Staffan Björklund (b. 1944), former cathedral organist in Linköping, Sweden, now free lance as a pianist and composer, created this enormous "Dialogues pour piano seul" 1991 when he spent some months in Paris, re-taking contact with his friends from studying years, and also concentrating on composing. The result is an amazingly powerfull solo piece, 70 minutes long and filled with extreme expression and emotion. The recording, from the performance at Swedish Academy of Music 1993, captures the intensity that even caused a string to breake in the grand Steinway piano! Staffan Björklund, pianist You need Real Audio to listen to this file: Björklund: from Dialogues pour piano seul (good quality mono) Listen to all nosag CDs on the air: "YESS music" with the whole CD-catalogue of nosag records

THE CRITICS:

SvD: " The style? Well, if Alexandr Skryabin lived twice as long and as ageing composer met the young Pierre Boulez, maybe he would have written something like this; excited and tense, with chromatical scales running past as scarred lizards, and moments of quiet meditation over some dropping notes in the distant sphere."

DN: "While trying to resist, at last I let myself be dragged into the musical world of Staffan Björklund´s, a world that in spite of many influences does not resemble any other. In these "Dialogues", like in Björklund´s impressive super-pianistics, there is interplay between improvisation and strict form, between brutality and spirit, between the mild Nordic and the overwhelming dramatic. Everything is put together in long lines of events. Björklund´s piano seance should be on TV!"

ÖstgötaCorren: "It´s a very special musical world he invites us to, a psycho thriller with several emotional levels and tensions. Part from being extreamely interesting as music, the very skilled performance by Björklund creates an electrified mood."

Gränslöst/Sonoloco: (read the full sonoloco review here)
" This bouquet of Dialogues for a lonely piano ought to belong to the classics in the very sofisticated pianoliterature, like those masterpieces by Cage, Boulez, Nancarrow and also Skrjabin! The musical sensation is immediate and wonderfully direct. I am surprised! I did not know that we today in Sweden have a piano literature of this caliber, not minor than any similar pieces!"

SvD: " The composer plays with that special sparkle a musician can create playing his own music. It is a mighty piece, an important roadsign in Swedish piano literature. A strong personal temperament shines through the whole work!"

CONTENTS:

1.	Tempo giusto	2’53
2.	Poco maestoso	5’11
3.	Furioso	2’51
4.	Lento	5’06
5.	Allegro con brio (fuga)	3’33
6.	Agitato	7’38
7.	Poco agitato	7’20
8.	Agitato molto	6’55
9.	Poco allegro	4’54
10.	Allegro agitato	3’44
11.	Andante moderato	7’32
12.	Recitativo (tempo rubato)	13’23

total: 71’04