Allan Pettersson: Vox Humana & 6 Sanger

Ever since I began my work as a producer with cpo, I’ve wanted to release Allan Pettersson’s cantata Vox humana from 1974 as part of our edition of his works. However, we could not find the right Swedish soloists and a Swedish choir for the job. Now we’ve finally found the ensembles we wanted and can release this magnificent work on cpo. Vocal works occupy a relatively modest place in Pettersson’s oeuvre; after the composition of the Barfotasånger from 1943 to 1945, almost thirty years passed before he again decided to write a work for the human voice. In 1973/74 he wrote his twelfth symphony based on texts from Pablo Neruda’s Canto general and immediately thereafter, in 1974, the three-part cantata Vox humana, which is also often termed a song cycle and likewise is based exclusively on South American texts. And as a bonus the CD also contains Pettersson’s Six Early Songs for Middle Voice and Piano, here in a special arrangement by Staffan Storm for string orchestra and harp from 2016.