"In Autumn 2004, Karin Rehnqvist began a commission for London Sinfonietta to be premiered in Spring 2005.  Then, whilst holidaying on the island of Koh Lanta in December that year, she witnessed the terrible tsunami that took so many lives and caused so much devastation.  Fortunately, her whole family survived, but the trauma of that experience left Karin unable to compose for quite some time, and only 3 years later did she feel able to complete what was to become "Embrace Me".  The main text comes from an ancient Icelandic saga, nearly a millennium old and it is sung in an intertwined combination of Swedish and English.  The translation is as follows:

Embrace me
enclose me
hold me
(Karin Rehnqvist)

No, I cannot without weeping
gaze across the sea
since my friends
sank to the depths.
How I detest that black sea
and the pull of the crest
Those prey to the waves
cause me grief
(from an old Icelandic saga c1000)

It is clearly "about" the tsunami, and you can almost feel the wall of water towards the end of the piece in the piano/percussion "storm".  Karin asked us to sing with a suppressed emotion throughout - a real intensity, but never "expressive" singing as such.  That was something of a challenge but I think we got there.

We'd called a couple of Swedish colleagues to make sure that we knew how to pronounce the text correctly - then it turned out that old Swedish is pronounced quite differently, though spelled the same.  Just as well Karin was at our rehearsals so that she could put us right.

The conductor, Pierre-André Valade, was lovely.  We had one rehearsal just with him and Karin, and he was quite demanding in terms of the detail - but we didn't mind that at all.  Karin knew exactly what she wanted and we tried our best to deliver that.  Ian Dearden was on hand to provide the amplification - just us, so a nice easy job for him (makes a change)!  There was an amusing moment in the first tutti rehearsal when David Hockings had to bow something metal and high-pitched.  It sounded just like feedback.  I've never seen Ian move so quickly!

The QEH premiere went very well.  It was a really committed performance, and the subtle lighting provided the finishing touch.  I think the piece is very effective and I hope we get the chance to sing it again.  We were only disappointed that it wasn't a bit longer.  We wanted more!"

Micaela