AD ACTA
"ad acta is the title of a piece Patric Simmerud has dedicated to these two musicians [Bengt Andersson & Ansgar Krook], a piece which received its premier recital here. The passage began with a melancholy opening, the piano rippling underneath the clarinet's solo voice until the tones built up to an intense and passionate climax. In its beauty and vivacity the piece represented a stark contrast to many other hyper-modern works, which often have a nervous rigidity in their construction.
ULLA GODIN
Uppsala Nya Tidning

AN
"A mighty, growing drum roll provided the start for S Pat Simmerud's -AN- for wind orchestra. Funeral music, yet of a totally different character to Grieg's! With this piece we are treated to a total, yet at the same time restrained passage in black colours. One is certainly made aware of what can be achieved by a wind orchestra in terms of volume. The work was a powerful and slightly bizarre experience in all its conciseness."
CLAES AF GEIJERSTAM
Uppsala Nya Tidning

"Death can certainly be a source of inspiration. The funeral march thundered on towards the concert's climax, student composer Patric Simmerud's -AN-, whose piece is music in memoriam. Simmerud's music attacks the ears like a red-hot poker. Concentrated and polarized, filling the emptiness between the infernal bellow of the brass section and the flute's tentative, flageolet tones. There was depth in abundance here, almost collapsing under its own weight. With one mighty stroke the wind symphonist's importance had become apparent."
ERIK WALLRUP
Svenska Dagbladet

".. the work is said to be built upon a psalm melody, likewise a tonal alphabet of the person's name - the question is if anyone understood this? The composer himself states in the program comments that the work does (not) do his friend justice - a comment which I personally find appropriate. I don't think I would like to be remembered by such a cacophonous piece..."
SUSANNE BÅGENFELT

FRAMEWORKS
Accordion Concerto Blends Bach With Pop
By ALLAN KOZINN
June 10, 2002
New York Times

Max Lifchitz and his North/South Consonance players closed their 22nd season on Tuesday evening at Christ and St. Stephen's Church with a program of four imaginative recent works. Three were by American composers (including Mr. Lifchitz); one was imported from Sweden. The musical languages were distinct, but each piece had something to draw the listener in an unusual use of rhythm or color, for example, or a peculiar interlacing of lyricism and spikiness.
[...]
"Frameworks" (1997) by S. Pat Simmerud, the Swedish composer, also keeps the individual instrumental strands in the spotlight much of the time. The piece is based on a numerological game: the letters of the alphabet are assigned numbers, which also represent notes in the scale. The work's themes are drawn from a rendering of Bach's full name.

In his program note, Mr. Simmerud writes that the work is inspired by events in Bach's life. He doesn't say which events, and it isn't easy to guess. But the piece works perfectly well as an entirely abstract work

VATTENE IN CONVENTO
"A new piece written by Patric Simmerud this winter received it's premier this evening. Vattene In Convento, translates as 'Enter a Monastery'. Patric's source of inspiration for the idea and music was a stay in Naples last summer. The vocals were inspired by Tibetan choral music, which Patric took home with him, where he then composed accompanying music. The audience in the half-full theatre sat spellbound throughout the performance and only a mass of positive comments were to be heard afterwards. Vattene In Convento could perhaps be considered as a new vision in modern music"
MATS ERIKSSON
Västernorrlands Allehanda