Instrumentation: ch[S.A.T.B]
Agneta Sköld’s Natten skall vika (“Night shall pass”) stems from a composers’ competition focusing on choral music for use in religious service. The piece is performable by amateurs, with its short duration and absence of virtuosic excess. It is written in an elegant renaissance style, polyphonic and through-composed, which makes it all the more striking that the lyrics (from the Book of Isaiah) are sung in Sköld’s native Swedish rather than Latin, as we might traditionally expect. Natten skall vika stands as an example of the possibility for church music to be artistically complex while remaining accessible to a broad range of musicians.
Siri Landgren
Agneta Sköld is a Swedish composer, conductor, and church musician. She studied at the Stockholm Academy of Music, graduating as an organist in 1969 and as a cantor and music teacher in 1973. She later trained as a vocal soloist and has sung with both the Swedish Radio Choir and Eric Ericson's Chamber Choir. She has also taught at the Ingesund Academy of Music.
Since 1978, Sköld has worked as a church musician and has held a permanent position at Västerås Cathedral since 1991, serving as assistant cathedral organist with responsibility for the cathedral’s choir program. Under her leadership, the choir has achieved international recognition and success in numerous competitions.
In addition to her work as a conductor and educator, Sköld is an accomplished choral composer. Her contributions to Swedish musical life have been recognized with several awards, including Choir Leader of the Year (1998), the Johannes Norrby Medal, the Gustaf Aulén Prize, and cultural scholarships from both the County Administrative Board and the City of Västerås. She is also a member of the Västmanland Academy, where she holds chair no. 15.