Grieg Choir Works – Malmö Chamber Choir

The choral highlights of Edvard Grieg

Two works written almost 30 years apart comprise Edvard Grieg´s primary a cappella choral compositions. In both cases they are arrangements of melodies from Ludvig Mathias Lindeman´s extensive collection of folk music. It is no exaggeration to say that this treasure grove of melodies – not least of all Lindeman´s way of harmonizing it – was decisive when it came to the use of Norwegian folk tunes for generations afterwards. Grieg himself used this material several times.

In the small gems of choir songs that is the “Album for Male Voices”, Edvard Grieg masters the male choir medium with superior technique and continually creates new and varied harmonies. The “Four Hymns”, a continuation of the previously mentioned work, is a significant piece of late romantic church music, inspired by the unusually beautiful folk melodies within the framework of religious baroque poetry. Grieg was seldom inspired by Christian poetry, but the hymn “Ave Maris Stella”, after the old medieval text, is an exquisite piece of religious music, coupled with the no less magnificent “Faded, withered” under the title “Two Religious Choirs”. This album is a journey into the magnificent world of Grieg´s choral works – modest in numbers, but superior in quality!