Notes and Editorial Reviews
‘Some of the most striking and moving singing put down on disc for years’ is how White Night, the previous release with the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir and its conductor Grete Pedersen, was described on the website of Gramophone. Having focused on music from their home country before, the team here presents a German programme, featuring two of the most influential composers in 19th-century choral music: Johannes Brahms and Franz Schubert. It includes both sacred and secular music, scored for male, female and mixed choir a cappella and accompanied, starting with a selection from Brahms’ deservedly popular Zigeunerlieder for mixed choir and piano. A contrast to these settings of Hungarian folk songs is provided by the autumnal Five Songs for
Read more
mixed choir a cappella – a collection of poems dealing with the transience of youth, love and life, which in many respects presents a masterful distillation of Brahms’ choral output. From an earlier part of the composer’s career come two sacred works for mixed choir, the motet Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Mühseligen, showing Bach’s influence on the composer, and Geistliches Lied, with organ accompaniment. Schubert is represented with a setting of Psalm 23 for women’s choir and piano and Der Gesang der Geister über den Wassern to a poem by Goethe which Schubert chose to set several times. The version recorded here, numbered D714, is the last one. It has an unusual scoring for eight- part male choir and low strings which in 1821 perplexed the first audience, and which even today has a very special effect on the listener. Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Psalm 23, D 706/Op. 132 by Franz Schubert
Performer:
Ole-Eirik Ree (Cello),
Madelene Berg (Viola),
Kare Nordstoga (Organ),
Ingrid Andsnes (Piano),
Catherine Bullock (Viola),
Oystein Birkeland (Cello),
Dan Styffe (Double Bass)
Conductor:
Grete Pedersen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Period: Romantic
Written: 1820; Vienna, Austria
2.
Gesang der Geister über den Wassern, D 714b/Op. 167 by Franz Schubert
Performer:
Madelene Berg (Viola),
Catherine Bullock (Viola),
Oystein Birkeland (Cello),
Dan Styffe (Double Bass),
Ole-Eirik Ree (Cello)
Conductor:
Grete Pedersen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Period: Romantic
Written: 1821
3.
Songs (5), Op. 104 by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Ole-Eirik Ree (Cello),
Madelene Berg (Viola),
Kare Nordstoga (Organ),
Ingrid Andsnes (Piano),
Catherine Bullock (Viola),
Oystein Birkeland (Cello),
Dan Styffe (Double Bass)
Conductor:
Grete Pedersen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Period: Romantic
Written: 1888; Austria
4.
Geistliches Lied, Op. 30 by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Kare Nordstoga (Organ)
Conductor:
Grete Pedersen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Period: Romantic
Written: 1856; Germany
5.
Zigeunerlieder, Op. 103: Excerpt(s) by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Ingrid Andsnes (Piano)
Conductor:
Grete Pedersen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Period: Romantic
Written: 1887-1888; Austria
6.
Motets (2), Op. 74: no 1, Warum ist das Licht gegeben by Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Ole-Eirik Ree (Cello),
Madelene Berg (Viola),
Kare Nordstoga (Organ),
Ingrid Andsnes (Piano),
Catherine Bullock (Viola),
Oystein Birkeland (Cello),
Dan Styffe (Double Bass)
Conductor:
Grete Pedersen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Period: Romantic
Written: 1877; Austria
Sound Samples
11 Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy-Songs), Op. 103: No. 1. He, Zigeuner, greife in die Saiten
11 Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy-Songs), Op. 103: No. 2. Hochgeturmte Rimaflut
11 Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy-Songs), Op. 103: No. 3. Wisst ihr, wann mein Kindchen
11 Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy-Songs), Op. 103: No. 5. Brauner Bursche fuhrt zum Tanze
11 Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy-Songs), Op. 103: No. 7. Kommt dir manchmal in den Sinn
11 Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy-Songs), Op. 103: No. 8. Horch, der Wind klagt in den Zweigen
11 Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy-Songs), Op. 103: No. 9. Weit und breit schaut niemand mich an
11 Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy-Songs), Op. 103: No. 10. Mond verhullt sein Angesicht
11 Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy-Songs), Op. 103: No. 11. Rote Abendwolken ziehn
5 Gesange, Op. 104: No. 1. Nachtwache I
5 Gesange, Op. 104: No. 2. Nachtwache II
5 Gesange, Op. 104: No. 3. Letztes Gluck
5 Gesange, Op. 104: No. 4. Verlorene Jugend
5 Gesange, Op. 104: No. 5. Im Herbst
Psalm 23, Op. 132, D. 706
Gesang der Geister uber den Wassern, Op. 167, D. 714
2 Motets, Op. 74: Warum? Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Muhseligen
2 Motets, Op. 74: Lasset uns unser Herz samt den Handen
2 Motets, Op. 74: Siehe, wir preisen selig, die erduldet haben
2 Motets, Op. 74: Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin
Customer Reviews
Be the first to review this title
Review This Title
