I have been particularly,
err… enchanted by this disc of Grieg’s choral music
– both original and as arranged for choir. It starts with an
arrangement of the popular “At Rondane”, op.33, No.2 (originally
for voice and piano) which is plain gorgeous in its moody way
and resonant, in full-bodied choral guise. Two religious songs
were arranged for mixed choir by Grieg himself of which “Withered,
Fallen – At the Bier of a Young Wife” sounds a bit predictable
but touching in its cathedral-like piety. In this song, as in
“Ave, Maris Stella” or indeed most of the other works on this
glorious sounding SACD, the non-Norwegian ear will always pick
up a certain preciousness: that silver-voiced, Christmas-choir
touch with scents and touches of mulled wine, snow boots, and
blond locks under a woollen hat. This is perhaps particular
to this reviewer, but usually when I hear Norwegian choirs sing
so enthusiastically, it’s Christmas.
“Margaret’s Cradle
Song” op.15, No.1, a short gem some 90 seconds long, was written
in appreciation of the birth of his daughter Alexandra in 1868.
It is set to the Ibsen poem of the same name and is hauntingly
beautiful. Alexandra, however, never got to appreciate her song;
she died shortly after it was written. Which is tragic and yet,
given that it was set to something by Ibsen, also so terribly
appropriate.
Grete
Pedersen, who conducts the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir also sets
the first of the Lyric Pieces op.71 “Det var engang” for mixed
choir. It might be the only miscalculation in that the result
sounds nice and pleasant but also — in its dum-de-dum new-agey
way — cheap.
Norway
was already an independent nation when Grieg composed the 1907
Four Psalms op.74, his last work. It’s a sombre end to his musical
output – with “Jesus Christ is Risen” being an especially austere,
if moving, setting of this Hans Adolf Brorson text. The four
psalm settings are based on a collection of Norwegian “newer
and older mountain tunes” that Grieg wanted to help preserve
with his musical adaptation. He has achieved that all over again
by having them included in this very fine reminder that Grieg
is so much more than the Grieg of a certain mountain king’s
hall, or of lyric pieces, or a piano concerto.
Jens F. Laurson
Det Norske Solistkor
(The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir)/Grete Pederson 
[60:22] 
