Mats Larsson Gothe

In his third symphony, Mats Larsson Gothe has succeeded in creating an outstanding work in which the harmonies are ever drawing us into different spaces and frames of mind. He extends a warm hand to the listener, inviting them to both contemplate and be challenged within a headstrong and beautiful universe of tones.

Gothe (born 1965) has been a full-time composer since 1995 and written in most genres, with an emphasis on orchestral music and solo concertos, as well as chamber music and not least opera. He had a major breakthrough with his first full-length opera, Poet and Prophetess, at NorrlandsOperan in 2008, and the prize-winning Blanche and Marie, which attracted a lot of attention at its premiere in the autumn of 2014, was nominated for the 2015 International Opera Awards.

Stylistically, Gothe started off in the Stravinsky tradition, from which he has continued to develop. Furthermore, his studies in Italy with Atli Ingólfsson have lent his music a scintillating Mediterranean vigour. Emotional power of expression fuses with neoclassical features and a strong sense of rhythm to make the music very intense. His more recent orchestral music has a dramaturgical structure which reveals the influence of his operatic work.