The Music of Benny Andersson and ABBA

Salisbury Chamber Chorus is heading north again for this autumn’s concert programme, reflecting our musical director Simon McEnery’s long-standing obsession with four famous Swedes. The Chorus is not known for its pop vocals, though this wouldn’t be our first venture into that territory. However, there are plenty of choirs out there who will give you better straight pop versions of ABBA songs, so we’re going to be a bit left-field about our approach. We also want to celebrate the whole range of Benny Andersson’s compositions, from music theatre (Chess), to Swedish folk and choral music (including his anthem for a Swedish royal wedding). And our ABBA choices will also vary from choral arrangements of some big hits (Super Trouper, Money Money Money, Dancing Queen) to some less well-known songs (The Day Before You Came, The Visitors, Move On), with some given some unusual treatments.

One reason for this is that we are being joined by two excellent violinists for this concert, Baroque specialist Rudolf Balász (look out for our Lay All Your Love On Me-meets-Baroque-concerto moment), and Jade Cuthbert, a regular on the London music theatre scene.

In short, if you’re an ABBA fan, you’ll probably enjoy this concert. But if you’re not, we think this concert might just surprise and delight you anyway.