Hans Eklund

Swedish composer, born in Sandviken 1 July 1927, died in Stockholm 8 March 1999.

Eklund's artistic temperament is made up of aggressive power and a plaintive introversion. His humour is equally obvious, but also equally ambivalent, oscillating between the exuberantly burlesque and more complicated, grotesque eruptions.
He studied at the State Academy of Music in Stockholm 1947-1952, where he was taught by Alf Linder (organ) and Sven Brandel (piano). He studied counterpoint under Åke Uddén and composition with Lars-Erik Larsson. During these years Eklund also found time to study conducting with Tor Mann. He continued his composition studies abroad, under Ernst Pepping in Berlin. In addition to his achievement as a composer, a profession to which he has always devoted his full energies, he has acquired a reputation as a teacher. He taught the theory of music at the Stockholm Citizens’ School 1961-1967, and in 1964 he joined the staff of the State Academy of Music in Stockholm, where he taught harmony and counterpoint. Between 1954 and 1956 Eklund received a Composer's Scholarship from the Swedish Government.
Technically speaking, Eklund predominantly employs a distinct, simple rhythm and a sophisticated treatment of melody. He aims for independent clarity in the individual parts and also at fullness of substance in the polyphonic contrapuntal movements. His musical imagination is convincing, both in his unashamedly cheerful pieces and on occasions when he carefully builds up his music into larger forms; on these latter occasions he can achieve a profound gravity which compels one to regard him as a “confessing artist“ of inner necessity. - Gehrmans