“The music on this release is written over a period of 20 years, and all the works relate specifically to the past. An old piano, Richard Strauss' material in "Three Transfigurations", Richard Nordraak’s indirect presence in "Funeral March in Memory of Edvard Grieg", and fragments from the archive in "Harmonium Repertoire", taken from harmonium orchestral parts in works by Schönberg, Mahler, Strauss, Berg, and Bruckner. Some may find a nostalgic inclination. A sense of lost time, that everything was better before and so on. It is not untrue, but neither is it the whole truth, I would argue. I look at my own compositional work as a fundamentally optimistic project where the core of the activity is about relationships. I think music stands in relation to something, like a meeting, sometimes a confrontation, always in connection with people, the world, history – or a piano.” (Lars Petter Hagen, composer)

The Norwegian Naval Forces' Band (SFMK) has become acquainted with Ketil Hvoslef, both as a person and as a composer, over a period of several years. This musical cooperation and these personal encounters have been invaluable for SFMK. Hvoslef's generation is not one with a close connection to the digital world. He has only recently learned to use email. Our face-to-face meetings have given us a clear insight into his personal approach to music, as well as a richer perspective on the music than what the score alone could grant us. It has always been both desirable and natural for SFMK to engage with local composers and commission works from them. Having a well established composer with such a clear voice in Norwegian cultural life in our midst, it was only a matter of time before we approached Hvoslef about a possible cooperation. It began with the work L’homme armé from 2012, which lends its title to this release. Hvoslef has a secure place in Norway’s music history canon. He can be considered a bridge between his father Harald Sæverud’s generation and today’s younger composers. Hvoslef is entirely uncompromising in his approach to composition and seems to have only a casual interest in the musical environment. According to him, his only contact with cultural life is listening to Italian radio and he claims that he has little idea of what other Norwegian composers are up to. One can sense this clearly in his music; he is true to himself and his ideas whether he writes for wind band, chamber groups or symphony orchestras. It has been enriching for the Norwegian Naval Forces' Band to partake of the inebriating bubble inside which Hvoslefand his music have invited us.

Kjell Habbestad writes: “The title of this album refers to String Quartet No. 1, which has the same name. But it can also stand as an all-inclusive name for the four compositions represented on the album, four stations on my journey as a composer, four different approaches to musical expression in time and space. The journey begins in 1989 with String Quartet No. 1 — Quattro stazioni, and ends in 2013 with String Quartet No. 2. Between these stations are Air d’été suédois for clarinet quintet (2009) and Divertimento for clarinet and piano (2010).” Habbestad studied church music at the Norwegian Academy of Music from 1976 to 1979 and graduated with a diploma from the composition course at the same institution in 1981, having studied with Olav Anton Thommessen, Finn Mortensen and Lasse Thoresen. Habbestad was active as an organist from 1974 to 1987 and, from 2013, is a professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music.

Lars Haugbro, who received his doctoral degree from Cornell University, made his brilliant piano debut in Oslo in 1982 and has since performed as soloist and chamber musician in Scandinavia, Italy, Spain, Russia, and the U.S. He has appeared as soloist with a number of symphony orchestras, including the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, and has made television and radio recordings for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). He is often invited to serve as a jury member at the International Edvard Grieg Piano Competition in Bergen, and at the Young Musicians Competition in Oslo, among others.

Music in the 1800s, as in earlier times, was influenced by the instruments for which it was written. As far as the organ is concerned, traditionally there was the influence of the piano, but also, to an ever increasing extent, the orchestra. Beginning in the mid-1700s, the Mannheim School’s introduction of variable dynamics led to a paradigm shift, and the attitudes this represented were also evident in organ music. In his book of study for the organ from 1795–98, Justin Heinrich Knecht (1752–1817) described how one could achieve a crescendo on the organ from pianissimo to fortissimo, and he indicated the specific sequence of stops to be used. Nonetheless, most organs of the time were distinguished by the ideals of the past and were not always well suited for a new registration practice. The norm, as documented in published organ music in the first decades of the nineteenth century, implied that the registration was not changed while playing, thus limiting one to terraced dynamics by the dynamics that the number of manuals permitted. This album’s intention is to present examples of developments characterizing German organ music in the mid- 1800s.

Barokkanerne, under the direction of baroque oboist Alfredo Bernardini, rings in Christmas with German baroque music by a four-leaf clover of composers who vied for the post of cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig – a position filled by J. S. Bach after candidates Telemann, Graupner and Fasch all declined for different reasons. The ensemble serves up Advent and Christmas cantatas by Graupner, Fasch and the great Bach himself, as well as a splendid Telemann concerto led by father and daughter Bernadini. Also contributing to the album are soprano Berit Norbakken Solset, mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate Kielland, tenor Anders J. Dahlin and baritone Halvor F. Melien- all with careers spanning the globe. Barokkanerne are an Oslo-based Early Music ensemble and one of the very finest independent professional baroque orchestras on period instruments in Scandinavia. The orchestra is Norway’s most active baroque ensemble with concert series in Oslo, concert tours in Norway and abroad, countless festival performances, and continual efforts to improve competence within Early Music among youth, students, amateurs and professionals. Since 2009 Alfredo Bernardini has been a much-beloved guest leader for Barokkanerne, and he can also be heard on two of the ensemble’s earlier releases. Cecilia Bernardini is widely considered to be one of the most versatile violinists of her generation and has won prizes on both the modern and baroque violin.

This CD features Trond Kverno's most important choral and organ works, composed from the early 1970s up to 2004, all collected on one recording. Bergen Cathedral Choir, with conductor Kjetil Almenning, collaborated with organist Arnfinn Tobiassen on this recording in commemoration of Kverno's 70th birthday.

Chopin’s E minor Concerto and Schumann’s Opus 92 remain two of the finest works for piano and orchestra by composers of the Romantic era- the universal spirit of these compositions being equally relevant in the early decades of the 21st century as they were when they first appeared. Sveinung Bjelland is one of The Norwegian Radio Orchestra’s preferred partners, both as soloist, which he has been numerous times, and in its chamber music series. With an ear for detail in sound and phrasing and content only after achieving his intended nuances at the micro level, he is, at the same time, a pianist with the power and authority needed to be heard over the orchestra. In these works, the interplay between soloist and orchestra is especially important, and it may be noted that the conductor on this recording is also a pianist. Bjelland is Professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Univeristy of Agder. The Norwegian Radio Orchestra is known and cherished throughout the land and regarded by music-loving Norwegians with a unique combination of respect and affection. The orchestra is comprised of highly talented classical instrumentalists and its musical philosophy is distinguished by a light-hearted approach, a curiosity for all kinds of music, and an unwillingness to pigeonhole musical styles.

Kristen Flagstad was born in Hamar, Norway in 1895, into a life filled with music; both her parents were professional theatre musicians in Norway’s capital. Throughout her childhood, music was a part of her life from morning until evening. Via her parents’ acquaintances, Kirsten was introduced to a broad repertoire; she would accompany herself at the piano in Schubert Lieder, revue songs by Vilhelm Dybwad, operettas by Franz Lehar and Emmerich Kalman, as well as in the arias of Puccini and Wagner. Her debut as an opera singer took place at the National Theatre in Oslo, in December 1913, where she sang the part of Nuri in Eugen d’Albert’s Tiefland, under the baton of Johan Halvorsen. Despite the fact that Kirsten Flagstad is remembered as a singer mainly of large-scale works, with a voice that was suited to the largest venues, she had a particular love of Lieder and art songs. From her teens and throughout her career her repertoire included a significant number of German and Nordic songs. Her distinctive voice and ability made Kirsten Flagstad a source of inspiration to composers all over the world.

Flutist, composer, and teacher Paul Taffanel (1844-1908) was to have a decisive influence on the development of chamber music for winds in France. In 1879 he founded the Société de musique de chambre pour instruments à vent (Society of Chamber Music for Wind Instruments). The organization’s objective was to expand and promote chamber music repertoire for winds. On this recording, the Oslo Kammerakademi performs chamber works for winds by composers Charles Gounod, Charles Koechlin, Florent Schmitt, Théodore Gouvy, and Vincent d’Indy, several of which were composed for the Société de musique de chambre pour instruments à vent.

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.

In our time, the poet Keats’ famous adage “beauty is truth, truth beauty” might sound like a lost dream, but Nils Henrik Asheim’s collection Hornflowers, reimagines this relationship and brings hope to contemporary ears. Asheim is not a beauty-worshipping esthetician in the same way as Keats, but he examines the idea of beauty through poetic compositions. Today, beauty and truth appear almost as opposites — truths are disputed and dismantled, while reality can come across as anything but beautiful. The works on this release, performed by the NyNorsk Brass Quintet, are also full of contradictions. Collected fragments, sounds, patterns, words, and dichotomies are utilized as building blocks, freed from their original context and strung together in surprising and powerful constellations. Asheim has also given several of the pieces oxymoronic titles, like Burning Ice, Singing Stones, and Scream Soft, and by this invites the listener to reflect upon differences of opinion and improbable compilations. The brass instruments occupy and explore spaces we do not normally hear them occupy —undressed and playful — and their obvious natural place and inclusion in these constructions is both astonishing and liberating. It is precisely in the surprises, in the contrasts, in the distance between the building blocks and the grout that holds them together, that the uniqueness and tactility of this music is revealed. In this way, Asheim creates his own musical lyricism where beauty and truth are exposed through contradictions and improbabilities.

Harpreet (b. 1980) was born in Oslo to Indian parents. She started learning ragas with her father, Guru Harbhajan Singh Bansal, when she was two years old. She later studied European classical music at the Norwegian Academy of Music and went on to study North Indian classical music at the same institution under the tutelage of Ustad Ashraf Sharif Khan and privately with Dr. L. Subramaniam. Harpreet has enjoyed a long and diverse freelance career, leading her own projects as well as collaborating with outstanding musicians of various genres. She composes music for her own ensembles like Harpreet Bansal Band and Harpreet Bansal Trio, and she is regularly commissioned to compose for Western vocal and instrumental ensembles, orchestras, and, recently, a children's theatre production. She has made several appearances on Norwegian National TV and Radio, and she has appeared as a soloist with such ensembles as the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Trondheim Soloists. Harpreet's music straddles the border between raga, jazz and Western classical idioms in what has been called 'a unique and radical approach to the raga genre.' She has received glowing reviews in the Norwegian and international music press, and her second album "Samaya" was nominated for "Spellemannprisen" (Norwegian Grammy Awards) for 2018. With her band she has also released the albums "Chandra" (2015) and "Movements"(2020) on the Jazzland/OKWorld label. "Movements" received the prestigious NOPA (Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists) award in 2021.

"OSTINATI LAMENTI" The lament is a literary genre that developed – with various names – in Roman languages in the Middle Ages, which typically involves a character complaining in the first person about unrequited love, loss or even their own death. It became very popular in Italy during the Renaissance, due predominantly to the expansion of the publishing industry and renewed interest in the Greek and Latin classics, for example the laments Ludovico Ariosto borrowed from Ovid, including the weeping Olympia. The economic crisis of the early seventeenth century and the remorseful climate of the Counter- Reformation inspired authors to write ever-greater numbers of sacred and secular laments, and these were increasingly frequently in verse form, designed to be set to music. On this recording, featuring Norwegian Baroque ensemble Oslo Circles and mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate Kielland, the listener will hear examples of the lament form by Italian composers such as Frescobaldi, Mealli, Merula, Uccellini, Kapsberger, Monteverdi and others.

“When you are writing arrangements of the tango and other Latin American music for classical string orchestras, there are some special challenges. Most of these involve how one can incorporate all the musical elements that are not included as part of the notation. Things that the musicians just know because they know the style, but that are not written down, and are often very difficult to notate. In the tango one often talks about playing ‘con mugre’ (with ‘dirt under your nails’), which is a way of describing all the small nuances in the playing that must be there if it is going to feel right, but that are not necessarily ‘correct’ on the instrument. This often involves untraditional ways of creating added sounds and effects while you are playing, or the way you use accents, staccato, glissando and crescendo, at a subtle and detailed level that is often difficult to distinguish from a particular musician’s personal style. How much of this can be marked in the music notation? I am constantly experimenting to find a good balance that does not include so much information that it becomes impossible to read/play, but enough to give it a reasonably authentic character.” -Sverre Indris Joner, Arranger, pianist and composer