Bent S¿¿rensen: St. Matthew Passion

by Norwegian Soloists Choir, Grete Pedersen, Ensemble Allegria

Overview

This work is a major late-career statement by composer Bent Sorensen, born in Copenhagen in 1958. In all likelihood, he will have the satisfaction of hearing it performed often in his old age, for it is an absolutely fascinating work. Much of Sorensen's music has been in smaller forms and closely explores extensions of the tonal repertory of choral singers, but here, he works on a larger canvas. Integral to the project is the text, which he designates as "Curated by Jakob Holtze." Words describing the Passion from Gospel According to St. Matthew are there, but they are interleaved with poetry, most of it in English (even the Danish poetry), by Edith Soedergran, Anna Akhmatova, Emily Dickinson, Seren Ulrik Thomsen, Ole Sarvig, and Frank Jaeger. Mostly, they describe romantic situations. One could devote an entire class or listening session to examining how these work, for the relationships are subtle; Matthew's "From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land" is paired with Emily Dickinson's "Wild nights - Wild nights / Were I with thee." However, Sorensen's musical treatments are equally interesting in themselves. The counterpart to the shifts between the Bible and modern poetry is a texture in which the choir tends to fade in and out like a radio signal, with the composer's trademark fuzzing of tonal referents embodying and being manipulated to depict what is happening in the text. The orchestral brass are deployed in service of the passages that depict lamentation, and this has a deeply powerful effect. The passages for solo singers are less solos than temporary alterations of the larger texture. It would be hard to think of a group more suited to performing this haunting work than the Norwegian Soloists' Choir and its conductor, Grete Pedersen, and they are magnificently recorded by BIS at the Ris church in Oslo. A major choral release. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	03/03/2023
Label:	BIS
UPC:	7318599926117

Tracks

1. St Matthew Passion~I. In veils of mist
2. St Matthew Passion~II. Betania
3. St Matthew Passion~III. Psalm
4. St Matthew Passion~IV. Wild Nights
5. St Matthew Passion~V. Crucifixus
6. St Matthew Passion~VI. Lament
7. St Matthew Passion~VII. Tenebr¿¿
8. St Matthew Passion~VIII. Magdalena
9. St Matthew Passion~IX. The shore again, Galilee
10. St Matthew Passion~X. Into the Mist

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Norwegian Soloists Choir   Primary Artist,Choir/Chorus
Grete Pedersen   Primary Artist,Conductor
Ensemble Allegria   Primary Artist,Ensemble
Ditte Marie Braein   Soprano (Vocal)
Oystein Stensheim   Tenor (Vocal)
Mari Askvik   Alto (Vocals)
Halvor Festervoll Melien   Bass (Vocal)

Technical Credits

Robert Suff   Executive Producer
Andrew Mellor   Liner Notes
Ole Sarvig   Text
Andrew Barnett   Typesetting
Bent Sorensen   Composer,Liner Notes
Emily Dickinson   Text
Horst A. Scholz   Liner Note Translation
Edith Soedergran   Text
Nora Brandenburg   Engineer
Frank Jaeger   Text
Tine Poppe   Cover Photo
Soren Ulrik Thomsen   Text
Jens Braun   Post Production,Producer,Mixing,Editing
Wilhelm Hansen   Editing
Lars Skaaning   Photography
Signe Fuglesteg Luksengard   Photography
Bard Gundersen   Photography
Jakob Holtze   Libretto Preparation
Arlette Lemieux-Chene   Liner Note Translation
Anna Akhmatova   Text