Evening song – Aftensang – Ketil Bjørnstad

Ketil Bjørnstad gives us light and darkness in new beautiful piano work.

Ketil Bjørnstad returns to the core—alone with the grand piano.

Ketil Bjørnstad presents piano music for the twilight hour on the album “Evening Song – Aftensang”. The project began when Bjørnstad was contacted by organist and conductor Svein Rustad, who wanted him to compose “Nighttime songs” for him—based on several poems from the collection “Båt på fjorden” (Boat on the fjord) (Aschehoug 2021).

The piano pieces are inspired by light and take us back to nature’s domain. These are the places where Bjørnstad has walked, sat, and reflected for years—places that are never identical. From the top of Krokkleiva, from Frognerseteren, from Brunkollen, from the southern coastline, or Jotunheimen. Randsfjorden. The light and the observer are in constant change, and these observations and nuances color Bjørnstad’s impressionistic piano playing on “Evening Song – Aftensang”. Even though the places remain the same, their mood and light always shift. We are still in a process, just like life itself. Ketil Bjørnstad explains:

– In Evening Song, I return to an intimate space, alone with the grand piano, with all its possibilities, where every overtone plays a role. Sound, rhythm, melody, and improvisation. This has been my life’s project for many years. And I am lucky to have so many inspiring and professional people around me. They mean a lot, even in the creative process.

Ketil speaks about what can serve as inspiration:

– Everything that a life can contain. Adversity, success, beauty, despair, joy. I grew up with classical music, and the inspiration from it has never left me. In many ways, I often have Schubert, Mozart, and the impressionists in mind when I compose. And Prokofiev, who, behind all the complexity, can write melodies like no one else. But I never consciously try to copy anyone. I usually know what I’m searching for in my own musical expression.

The instrumental versions came first, except for the bonus track “Til Maren”, which stands out on the album. It is a lullaby with vocals sung by Bjørnstad himself.

– I felt that I had to sing it myself, with my untrained voice. In the unfinished, one often finds what one is truly searching for—the original. When I recorded these songs as early as May 2024, they were intended as sketches. But as I have experienced before when composing, the sketches took on their own significance.

In the spring of 2024, the album was recorded at Propeller Studio on a C. Bechstein grand piano, which has inspired Bjørnstad for more than 13 years. Together with his loyal sound engineer Mike Hartung and piano tuner Trond Hellstrøm.

The work Evening Song – Aftensang will have its world premiere at Sandefjord Church on Sunday, April 6.