Gunno Södersten (1920-1998) studied in Stockholm and also with Messiaen. He was a pianist, organist, and conductor, serving at the Immanuel Church in Stockholm 1943-1985. He wrote a number of organ works, among them 6 Symphonies, this is the 1st movement of Symphony 1, titled "Immanuel". The composer writes this about the work:
This symphony is intended to be a sermon - following the classical pattern with three points - over Bo Setterlind's poems to the church bells in the Immanuel church in Stockholm: Immanuel-Kyrie-Gloria. It also has a musical connection to the notes of church bells C-A-G (the so-called Gloria motif) and famous chorales and spiritual songs that have this motif and to texts that are in harmony with the content of the poems. The symphony has three movements.
The first movement was composed on the beach of Tenerife with the waves of the sea and the huge cliffs in the background. A threatening pedal recitative and wave-like tonal surge are combined with reminiscences of the hymns "With us is the Lord of hosts" and "Your name is written in heaven" and the dal chorale "In heaven, in heaven", after which a concertante part leads to the hymn "God is here present" performed in the pedal.
At the top of the page is this inscription:
"He writes your name in the stone of the rock.
If He writes your name in the sand,
a thousand winds come and destroy it.
Therefore, He writes your name so that it remains forever."
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