Five Snowflakes from Sweden
for solo harp (2020)
duration: 10’
GRT • 219
score available from
Australian Music Centre
program note
I. Arlanda Express: fields of snow, seen through the window
II. Stockholm Central: snow falling outside the station
III. Nynäshämn: snowdrift on the platform
IV: The Baltic Sea: dissolving in the mist
V: Visby: on the waterfront
This set of five miniatures was written with emerging harpists in mind at the invitation of Alice Giles. They follow a journey from landing at Arlanda Airport, Sweden, taking the Arlanda Express into Stockholm Central; the local Pendletåg rail to the coast at Nynäshämn; then a ferry across the Baltic Sea to the island of Gotland, arriving at the port of Visby, my arrival destination. Along the way, the end of the Swedish winter provided different manifestations of snow – on the ground and drifting through the air. The musical ideas I sketched along the way were then formally composed while in residence at the Visby International Centre for Composers in March 2020.