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Songs at the Edge of the Ocean<\/span><\/i><\/b> is a new oratorio by Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad, and is a continuation of his previous oratorios <\/span><\/b>Old<\/span><\/i><\/b>, <\/span><\/b>Himmelrand <\/span><\/i><\/b>and <\/span><\/b>Sanger om tilh\u00f8righet<\/span><\/i><\/b>. The work is a tribute to Fartein Valen’s composition, <\/span><\/b>Kirkeg\u00e5rden ved havet<\/span><\/i><\/b> (The Churchyard by the Sea), which was written to accompany the French poet Paul Val\u00e9ry’s world-famous poem <\/span><\/b>Le Cimeti\u00e8re Marin<\/span><\/i><\/b>. In Bj\u00f8rnstad’s new oratorio, he has set to music Pelle Christensen’s Norwegian version of the same poem, inspired by Valen’s atonal composition, as well as melodic and harmonic sources of inspiration from Bj\u00f8rnstad’s time as a musician and composer. The album also marks the debut of vocalist Solveig Andsnes – sister of pianists Ingrid Andsnes and Leif Ove Andsnes – as a recording artist. Together with Nils \u00d8kland on violin and Rune Arnesen on drums, they take us on a journey of existential dilemmas.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Song at the Edge of the Ocean <\/span><\/i><\/b>was recorded live during the premiere at Festiviteten in Haugesund on April 27, 2022, as a commissioned work for the Fartein Valen Festival. Bj\u00f8rnstad talks about the background for the performance:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When Fartein Valen composed <\/span>The Churchyard by the Sea<\/span><\/i> he created a unique orchestral work in the serial tradition. I grew up listening to Valen, and played his <\/span>Two Preludes<\/span><\/i>, Op. 29 before I reached the age of 14. I also played a great deal of other serial or atonal music, by Finn Mortensen among others.\u00a0<\/span> Oslo, November 19th 2022 Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/i> As a performer, Solveig works across genres in singing, dancing, and acting, which has made musical theatre an artistic area in which she has distinguished herself on several occasions. During her time as a performer, she has worked at a number of theaters, including Tr\u00f8ndelag Theater, Agder Theater, and in recent years, she has had several roles at Oslo Nye Theater. For example, she played Anita in the critically acclaimed production of <\/span>West Side Story<\/span><\/i> at Kilden Theater, the lead role in <\/span>Evita <\/span><\/i>at L\u00f8renskog Hus, the role of Madame Thenardier in <\/span>Les Miserables<\/span><\/i> at Kilden, Anette in <\/span>Blodig Alvor<\/span><\/i> at Haugesund Theater, and Mrs. Corry in <\/span>Mary Poppins<\/span><\/i>, which was produced at Folketeateret. At Oslo Nye Theater, Solveig has appeared in <\/span>Cabaret<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Sn\u00f8fall<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Hair<\/span><\/i>, and <\/span>Sporvogn til Begj\u00e6r<\/span><\/i>, to name a few. In 2021, Solveig was nominated for the Music Theatre Prize for her interpretation of the role of Diana in the musical <\/span>Next to Normal<\/span><\/i>. In the spring of 2023, she will play the role of Gabriella in <\/span>S\u00e5 som i himmelen<\/span><\/i> at Oslo Nye Theater.<\/span><\/p>\n Nils \u00d8kland<\/span><\/b> (hardanger fiddle\/violin\/viola d’amore) is an innovative <\/span>violinist and hardanger fiddle specialist who has been active as a musician and composer since the mid 80\u00b4s. He mainly plays concerts with his own music with his band Nils \u00d8kland Band (Rolf-Erik Nystr\u00f8m, H\u00e5kon M\u00f8rch Stene, Mats Eilertsen, Sigbj\u00f8rn Apeland) in addition to duo concerts with Sigbj\u00f8rn Apeland and solo concerts. He also collaborate with a brode range of musicians, from Per Steinar Lie and \u00d8rjan Haaland in Lumen Drones, the Engegaard Quartet and Linus+Okland\/Van Heertum\/Zach. \u00d8kland also write music for theatre, ballet and film. \u00d8kland has published four albums on the label ECM: <\/span>Monograph<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Lys\u00f8en, <\/span><\/i>together with Sigbj\u00f8rn Apeland, <\/span>Lumen Drones, <\/span><\/i>with Per Steinar Lie and \u00d8rjan Haaland, and <\/span>Kj\u00f8lvatn<\/span><\/i> with Nils \u00d8kland Band. He has also published severeal albums at Hubro with the impro trio called 1982, which was active from 2007-2018. Nils \u00d8kland’s bands last recording <\/span>Lysning <\/span><\/i>was also released by Hubro, and has been given good reviews and won a Norwegian grammy in open class. Lumen Drones last album <\/span>Umbra<\/span><\/i> was also published at Hubro and got good reviews both in Norway and internationally. Before this he released two albums on Rune Grammofon and his debut album, <\/span>Bl\u00e5 harding<\/span><\/i>, on his own label Morild.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Rune<\/span><\/b> Arnesen <\/span><\/b>is one of the most busy drummers \/ percussionists in Norway for all types of music due to his ability to create sounds and grooves in a very musical way. He is very creative and intuitive in his musical approach and his grooves are deep and floating and always becomes a natural part of any song or musical styles. <\/span>He started his career in the late 80s and has since played with artists such as Ole Paus, Jonas Fjeld, Bj\u00f8rn Eidsv\u00e5g, Rick Danko, Eric Andersen, Frode Aln\u00e6s, \u00d8ystein Sunde, Annbj\u00f8rg Lien, Sigmund Groven, and Anneli Drecker. He has played with Carola, The Band, and Secret Garden, and is also internationally known for his collaborations with jazz musicians such as Nils Petter Molv\u00e6r, Bendik Hofseth, Dhafer Yossef, Rebecca Bakken, Beady Belle, and many more. Today he appears on more than 300 albums.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A tribute to Fartein Valen!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":41940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[180],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-40277","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-simax-classics","7":"product_shipping_class-cddvd-shipping","8":"uni_artist_tag-ketil-bjornstad","9":"uni_artist_tag-nils-okland","10":"uni_artist_tag-rune-arnesen","11":"uni_artist_tag-solveig-andsnes","12":"uni_main_artist_tag-ketil-bjornstad","14":"first","15":"outofstock","16":"taxable","17":"shipping-taxable","18":"purchasable","19":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/40277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40277"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=40277"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=40277"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=40277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the years that followed I turned my attention to other periods of music history, but when I was asked by the Fartein Valen Festival to compose a new work based on the same poem Valen had used as his inspiration, I had to rediscover Valen\u2019s work and also familiarise myself with the poem itself, Paul Val\u00e9ry\u2019s <\/span>Le Cimeti\u00e8re marin<\/span><\/i>. Ole J\u00f8rgen Furdal introduced me to Pelle Christensen\u2019s superb translation, and I realised at once that the entire poem had to be set to music if I were to be able to even think about entering a room that was already marked so clearly by Fartein Valen\u2019s presence. <\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The title <\/span>Songs At Edge Of The Ocean <\/span><\/i>expressed my wish to incorporate a tribute to Valen\u2019s atonal composition while, at the same time, paying homage to the more melodic and harmonic sources of inspiration that I have reached towards during all my years as a musician and composer. <\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In this context I could mention Schubert, Theodorakis, Borodin, Scriabin and Prokofiev. But most of all, I thought of the people I would be writing the work for. First, Solveig Andsnes, who I had collaborated with both in <\/span>Amanda <\/span><\/i>at the Haugesund Teater in 2011 and in the Kilden Teater\u2019s production of Terje Vigen at Fj\u00e6reheia in Grimstad, in 2017. The thought of her richly expressive register helped me shape the melodies while I was composing. Second, I had to think of Nils \u00d8kland and the very distinctive resonance he always creates with his instruments. The choice of percussionist Rune Arnesen, who I had worked with for over 30 years, also made it possible for me to think in a large format, which the poem in many ways called for, while the rhythm and simplicity of the expression also had to be maintained. In addition, I thought about sound designer Sven Persson, who had created the sea and the sky for me on the largest and smallest of stages for nearly 50 years.<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Songs At The Edge Of The Ocean<\/span><\/i> had its world premiere at Festiviteten concert hall in Haugesund on April 27th, two days after my 70th birthday. Setting <\/span>Le Cimeti\u00e8re marin <\/span><\/i>to music was the most meaningful way of celebrating my 70th birthday that I can imagine. A tribute to life in the spirit of Pindar\u2019s third Pythian ode: \u201cSo do not, my soul, be eager for immortal life, but drain to the dregs the arts within your power.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>Solveig Andsnes<\/span><\/b> (actress, singer, dancer) is educated at the Faculty of Performing Arts at the University in Stavanger. Additionally, she has completed international studies at Steps on Broadway in New York and has spent the last few years working extensively with the Chubbuck technique through various courses and private coaching. Solveig has a deep interest in combining singing and acting as a shared expression and has a unique ability to convey messages and tell stories through song. Solveig has been employed by the Actor and Dancer Alliance since 2017.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n