CASTEGREN-MATTSON, Marianne

Inga Marianne Castegren-Mattsson is a Swedish musician, composer and writer, born in Stockholm on 5 December 1939. She grew up in a musical family: her father, Nils Castegren, was a composer, conductor and music administrator, while her mother, Ulla Castegren, was a singer, actress and music director.
Castegren-Mattsson studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm from 1959 to 1965. She later worked with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra between 1973 and 1978 and with the Swedish concert organisation Rikskonserter from 1982 to 1986. Thereafter, she pursued freelance work in music, literature and cultural projects. She also presented music programmes for Swedish Radio.
Her compositions include songs and choral music, while her literary and theatrical work has concentrated particularly on productions for children and projects connected with working life. Her best-documented musical work is Regnbågen (The Rainbow), a musical story for children for which she wrote both the words and music. Composed around 1987 and published in 1988, it contains songs of varying difficulty for unison, two- or three-part children’s choir and piano, with optional flute, guitar, bass and percussion. The story was designed to be easily adapted for theatrical performance and continues to be staged by Swedish music schools.