of Pink Floyd who was forced to leave the band due to deteriorating mental health. Brain Damage – Concerto for Orchestra on the other hand can be seen in terms of wandering through a series of different moods: anger, frustration, grief and perhaps even a glimpse of hope.

Claes Gunnarsson, cello
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Benjamin Shwartz, conductor

Claes Gunnarsson
Born in Gothenburg, Sweden Claes started to learn the cello and the piano at the age of seven. He entered the Gothenburg College of Music in 1992 where he got his Master of Music and Soloist Diploma. 1996-99 he was a student at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, studying with the world renowned cellist Ralph Kirshbaum.

As one of the leading cellists in Scandinavia, he has appeared as a soloist as well as chamber musician all over the world. Solo performances include concertos with orchestras such as the Swedish Radio, Helsingborg, Norrköping, Malmö, Umeå and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestras as well as Royal Northern Chamber Orchestra, Musica Vitae, Nordic Chamber Orchestra, DalaSinfoniettan; Värmlands Sinfonietta and St. Petersburg Festival Orchestra.

He has been invited to major festivals such as La Folle Journée in Nantes, Music@Menlo in San Fransisco, Yuri Temirkanovs Winter Festival in St. Petersburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Music Festival and has performed in venues including Queen Elisabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, St. Petersburg Philharmonic and Seoul Arts Center.

In 2002, he was a founder of the piano trio Trio Poseidon together with Sara Trobäck Hesselink and Per Lundberg. Today, they are one of the most sought after chamber music ensemble in their native Sweden.

As a chamber musician, Claes has performed with artists including Leonidas Kavakos, Nicolaj Znaider, Enrico Pace, Christian Zacharias, Barbara Hendricks, Lynn Harrel among others.

Claes is currently represented by Chandos Records. His recordings of the Weinberg Cello Phantasy and Concerto with Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Thord Svedlund as well as Brahms Double Concerto and Beethoven Triple Concerto together with Neeme Järvi has been highly recommended by the major music magazines around the world.

He recently got a “Les Diapason d’or” for his recording of the Weinberg Concerto.

Since 1999, Claes is combining his solo career with a position as a Principal Cello of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. 2007-2009 he was a guest Solo Cellist of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Claes is playing on a cello made by D. Tecchler 1707 which is a loan from the Järnåker Foundation in Stockholm.

Booklet for Albert Schnelzer: Tales from Suburbia