Bach: The Motets The Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Ensemble Allegria & Grete Pedersen

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Komm, Jesu, komm, BWV 229:
• 1 I. Komm, Jesu, komm 06:50
• 2 II. Drum schließ ich mich in deine Hände 01:21
• Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir, BWV 228:
• 3 Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir, BWV 228 07:57
• Der Geist hilft unsrer Schwachheit auf, BWV 226:
• 4 I. Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf 03:18
• 5 II. Der aber die Herzen forschet 02:10
• 6 III. Du heilige Brunst, süßer Trost 01:40
• Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 227:
• 7 I. Jesu, meine Freude 01:11
• 8 II. Es ist nun nichts Verdammliches an denen 02:32
• 9 III. Unter deinen Schirmen 01:09
• 10 IV. Denn das Gesetz des Geistes 00:55
• 11 V. Trotz dem alten Drachen 02:17
• 12 VI. Ihr aber seid nicht fleischlich 02:34
• 13 VII. Weg mit allen Schätzen 01:06
• 14 VIII. So aber Christus in euch ist 02:07
• 15 IX. Gute Nacht, o Wesen 03:56
• 16 X. So nun der Geist 01:20
• 17 XI. Weicht, ihr Trauergeister 01:16
• Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, BWV 230:
• 18 Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, BWV 230 05:39
• O Jesu Christ, mein Lebens Licht, BWV 118:
• 19 O Jesu Christ, mein Lebens Licht, BWV 118 04:45
• Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225:
• 20 I. Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied 04:18
• 21 II. Wie sich ein Vater erbarmet 04:11
• 22 III. Lobet den Herrn in seinen Taten 03:14
• Total Runtime 01:05:46

Info for Bach: The Motets

This album is the moving homage of the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir to the man who founded it in 1950 and remained its leader for 40 years. The choral conductor and composer Knut Nystedt passed away in December 2014, at the age of 99, and the disc may to some extent be regarded as an epitaph for him. Alongside two Bach motets the programme includes four works which span almost forty years of Nystedt’s long career, from Peace I leave with you, written in 1957 and still one of the composer’s most often performed works, to Be not afraid from 1995. These two motets, as well as O Crux (1977) are a cappella compositions, while the setting from 1986 of Ave Maria is something of a rarity, for solo violin and mixed choir. The violin part is performed by Maria Angelika Carlsen, artistic leader of the Ensemble Allegria, a group of young Norwegian string players that join the choir in the two Bach motets, and also in the closing work on the disc: Immortal Bach. In this atmospheric piece, the composer has taken the first eight bars of Bach’s chorale Komm, süsser Tod, stretching the tempo of its melodies and harmonies to create an impression of timelessness and endlessness. Grete Pedersen, Nystedt's successor as artistic leader of the choir, provides the arrangement for strings and choir.

Angelika Carlsen, violin
Det Norske Solistkor (The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir)
Ensemble Allegria
Grete Pedersen, direction

The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir (Det Norske Solistkor)
is one of Scandinavia’s foremost chamber choirs and one of Norway’s most eminent ensembles in any genre. The choir is equally at home in the classical/romantic repertoire and in contemporary music, making regular excursions into folk-derived music and National Romantic works.

The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir was founded in 1950 by the composer Knut Nystedt, who was its conductor for forty years. In 1990 he was succeeded by Grete Pedersen, who remains the choir’s artistic director to this day.

The choir comprises 26 highly trained singers, all potential soloists in various genres as well as fully embracing the art of ensemble singing. In recent years the choir has collaborated with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. This is the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir’s fifth recording for BIS.

Ensemble Allegria
Allegria (ital.) means a merriment and enjoyment, and indeed it was the pleasure of playing together that led a group of music students to launch the orchestra in 2007. Ensemble Allegria is comprised of around 20 musicians between 21-30 years of age.

Since its beginning, the orchestra has been managed independently by its own members, with the Norwegian Academy of Music playing a significant supportive role. Its permanent concertmaster and artistic director is Maria Angelika Carlsen.

In addition to its own concerts, Ensemble Allegria has performed at a number of festivals, among them, Bergen International Festival, Hardanger Music Festival, and the Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. It has collaborated with internationally known soloists, such as Tine Thing Helseth, Christian Ihle Hadland, Martin Fröst, and Arve Tellefsen, and it has engaged in projects in collaboration with the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir, the Oslo Cathedral Choir, and Oslo Sinfonietta.

In the autumn of 2012, Ensemble Allegria received the Statoil Talent Award for classical music.

Grete Pedersen
The Norwegian conductor Grete Pedersen is one of the most renowned conductors in the international choral scene. Since 1990 Grete Pedersen is Music Director of the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir whose recordings were awarded the ‘Choc de la Musique’ and the ‘Prix d'Or’ from Diapason. In 1984, she founded the Oslo Chamber Choir which she directed until 2004.

Pedersen is a demanded guest conductor and has worked with the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Swedish Radio Choir, Netherlands Radio Chor, Netherlands Chamber Choir, Danish National Vocal Ensemble and Choir, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Pro Coro Canada, World Youth Choir among others. Future engagements include the project “150 psalms” together with the Norwegian Soloists Choir, Nederlands Kamerkoor, Choir of Trinity Wall Street and The Tallis Scholars in Utrecht in September 2017, New York in November 2017 and Brussels in March 2018.

Pedersen's name stands for productions and stagings with wide stylistic variety. Her contrasting concert programmes are known to often be a rather radical mixture. In addition to premiering contemporary musical works, her efforts have increasingly been directed towards larger productions for choir and orchestra.

BIS Records has released numerous recordings by Grete Pedersen and the Norwegian Soloists Choir with works by Per Norgard, Kaija Saariaho, Iannis Xenakis, Helmut Lachenmann, Alfred Janson, J.S. Bach, Knut Nystedt, Alban Berg, Olivier Messiaen, Fartein Valen, Anton Webern, Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, Edvard Grieg and Norwegian Folk Music.

Grete Pedersen completed her postgraduate studies in conducting at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo and has also studied chorus conducting with Eric Ericson and orchestra conducting with Kenneth Kiesler. She currently teaches as a professor in conducting at the Norwegian State Academy of Music and is a sought-after teacher for masterclasses.

For her engagement in the Scandinavian cultural environment Grete Pedersen has been awarded the renowned Norwegian Telenor Cultural Prize 2017.

Booklet for Bach: The Motets