<\/p>\n
Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad gives us light and darkness in new beautiful piano work.<\/b><\/p>\n
Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad returns to the core\u2014alone with the grand piano.<\/p>\n
Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad presents piano music for the twilight hour on the album “Evening Song – Aftensang”<\/em>. The project began when Bj\u00f8rnstad was contacted by organist and conductor Svein Rustad, who wanted him to compose “Nighttime songs” for him\u2014based on several poems from the collection “B\u00e5t p\u00e5 fjorden” (Boat on the fjord)<\/em>\u00a0(Aschehoug 2021).<\/p>\n The piano pieces are inspired by light and take us back to nature\u2019s domain. These are the places where Bj\u00f8rnstad has walked, sat, and reflected for years\u2014places 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 Bj\u00f8rnstad\u2019s impressionistic piano playing on “Evening Song – Aftensang”<\/em>. Even though the places remain the same, their mood and light always shift. We are still in a process, just like life itself. Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad explains:<\/p>\n –\u00a0In 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\u2019s 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.<\/em><\/p>\n Ketil speaks about what can serve as inspiration:<\/p>\n –\u00a0Everything 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\u2019m searching for in my own musical expression.<\/em><\/p>\n The instrumental versions came first, except for the bonus track “Til Maren”<\/em>, which stands out on the album. It is a lullaby with vocals sung by Bj\u00f8rnstad himself.<\/p>\n –\u00a0I felt that I had to sing it myself, with my untrained voice. In the unfinished, one often finds what one is truly searching for\u2014the 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.<\/em><\/p>\n In the spring of 2024, the album was recorded at Propeller Studio on a C. Bechstein grand piano, which has inspired Bj\u00f8rnstad for more than 13 years. Together with his loyal sound engineer Mike Hartung and piano tuner Trond Hellstr\u00f8m.<\/p>\n The work\u00a0Evening Song – Aftensang<\/em>\u00a0will have its world premiere at Sandefjord Church on Sunday, April 6.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad gives us light and darkness in new beautiful piano work.<\/b><\/p>\n Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad returns to the core\u2014alone with the grand piano.<\/p>\n Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad presents piano music for the twilight hour on the album “Evening Song – Aftensang”<\/em>. The project began when Bj\u00f8rnstad was contacted by organist and conductor Svein Rustad, who wanted him to compose “Nighttime songs” for him\u2014based on several poems from the collection “B\u00e5t p\u00e5 fjorden” (Boat on the fjord)<\/em>\u00a0(Aschehoug 2021).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":42114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[6],"product_tag":[8036],"class_list":{"0":"post-42113","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-grappa","7":"product_tag-ketil-bjornstad","8":"product_shipping_class-cddvd-shipping","9":"uni_artist_tag-ketil-bjornstad","10":"uni_main_artist_tag-ketil-bjornstad","11":"uni_artist_genre-jazz","13":"first","14":"instock","15":"taxable","16":"shipping-taxable","17":"purchasable","18":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/42113","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=42113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=42113"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=42113"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=42113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}