They're all works "after old Norwegian church melodies" so there's a measure of familiarity in listening to them that I hadn't really hit upon until I heard a choir of native Norwegians singing them. I originally heard the first, Hvad est du dog skjøn, way back in high school when I picked up a recording from the St. Olaf Choir (to hear a piece by another Norwegian, Knut Nystedt's O Crux) but it's still completely amazing to me.
The second movement, Guds Søn har gjordt meg fri, has been re-arranged here and there into a piece for men's chorus but the original is way more arresting. You've got a baritone soloist singing in one key and the choir singing in another (polytonality from a guy who died in 1907!) and, from what I remember, this movement was the most difficult to learn.
Jesus Christus er opfaren is a patient interplay between soloist and choir and, in the performance I bought, benefits from an incredible interpretation. The choir sings it in a folk style that, to my ear, is reminiscent of some of the choral stuff you might hear in--of all things--The Lion King (I know that's really weird to say...it's just what I hear).
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir represented Norway at the World Choral Symposium when it was held right here in Minneapolis in 2002. Their performance and the workshop that Grete Pedersen put on about Norwegian choral music were some of the few things from the symposium that I remember vividly. On the recording (which you can still buy!), one of the pieces they're represented with is the final movement of this work, I Himmelen. It translates to "In Heaven Above" and--if you'll permit me to be a little schmaltzy for a second--it isn't hard to see why.
I visited Grieg's house, Troldhaugen, in Bergen in 2003 and I've gradually begun to listen to a lot of his music and really enjoy it. Look up the choral arrangement of Våren if you're game...it's so beautiful. The half steps at the beginning kill me every time and, in the NSC recording, a soprano goes further into the ledger lines above the staff than I think I've ever heard in a choral performance.
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir represented Norway at the World Choral Symposium when it was held right here in Minneapolis in 2002. Their performance and the workshop that Grete Pedersen put on about Norwegian choral music were some of the few things from the symposium that I remember vividly. On the recording (which you can still buy!), one of the pieces they're represented with is the final movement of this work, I Himmelen. It translates to "In Heaven Above" and--if you'll permit me to be a little schmaltzy for a second--it isn't hard to see why.
I visited Grieg's house, Troldhaugen, in Bergen in 2003 and I've gradually begun to listen to a lot of his music and really enjoy it. Look up the choral arrangement of Våren if you're game...it's so beautiful. The half steps at the beginning kill me every time and, in the NSC recording, a soprano goes further into the ledger lines above the staff than I think I've ever heard in a choral performance.
Takk deg, Edvard! Din musikk forbauser!
Now back to work on these French pieces!
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