SearchsearchUseruser

Refractions - Pedersen

Refractions - Pedersen

BIS  BIS-1970 SACD

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical - Vocal


VALEN, Fartein (1887–1952)
Ave Maria, Op. 4 (1915–21) (Edition Lyche) for soprano solo and orchestra
MESSIAEN, Olivier (1908–92) Cinq rechants for 12 mixed voices a cappella (1948) (Éditions Salabert)
WEBERN, Anton von (1883–1945) Entflieht auf leichten Kähnen, Op. 2 (1908) (Universal Edition) for mixed choir a cappella; Zwei Lieder, Op. 19 (1925–26) (Universal Edition) for mixed choir, clarinet, bass clarinet, celesta, guitar and violin
VALEN - Hvad est du dog skiøn, Op. 12 (1930) (Norsk Musikforlag) for mixed choir a cappella; Kom regn fra det høie, Op. 25 (1936–37) (Edition Lyche) for women’s choir and clarinet
BERG, Alban (1885–1935) Die Nachtigall (1907) (Universal Edition) from Sieben frühe Lieder arranged for 16 voices a cappella by Clytus Gottwald
VALEN - Der 121. Psalm (1911) (Edition Lyche) for choir and orchestra, with solo soprano and quartet (SATB)
MESSIAEN - O sacrum convivium (1937) (Éditions Durand) for mixed choir a cappella

Det Norske Solistkor
Norwegian Radio Orchestra
Grete Pedersen (conductor)


The cause of mirages as well as rainbows, refraction is an optical phenomenon which under certain circumstances allows us to see objects that are actually hidden behind the horizon – distant islands across a wide sea, or the sun before it has actually risen. The reason is that rays of light change direction as they pass from one layer of the atmosphere into another, or from one medium, such as air, into another, such as water. The same principle applies to sound waves, and in a sense one might say that music in the early 20th century did pass from one medium to another, from late Romanticism into an unknown future.

Refractions allows us to sample that transition in the field of choral music, through the prisms of four different temperaments – those of Alban Berg, Anton Webern and the Norwegian composer Fartein Valen, all born in the mid-1880s, and of the somewhat younger Olivier Messiaen. A number of the works are on sacred themes – including those by Valen – while others are at least nominally secular, although a spiritual dimension is often present. One instance of this is the celebrated Cinq rechants for twelve mixed voices, Messiaen’s fascinating musical expression of the Tristan myth in which love crosses the border between life and death – a mystical power that cannot be expressed in words.

Refractions is the fourth disc to appear on BIS with the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir and their conductor Grete Pedersen, and follow on Grieg interpretations ‘of breathtaking beauty’ (Le Monde de la Musique), a programme inspired by Norwegian folk music containing ‘some of the most striking and moving singing put down on disc for years’ (Gramophone), and most recently a disc of works by Brahms and Schubert, on which the choir, according to the reviewer for All Music Guide ‘sings with pristine intonation and purity, yet its tone is full, warm, and colourful.’

Support this site by purchasing from these vendors using the paid links below.
As an Amazon Associate HRAudio.net earns from qualifying purchases.

bol.com
 
jpc
Presto

 

Add to your wish list | library

 

4 of 4 recommend this, would you recommend it?  yes | no

All
show
Recording
show
hide
PCM recording

24/96
Reviews (1)
show
hide

Review by John Miller - February 23, 2013

There are many discs entitled "Reflections", but this is the first time I have encountered "Refractions". Such titling is often only weakly connected with the programme, but here it seems to work well. Both light and sound waves change direction (and frequency) when passing from one medium to another. Indeed, in the first half of the twentieth century music too passed from one medium to another, from late Romanticism into an unknown future. "Refraction" offers samples of that transition in the field of choral music, both secular and sacred, through the prisms of four very different composers, all born in the mid-1880s. They are the Second Vienna School artists Alban Berg and Anton Webern, the north-west Norwegian composer Fartein Valen, and a younger Frenchman, Olivier Messiaen.

Reflecting the crisis about sacred music being endured by the Christian church during this period, there are examples of choral works which are sacred or secular in the newly cultivated styles, and even the secular ones show evidence of a spiritual core. What is missing from all these examples is the "standard" form of sacred music encouraged by the Church from Classical to Late Romantic times; most composers were hell-bent on moving ahead with one or other of the then modern styles. They were, however, in the end reigned in by the rejection of avant guarde music by a conservative laity.

Two of Valen's pieces were written for voices and orchestra, his Psalm 121 being a premiére recording. The superb Norwegian Soloists Choir is joined by the excellent Norwegian Radio Orchestra, recorded sumptuously in the Norsk Radio studio, Oslo. Valen's Ave Maria Op. 4 for soprano and orchestra owes little to Schubert but is rather an orchestral song in the Richard Strauss mode, albeit with more dissonant harmonies. It has an achingly beautiful lengthy orchestral prelude and soprano Berit Norbakken Solset sings with warmth and great expression. She also does solo in Valen's Psalm 121 (1911), almost an epic in the same modified Romantic style, where Valen exploits all the dramaturgy of the Psalm with great skill. The Norwegian Soloists respond with wide-ranging dynamics and demonstrate perfect balance and control, thanks to their Conductor Grete Pedersen. Valen's other two pieces, from the 1930s, are very different in style; his motet "How fair thou art" op. 12 for a cappella chorus is close to Webern, as is the motet "Come rain from on high" for women's voices and clarinet.

Olivier Messiaen is represented by his eclectic 'Cinq Rechants' for 12 mixed voices a cappella (1948), the final component of Messiaen's trilogy of works embracing the Tristan myth and the simultaneous fulfillment of love and death (another form of refraction). Messiaen's text for the Cinq Rechants is an odd but evocative combination of various elements: poetic phrases in a kind of French Surrealist style, a variety of invented syllables such as tk tk tk, and some unsung percussive sounds, notable a vocal drum from the male singers. As in other works by Messiaen, many of the rhythmic patterns derive from Indian rhythmic figures. Another favourite device illustrates Messiaen's love of symmetry: rhythmic figures that sound the same when played backwards. This is where the Soloists show their vocal virtuosity, with astonishing precision in ensemble and accuracy of pitch in a fiendishly difficult set of pieces. Not an opus that I particularly enjoy, I must admit, but I certainly have respect for its innovations and sheer out-there invention.

Messiaen's O Magnum Convivium motet (1937) would seem to be the grandfather of Morten Lauridsen's more recent and extremely popular version of the same text. Beautiful and similarly illuminated from within by shimmering cluster harmonies, amateur choirs should turn more often to Messiaen's predecessor version.


The programmed songs by Berg and Webern are more ascetic and also more familiar in recordings, although the inclusion in Webern's Two Songs op. 19 (1925-6) of clarinet, bass clarinet, celesta, guitar and violin probably impedes performances. The combination, however, does give a special atmosphere, beautifully recorded here, with pin-point location of voices and instruments.

Despite having two venues, the Norwegian Radio studio and the well-known Ris Church in Oslo, the engineers have ensured plenty of bloom on all the tracks, especially in multichannel (5.0), with no very obvious acoustic jolts from track to track. The booklet has lots of useful information about the pieces, and the striking cover photo hints at another type of refraction, mirage.

Listeners should be warned that the very wide variety of musical styles in this programme requires at least tolerance if not affection for 12-tone music, strong dissonances, strange rhythms and lack of "tunes", although the lush Ave Maria and Psalm 121 of Valen and Messiaen's transcendent O Magnum Mysterium might well compensate. Those with a deep interest in choral music of all kinds need not hesitate.

An intriguing survey of the effects of a revolution in sacred music paralleling that of secular music in the first half of last century. The programme was planned with plenty of variety in vocal and instrumental forces, immaculately performed and deftly captured on SA-CD. Grete Pederson should be very proud of this issue, as should the BIS producers and engineers.

Copyright © 2013 John Miller and HRAudio.net

Performance:

Sonics (Multichannel):

stars stars