Concert
Solistkoret & conductor Grete Pedersen
Dear audience
Because of the current situation, this concert will be held without an audience in the room but in collaboration with the Bergen International Festival, we will bring the music to you. On Tuesday, June 2nd from 6PM, you are welcome to watch the concert on our Facebook page or Fib.no.
Important update: In solidarity with Blackout Tuesday this concert has been postponed to Wednesday June 3rd at 8PM.
About the concert
Hymn to freedom
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir perform their award-winning interpretation of Bach's motets and Poulenc's hymn to freedom, or according to Henri Hell, the litanies of Liberty.
Few choral works are as beautifully conceived as Poulenc's Figure Humaine. Both the music and Paul Éluard's texts were written clandestinely in occupied France during the Second World War, and constitute a hymn to freedom from occupation and tyranny. The composer insisted that the work should be performed unaccompanied – it should be the human voice speaking.
'It is just so very vigilantly executed. The singing makes your hair stand on end', a critic wrote of the album Bach: The Motets, which also received the prestigious Diapason d'or award for 2018. Bach's motets are as great an enigma as the composer himself. It is not known when they were composed, but in Bach's time they were mostly sung at funerals. The motets cast a piercing spotlight on any music they come into contact with, and seethe with hope of life in the world to come.
Program:
J. S. Bach: Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied
F. Poulenc: Quatre petites prières de saint François d'Assis
J. S. Bach: Komm, Jesu, komm
F. Poulenc: Figure Humaine
E. Grieg: Hvad est du dog skjøn, fire salmer
Featuring
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir is an innovative young ensemble, steeped in a rich history. As one of Europe's leading chamber choirs, they perform spectacular concerts in Norway and abroad, in concert halls and churches, in caravans and in abandoned factory venues. The Norwegian Soloists' Choir consists of 26 hand-picked, professional singers who have a tremendous ability to blend their voices, resulting in a highly distinctive choral expression. Along with its celebrated artistic leader Grete Pedersen, the choir achieves ambitious artistic goals through constant development.
Conductor Grete Pedersen
Since 1990 the choir has sung under the leadership of Grete Pedersen, one of the most renowned conductors in the international choral scene. She is a demanded guest conductor and has worked with the Eric Ericson Kammerchor, Schwedischen Rundfunkchor, Netherlands RadioChor, Netherlands Chamber Choir, Danish National Vocal Ensemble and Choir, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Pro Coro Canada, Tokyo Cantat, World Youth Choir among others.