S. Patric Simmerud (1963)

Picture: Håkan Nevall

S. Patric Simmerud has studied at the Kapellsberg Music School in Härnösand and at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, as well as at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris and Fondazione Accademia Chigiana. A list of his teachers includes Anders Nilsson, Sven-David Sandström, Magnus Lindberg, Jaques Charpentier and Ennio Morricone. He is since 1999 a freelance composer.

Notable in his production are Fluctuations for orchestra (1998); Roma for vibraphone, marimba & tape (1998); Villes englouties for baritone & orchestra, with texts by Shakespeare (2000); Soon - Kilroy, go home for percussion trio (2005) and De ljudlösa (2005) for 8 part female choir.

Since 1993, Simmerud has represented Sweden on a yearly basis at music festivals both in and outside of Europe. His music has been performed all over the world. Simmerud is presently at work on a commissioned piece for Trio IAMA in Berlin, a cd-production and two works for string quartet & voice for the performance artist Anne Pajunen in Stockholm.

ROMA is a collection of variations made up from ”Omar” by Franco Donatoni. ”Omar” is composed for vibraphone and is in itself a collection of variations. I have consequently taken one of Donatoni's variations to create a new set of my own, i.e. variations upon a variation. The tape part for ROMA is made up from samples of the marimba, various cymbals, sound of a rain tree and the result of two minutes of silence with a microphone in my mouth.
The titel is also a variation; Omar - Roma. My ambition was to create a totally meaningless word, but I have come to realize that ROMA is the denomination for quite a lot of different things...

I have become more and more fascinated in exploring the details in music. I consciously remove as much information as possible whenever I start a composition. ROMA, for example, is the result of my attempt to generate as much music as possible from a 22-note melody. Less could sometimes be more. Detailed composing is more satisfying to present to a chamber ensemble than an orchestra; the details don't get lost as easy. There is rawness in chamber music that I feel is lost in an orchestra.

I find musicians in freelance ensembles more satisfying to work with than orchestra musicians; there is a genuine interest for the new. I feel that I work WITH the chamber ensemble but FOR the orchestra; I EXPLAIN my work to the ensemble but DEFEND it in front of the orchestra. I find the progressive and most interesting music/ composers in small venues rather than in concert halls. I prefer chamber music! And chamber musicians! All the best!

www.simmerud.com