[Thor Joachim Haga]

Before the days of the two Johans (Johan Söderqvist and Jóhann Jóhannsson), Stefan Nilsson was IMO the greatest Nordic film composer. Of course, now both Nilsson and Jóhannsson have left this mortal coil, leaving Söderqvist as the “pater familias”.

Be that as it may, Nilsson has always been a major favourite for me. I even met him once, when we both participated in a seminar here in Oslo in the late 2000s. Such an expert in the melancholic, bittersweet, bucolic, pastoral — adjectives often used on Scandinavian sentiments. PELLE THE CONQUEROR stands as one of my absolute favourite Nordic scores of all time. I’ve reached him now, in my collection walkthrough. I have two individual soundtracks: SÅ SOM I HIMMELEN, featuring his eternal hymn “Gabriella’s Song”, and the PELLE THE CONQUERER album on Milan that is coupled with Björn Isfält’s MY LIFE AS A DOG.

But…if you need just one thing by him, you should definitely get this compilation from 1998, which is to die for. A must-have, really. I just wish it had more from the Tage & Alfredson collaborations, like JIM & PIRATERNA BLOM (1987), a rollicking swashbuckler score that sadly remains unreleased, AFAIK.