Christiania Mannskor, under the baton of conductor Marius Skjølaas, perform works by father and son David Monrad Johansen and Johan Kvandal. Some of the texts are traditional, from old norse texts, some are by Norwegian poets like Henrik Wergeland and Ivar Aasen.

In a world where unrest and war make constant headlines, human migration is an issue that touches peoples everywhere. On its latest release, The Silk Road, the Oslo-based wind chamber ensemble Oslo Kammerakademi presents a beautiful programme inspired by the subject of cultural migration – what happens when cultures meet, for example because of the movement of populations, trade, politics or conflict.

The quintet, with its peculiar instrumentation and its tonal and rhythmic playfulness— described by some as “successfully circusy”—is a prime example of Prokofiev as an ironist and humorist, a superb craftsman who elegantly juggles his material and produces surprisingly sonorous, tonal and rhythmic kaleidoscopes. Humour has long been a central ingredient in Jon Øivind Ness's music, but there has been a development from the anarchistic maximal to the punctuated minimal.

To compose microtonal piano music, to explore the infinitesimal gaps between the white and black keys, is to embrace the necessity to rethink, retool and, of course, retune the instrument in order to expand or simply reconfigure its tonal makeup and capabilities. Such an exploration extends to other aspects too, to timbre, structure, melody, and most obviously — and radically — to harmony. The five composers on this album, Eivind Buene, Keiko Harada, Øyvind Mæland, Michelle Agnes Magalhaes and Andreas Gundersen, all take a distinct, individual approach in their exploration beyond the conventional limits of the piano.

Seven Disobediences
Seven Imperatives is my answer to the tradition of character pieces for piano, such as Debussy’s Préludes and Grieg’s Lyric Pieces; short, relatively simple but concise miniatures with a motto, and usually with one prevalent sentiment—like a musical short story. The title of each of the seven pieces is an imperative consisting of four letters: Seek! Push! Lean! Etc.
One of the pianists who has taken the Imperatives into his repertoire, is Kenneth Karlsson—central to the founding and artistic development of Cikada. So, when Donaueschinger Musiktage asked me to write a work for Cikada for their concert there in 2018, I seized the opportunity to explore another cornerstone of the piano literature: In a solo concerto, you see a whole orchestra dutifully following a brilliant ego that is completely dominating the stage. Beethoven’s last piano concerto was even called the Emperor Concerto, an epithet the thoroughly anti-authoritarian composer would have hated.
As I transformed Seven Imperatives (2001) into the “concert” Seven Disobediences (2018), I looked into Cikada’s beautiful collaborative social and artistic structure. When Kenneth, “The Emperor” (Italian: imperatore) gives his imperatives to his fellow musician, how do they react? Well, when he tells them to spin, they happily spin together with him, but when he says “SINK!”, they do the opposite and rise gracefully towards the sky. Towards the end, they all leave their positions and their instruments and gather around the piano’s big body to caress it and make it purr by fondly knocking on its shiny, black surface in loving disobedience.
-Rolf Wallin

The songs on this release — volume 2 — continue the chronological list from volume 1. The album begins with the remarkably special cycle Wartburg, encompassing an enormous range of singing pathos. The text by Theodor Caspari has to do with Wartburg Castle, with its sweeping history. Martin Luther sought refuge there from May 1521 to March 1522. Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia resided there from 1211 to 1228, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited the castle several times, and, notably, the famous “minstrel contest” at the castle was an inspiration for Wagner when he composed his opera Tannhäuser. So it is not so unusual that Theodor Caspari was also inspired by the castle’s history and reputation when he wrote his Wartburg texts. After Wartburg come the last of Sigurd Lie’s published texts: Sange Sub Rosa, Sol-Laug and Sidste Sange. They are followed by songs found as manuscripts and later published in the book Sanger (Songs) from 1999. Here it is interesting to see that Sigurd Lie also tried his hand at Haugtussa songs, and we find them in a National Romantic vein that is seldom seen elsewhere. The remaining unpublished songs we have recorded are much the same as Lie’s other compositions. The album closes with two strophic songs: Staren and Det er et gammelt Kvæde.

Ewa Jacobsson is a composer and visual artist. She has been sound collecting since the early 80s. She also collects visual castaway elements from actual sites, and uses materials such as marzipan, oil, steel, wire, photographs, drawings. Her work includes site-specific installations with visuals, sound and preparation of spaces, pure sound composition, collaborations with musicians, physical sounding objects and live performance at exhibitions, museums, concert spaces and in other contexts, including works for public spaces or participatory works. Advanced techniques and materials combined with the lowtech is a reflection of her interest in the transmission of importance and meaning, existentially or politically, through different media, ignoring the hierarchies commonly used. On this recording we're presented with two works: Jarring Sounds for piano and electronics, performed by Jacobsson and pianist Kenneth Karlsson and recorded live, and Hearbaricum Fields (electronics/samples), performed by Jacobsson.

The Women’s Choral Society of the University of Oslo (KSS) under the direction of conductor Marit Tøndel Bodsberg Weyde has established itself over the course of many years as one of the country’s leading female choirs. On this release, the choir takes a new direction in its collaboration with two of Norway’s most trendsetting jazz musicians.

All four compositions of Ørenslyd are developed from an exploration of acoustic and vocal sound formation and the active participation of our listening ability in this formation. The four pieces represent different manifestations of the tonal expression of the human voice and the acoustic richness of the double bass. Ørenslyd (from “øre”, ear, and “lyd”, sound) means “the opportunity to hear something being said or to be heard yourself”.

Mozart’s original music for organ consists of 17 one-movement “Epistle sonatas” — chamber music written between 1772 and 1780 for masses in Salzburg. The instrumentation for 14 of these is two violins and basso continuo, while the remaining three are written for more instruments. The pieces are short — this is music written to be played between the reading of texts. In 1790 Mozart was commissioned to write music for what was known as a “Flötenuhr” — a large grandfather clock containing a self-playing organ. The works are compositions of exceptionally high musical quality. Here the mature Mozart reveals his gifts as a contrapuntalist and his ability to create singable melodies and forward-looking harmonies.

A theme that violinist Sara Övinge aimed to pursue in the project was the juxtaposition of the electronic and the organic. Philip Glass’s 2nd Piano Concerto is arranged for synthesizer and strings, a kind of updated version of Vivaldi’s string orchestra with continuo. But where previous recordings have gone for an electronic sound resembling the baroque harpsichord, Sara wanted to create a more electro-acoustic soundscape.

Johan Kvandal’s string quartets nos. 1–3 have already been recorded, but here we are also introduced to his other works for this classical ensemble. The Engegård Quartet are ideal interpreters of these often challenging works spanning almost four decades of the composer’s life. Thus they show the artistic development of one of the foremost Norwegian composers of the post-war generation.

Trio Brax is a chamber music ensemble based in Tromsø, Northern Norway, founded in 2015. In this first recording they showcase music by the three Norwegian composers; Kjell Habbestad, Håvard Lund, and Helge Iberg, as well as music by Paul Hindemith. With the unusual combination of viola, tenor saxophone, and piano, Trio Brax is an odd flower in the world of classical chamber music. The highlighting of two instruments that are not commonly identified as solistic is intriguing and offers a different palette to the listener.

The Bergen Philharmonic and Chief Conductor Edward Gardner present Arne Nordheim's "The Tempest" (Suite from the Ballet). Arne Nordheim was Norway’s most significant and respected composer until his death in 2010, and one of the few figures in contem­porary western music who proved himself able to move beyond traditional harmonic re­lationships while maintaining a distinct ability to communicate widely through his striking, physical music.

Tine Thing Helseth is back with a new release – “Seraph” – this time together with Ensemble Allegria. Helseth and Allegria have had a close association for many years and have appeared together at the Bergen International Festival, the Northern Lights Festival in Tromsø, the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, and on the main stage at the Norwegian National Opera. This release features some familiar as well as lesser known works for trumpet and string orchestra by composers from Norway and abroad, with the first four written for this instrumentation, while the last three were arranged by Jarle Storløkken. In Tine’s own words: “Seraph” is an album I have wanted to record for a long time, both because of the repertoire and the ensemble I’m playing with. I studied together with these musicians and many are good friends I’ve known for a long time. This makes it all the more rewarding, fun and inspiring to play together!

Olli Mustonen about his works: “It is not a coincidence that many composers seem to have written some of their most important and meaningful works for the string quartet. I grew up listening to string quartets, especially those by Beethoven and Bartók, and those works have had a tremendous impact on what I am as a composer, musician and as a human being. In many of my works one can see some sort of journey from darkness toward the light, in various forms. In the case of my String Quartet this journey is exceptionally arduous. There is an element of hope in some sections of the third movement, but the hope it offers is more of an otherworldly variety. In the beginning of the fourth movement the very dramatic elements of the beginning of the quartet return. Just at that point, as the listener thinks that the darker elements will ultimately prevail, the music reaches an important turning-point…

"My Piano Quintet consists of three movements. The first movement is filled with drama and passion. Its’ atmosphere can be seen to be related to my Second Symphony “Johannes Angelos” – a work that has been inspired by a historical novel taking place in the middle of the turbulent times during the last months of the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople. The second movement is a set of polyphonic variations in a form reminiscent of a passacaglia. The music seems to be hypnotized by a theme consisting of a chromatic cluster of ten notes. Finally, the passacaglia winds down to along, single low G sharp played by the first violin.”

“As my career has progressed, I have had the chance to make numerous recordings featuring a variety of repertoires, and I have always felt the desire to record the songs of Sibelius. A wonderful opportunity presented itself when the Norwegian Radio Orchestra with Chief Conductor Petr Popelka expressed its willingness to be part of such a recording. Virtually all Sibelius songs are written for voice and piano, but many of them seem as though made for orchestral sounds and instrumental subtlety. Therefore a number of his finest songs have fortunately been orchestrated, and it is these editions we have used for this recording. A few of the orchestrations were done by Sibelius himself, one by his contemporary, Simon Parmet (né Pergament), while several were orchestrated by his own son-in-law, conductor Jussi Jalas. This album presents orchestrated songs of Sibelius from four opus numbers: 17, 36, 37 and 38.” (Marianne Beate Kielland)

All the music on this release has the countertenor as a common denominator. There is something beautifully unsettling about the voice type. It throws us back to a fortunately bygone time when the same vocal properties were reached by the barbaric practice that produced the male “castrati”. Nowadays, male singers who wish to sing in this register develop their falsetto and head voice techniques in a natural way. The three composers represented here are all honest seekers who choose to adopt different musical approaches according to their temperaments. In some cases we hear an explicit adherence to more traditional tonality. In others the connection to a tonal root is tenuous at best. Yet, each and every piece in these recordings has a particular beauty born of its inner necessities. And it is all recognizable as music.

After having worked on several pieces for bandoneon and orchestra in recent years, I felt the urge to present some of my chamber music. All music featuring the bandoneon inevitably conjures up associations with tango, and yes, my music is no exception, most apparent here in my works for bandoneon and string quartet, Violent Tenderness and Polaco. In opposition to these two works it was important for me to find as much contrast within the ensemble and the works as possible. So I landed on piano, cello, baritone voice and bandoneon in my ensemble GLO2020, for the piece Kykelipi, with lyrics by Jan Erik Vold. My aim is to expand the repertoire of the bandoneon by bringing in new sources of inspiration such as French chansons, German ‘lieder’, soul, contemporary music, Norwegian lyric and folk music, and even the Polish national anthem.

I’ve also brought in a new percussion instrument, the lurk. The desired result is to create something completely fresh where the listener can recognize the bandoneon sound and the tango rhythms but also be knocked out by the modern tonality, unpredictable chord combinations, the madness, humor, as well as some serious existential questions. Since I’m known to often use somewhat dissonant intervals such as tritones and seconds, I jokingly call my music TANGST (a combination of the words tango and angst). This can easily be translated into other languages too, such as Tanguish (in English), Tangústia (in Spanish), Tangoisse (inFrench) and Tansia (in Italian). Let me stress though, that this music is Tangst con brio or Tangst giocoso! (Per Arne Glorvigen)

Sonoko Miriam Welde writes: “When you ask people which superpower they would choose if they could have only one, many answer that they would want the power of flight. Although I personally would prefer invisibility, I also think there is something enviable about the freedom of being able to fly... A lot has been said and written about how Vaughan Williams wrote The Lark Ascending during the 1st World War “when a pastoral scene of a singing bird on the wing seemed far removed from reality” (Betsy Schwarm, Britannica). I sometimes imagine people living through difficult times looking up at the lark, envying its life and freedom that they wish they had. It's a moving piece with soaring melodies and the lark's “silver chain of sound.” Soaring melodies are present in Barber's Concerto as well. Although it opens with a generous and warm melody, it doesn't take long for uncertainty to creep in, and large sections of the 1st movement are dominated by an “in-between” kind of feeling – in addition to the unbelievably triumphant and satisfying return of the opening theme of course! The 2nd movement is, for me, one of the most touching and heartbreaking pieces of music. It reminds me of "Somewhere" from West Side Story. Hope, pain and perhaps longing for something better. It is just endlessly beautiful... Bruch's Violin Concerto is a piece with its heart on its sleeve. The 1st movement is a very serious and dramatic introduction, the 2nd incredibly touching and sincere, and the 3rd so joyous and life affirming. This piece has accompanied me in many important and special moments in my life so far and I am so happy that it is with me in this one as well – my debut album with the Oslo Philharmonic, a fantastic group of musicians that I have loved and admired for many years!”

REVIEW:

This album is most definitely a fine showcase of Welde’s incredible artistry. Her energy, tone, even the skillful deployment of her vibrato (which is capable of both subdued and glowing hues) all speak to the years of study, practice, and work she has done. As a soloist of this highly emotive repertoire, Welde absolutely leans into the emotionality of these violin standards, but then again, she has earned that lean. My former violin teacher always reminded me that a violinist only earns this kind of emotional playing after first doing the enormous work of understanding the music and her instrument inside and out.

Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending offers a nice sort of pause between the big emotions of Bruch and Barber. Welde’s harmonics are absolutely perfect—bright and breathy and sustaining the tension of the piece—and again, she is very comfortable deploying the tools at her disposal: her clean articulation, consistent and dynamic bowing, her anticipation of the overall structure of the solo part within the grander work. Welde’s extreme tonal control—perhaps on full display in the Bruch second movement—in her seemingly effortless movement from pianissimo to forte, feels as though she is able to shift dynamics within a single bow.

This is, overall, a really lovely album.

— Fanfare

The story of Mary Magdalene has been a source of comfort for many women, and research has shown that medieval ballads about Mary Magdalene are often sung by single mothers. The Mary Magdalene ballads, found in Solør, Telemark and Gudbrandsdalen, along with other folk tunes and improvisations, form the musical basis of the vocal element, where Sinikka Langeland uses the recitative form to tell the story while surrounded by works of Johann Sebastian Bach. The instrumental music is meant to intensify the emotions and atmosphere of the story although it is in itself, of course, some of the most beautiful music ever written.

The Norwegian opera literature is a well concealed and all too little known gem in our national cultural heritage. There is general agreement that it begins with the Waldemar Thrane/Henrik Bjerregaard Singspiel The Mountain Story from 1824. And throughout the nineteenth century there were a number of Norwegian composers who wrote operas, most of them now long forgotten. With this release we wish to make the music accessible to listeners in the hope of generating new interest in and discussion about why this part of our cultural heritage has been left to lie untouched.

Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) composed his Symphony No 6 in E flat minor, Opus 111 between 1945 and February 1947, though his sketches date from 1944 - before his completion of the Fifth Symphony. The scoring is for large orchestra including piccolo, cor anglais, E flat clarinet, contrabassoon, harp, piano, celesta and an array of percussion. Although the key of E flat minor is extremely rare in the symphonic literature, Myaskovsky also wrote a sixth symphony in that key. On this release, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 6 is paired with Myaskovsky’s Symphony No. 27 in C minor. The works are performed by the Oslo Philharmonic.

Prokofiev described his Fifth Symphony as “...the culmination of an entire period in my work. I conceived it as a symphony on the grandeur of the human spirit.” He regarded this symphony, composed in the summer of 1944, as his finest work. The first movement opens quietly and lyrically with a rising theme for flute and bassoon, but with the introduction of brass and percussion the hard-edged side of Prokofiev’s language becomes more evident. Prokofiev may be considered by many to be among the major symphonists of his time, though his contribution to this genre is uneven. Nikolai Myaskovsky (1881–1950) was certainly one of the most prolific symphonic composers of the twentieth century. Myaskovsky’s twenty-seven symphonies are diverse in style, character and form, ranging from a single movement to five movements, but generally he was a traditionalist, especially in terms of tonality and structure. Myaskovsky composed his Twenty-first Symphony, sub-titled Symphony-Fantasy in F-sharp minor, in response to a commission from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. (Other composers who were commissioned for this occasion included Stravinsky, Kodály, Milhaud, Roy Harris and Walton.) Frederick Stock, the orchestra’s conductor at that time and an admirer of Myaskovsky’s music, performed this work many times. Alexander Gauk conducted the USSR State Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere in November 1940. The first performance in America was given by Frederick Stock with the Chicago Symphony just a few weeks later.