Instrumentation: sax[alt] pf
Ylva Q. Arkvik (b. 1961) is a Swedish composer with a diverse musical background. Initially working as a ballet accompanist, piano teacher, and cantor, she gradually turned to composition after completing studies in musicology at Uppsala University and music teaching at the Stockholm Academy of Music. She later earned a diploma in composition from the same institution in 2000.
Arkvik has composed works across a wide range of genres, including chamber and orchestral music, electroacoustic pieces, opera, and theatre music. Her interest in interdisciplinary collaboration has led to projects with sculptors, dancers, and poets. She has created several solo works tailored for specific performers and compositions that integrate live instruments with electronics. Notable stage works include the chamber opera Solitario, with poet Eva Runefelt, and You Must Not Go!, a short opera developed with author Eva Ström, set against the backdrop of the events of September 11.
Her music is marked by an intense, often restrained expressiveness, shaped by a modernist aesthetic rather than stylistic eclecticism. Characteristic traits—dreamlike melodies and sharp contrasts—can be heard in works such as the string quintet Tid läggs som tunt papper över beröringen, Qué for saxophone quartet, and Skarpa, vassa for solo violin.