91Èȱ¬

Beast Sampler was completed in September 2014, to a joint commission from the Gothenburg Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and NDR orchestras. It was premiered in Stockholm by Sakari Oramo in November 2014. Composer Anders Hillborg says that the title ‘Beast Sampler’ was inspired by the idea of the orchestra as a ‘sound animal’ – and if he sees the orchestra as an organic whole, the degree of nature imagery in the piece suggests that listeners might not be going too far wrong to see ‘Beast Sampler’ as a contribution to the proud Nordic tradition of landscape-sampling…