(Magnus Granberg, Angharad Davies, Toshi Nakamura, Henrik Olsson, Ko Ishikawa, Anna Lindal, John Eriksson, Erik Carlsson, Leo Svensson Sander and Petter Wstberg). Another beautiful extended composition by Magnus Granberg, exquisitely played by an ensemble of fine musicians whose last two discs on Another Timbre both featured in The Wire's best of year CD lists for 2012 and 2013 respectively. 'Despairs Had Governed Me Too Long' is the third disc on Another Timbre by the Swedish-based ensemble Skogen, who have emerged as one of the most compelling groups within contemporary music. Their previous releases - 'Ist gefallen in den Schnee' and Rows' both featured in The Wire's reviews of the year in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Like 'Ist gefallen', 'Despairs Had Governed Me Too Long' is an extended composition by Skogen's founder, Magnus Granberg. But whereas 'Ist gefallen' took Schubert's Winterreise as its basis, 'Despairs' derives its harmonic and rhythmic material from a song by the seventeenth century English composer John Dowland.
