Knut Nystedt: Kristnikvede – Bergen Cathedral Choir

Nystedt celebrates the millennium anniversary of Norway´s conversion to Christianity

“Olav now sailed east on the sea and reached the coast by Moster. There he first came to land in Norway and had mass sung there in a land tent; in that same spot a church was afterwards built” (Olav Tryggvason´s Saga, Chapter 47). In 1995 Norway marked the 1000th anniversary of Olav Tryggvason´s arrival from England to take command of the country he had inherited. He was accompanied by bishops and priests, and as Snorre´s Saga relates, he landed first on the island of Moster in Sunnhordaland. The old Moster Church is built on the site where Olav Tryggvason is said to have built the first church in Norway.

Knut Nystedt´s “Kristnikvede” was commissioned to mark the 1000th anniversary of Norway´s conversion to Christianity. The premiere performance of the work was held on Pentecost in 1995 at Bremnes Church in Bømlo by Bergen Cathedral Choir, under the direction of Magnar Mangersnes. On this album you can hear the choir´s recording of this particular work by the unique and important composer Nystedt, together with his work “A song as in the night”.