It seems the deepest, coldest winter nights of December inspire a unique kind of melancholic reflection in the Norwegian soul - occasionally lightened by glimpses of joyful celebration and future thoughts of spring.
The monochrome landscapes may be bleak and chilling, yet they provide a snowy cover to insulate the warmth of musical expression that is to be found behind the heavy wooden doors of the stav built churches that form part of the communal lifeblood of local communities.
Pristine crispness
That is certainly revealed with this evocative release; performed with the pristine crispness of new-fall snow by Manger Musikklag and inhabited by the haunting voice of Lydia Hoen Tjore and illusionary musicality of Allan Withington’s direction.
There is a frosty, numbing chill to ‘Mitt hjerte alltid vanker’, which sets a Bruegelesque musical vista to what follows; from the medieval limpidity of the responsorial ‘O vos Omnes’ and poetic ‘Halleluja, vor stride rendt’, to the familiar simplicity of ‘Julesang’ (‘O Holy Night’) and translucent ‘O Magnum Mysterium’.
All are delivered with a welcome lack of lachrymose sentimentality - enabling the MD to reveal the pensive beauty of the writing (aided by some wonderful plaintive singing). Contrast comes with the log-fire warmth to ‘Deilig er jorden’, whilst the soft pulse inflections of ‘Gota’ and the oddly maritime sounding ‘Silent Night’ help drift the senses with their waves of languid subtlety.
Contrast comes with the log-fire warmth to ‘Deilig er jorden’, whilst the soft pulse inflections of ‘Gota’ and the oddly maritime sounding ‘Silent Night’ help drift the senses with their waves of languid subtlety.
Clip-clop hooves
Festive fun jingles with ‘Troika from Lieutenant Kije’ - drawn along with a whiplash snap of the leash (and comedy sounding clip-clopping hooves out of the Monty Python Holy Grail school of percussion sounds) and the acrobatic cartwheels of ‘Dance of the Buffoons’.
However, it is ‘The Kingdom Triumphant’ - played with a stripped bare sensibility of cultured phrasing, and the bucolic ‘Det hev ei rose sprunge’ (‘Lo, How a rose e’er blooming’), an amalgam of Norwegian and Germanic imaginings of the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy of the birth of the Christ child, which seep deepest into the mind with their poignant, lasting beauty.
This is Manger and Withington at their best - making you think, ponder and even question. It leaves you both chilled to the marrow and warmed in the heart.
Iwan Fox
To Purchase:
http://www.worldofbrass.com/cds/new-releases/22188-december.html
Play List:
1. Mitt hjerte alltid vanker (Traditional arr. Ørjan Matre
Vocal Soloist: Lydia Hoen Tjore
2. Silent Night (Traditional arr. William Gordon)
3. Troika from Lieutenant Kije (Prokofiev arr. Ray Farr)
4. Gøta (Peder Karlsson arr. Tina Kvamme)
5. O vos omnes (Casals arr. Tina Kvamme)
6. Halleluja, vor strid er endt (Traditional arr. Ørjan Matre)
7. The Kingdom Triumphant (Eric Ball)
8. Julesang (Adam arr. Ray Farr)
Vocal Soloist: Lydia Hoen Tjore
9. Det hev ei rose sprung (Traditional arr. Ørjan Matre)
Vocal Soloist: Lydia Hoen Tjore
10. O Magnum Mysterium (Morten Lauridsen arr. Phillip Littlemore)
11. Dance of the Buffoons (Tchaikovsky arr. Dave Timmins)
12. Deilig er jorden (Traditional arr. Tom Brevik)
