First it was the Grechaninov
Passion Week (see
review) and now here’s another fine disc of unaccompanied
singing, this time from Norway. The Russian disc showcased the
considerable talents of two American choirs – not to mention the
sonic benefits of Super Audio – while the Nystedt is a home-grown
product, featuring Norwegian forces in contemporary music from
their homeland. The recording is also a hybrid SACD, so I was
curious to hear how 2L’s approach compared with that of the Chandos
team in the Grechaninov. Given that the latter is something of
a benchmark in a cappella singing and recording the Nystedt
would have to be very special indeed.
Granted, the musical
idioms are very different, Russian Orthodox Church music – rich,
fervent, dark-toned – as against a plainer, brighter modern
idiom with its roots in Palestrina and Bach. Nystedt grew up
in a Christian household, so hymns and church music are the
cornerstones of his music. He has played a vital part in Norway’s
musical life as well, founding no less than two first-rate choirs
– Det Norske Solistkor and Schola Cantorum.
What better, then,
to have this music performed by two equally fine choirs, Ensemble
96 and Bærum Vokalensemble, the former created after the Oslo
Philharmonic chamber choir was disbanded in 1996 and the latter
an all-female group once led by Øystein Fevang. According to
the Ensemble 96 website this CD was nominated for two Grammy
Awards in 2007, so expectations were high.
The first piece
on the disc is a setting of texts culled from the writings of
the 19th -century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard
(1813-1855). Not surprisingly the writing has something of the
philosopher’s style about them, direct and shorn of distracting
verbiage. The music is a mirror of that, closely focused and
unsentimental. That said there is plenty of human warmth when
it’s required – the plainchant-like opening and the end of first
prayer – allied to singing of great virtuosity - the animated
second prayer.
Despite singing
of real intensity there are many moments of inwardness and repose
as well. For instance in the third of the prayers there is a
wonderful, restrained interplay of voices that is most affecting,
the prayer ending with a lone soprano rising gently from the
chorus. A lovely touch, this.
Nystedt creates
some thrilling juxtapositions – the men and women in the fourth
prayer, the women’s repeated figures in the fifth prayer – and
in the final prayer ‘Father in Heaven! You loved us first!’
there is a palpable sense of joy, tempered towards the end with
humility. All the while the choir sings with great crispness
and feeling, the detailed recording picking up all the nuances
within. And for once there is not much to choose between the
‘Red Book’ CD layer and the SACD one, as both are very involving
and atmospheric.
The Salve Regina
strikes a warmer, more devotional note, with some gorgeous,
resonant singing from the men. There is also the sense of a
large – but not too reverberant – acoustic, which suits this
music admirably. The final bars are glowingly beautiful, making
it one of the most moving settings of this old text I have ever
heard.
One of the more
substantial works is The Word Became Flesh, a setting
of John I, 1-14 (‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God’). The voices build from a hushed opening to some
splendidly incisive, ecstatic moments – just listen to those
stratospheric soprano lines – and at 2:34 and 5:41 the writing
is rich-toned, almost orchestral in timbre and weight. Simple
but very moving.
Nytt er livet
was commissioned in 2003 by the Bærum Vokalensemble, who
gave its first performance in September that year. It is based
on texts by ne Olav Mosdøl (b. 1937) and was inspired by the
baptism of the writer’s first grandchild in 1987. The first
line, ‘New is the life that grabs hold of the light’ is a sure
pointer to the work’s sentiments. The women’s voices proclaim
this new beginning in music of great vigour and rhythmic vitality
(first part), while in the second the soloist and chorus engage
in a rapt but tender dialogue, as if between mother and child.
Part three ‘Glorious is life with its great opportunity’ is
more subdued, tinged with wonder; in part four there is joy
but also, at the close, awareness that ‘hardship’ is an inevitable,
necessary, part of life too.
Nytt er livet
has a disarming simplicity, charming without being mawkish.
Jesu sieben Worte is at the other extreme, as Christ
awaits death on the cross. Written for Ensemble96, who premiered
the work in September 2003, this piece has a darkness, a gravitas,
not heard before. The men manage some lovely quiet singing,
most notably at the close, the women adding bright coronas of
sound in parts. It is a lovely piece but perhaps not as memorable
or moving as, say, the Salve Regina.
The final item on
the disc is a reworking of J.S Bach’s Komm, süsser Tod
(‘Come, sweet death’). The chorus is split into five equal groups
spread around the church, a spatial effect that is probably
best appreciated in surround sound. This arrangement is not
obvious in vanilla stereo but, goodness, there are some astonishingly
long, sustained choral passages that must require phenomenal
breath control. The organ-like sonorities that result are most
impressive and a reminder, if it were needed, that this is a
choir of considerable talent.
I nominated Passion
Week as one of my discs of the year and I have to say the
Nystedt will be high on my list as well. Not perhaps as totally
absorbing and emotionally charged as the Grechaninov but no
one can deny it is choral writing of rare beauty and intensity.
The booklet isn’t terribly informative and, a minor caveat,
I don’t much care for the fact that it’s attached to the gatefold
box – very awkward. But that really is the tiniest of quibbles;
otherwise this is a wonderful collection and one that I hope
to revisit again and again, with undiminished pleasure.
Dan Morgan