Bernstein Dvořák Storgårds
Psalms and Spirituals
![](https://ofo.imgix.net/Persons/Conductors/Storgards-3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=393&q=90&w=750&s=8f0185a7d7fc14250b7aec30b4ab61b8 750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Persons/Conductors/Storgards-3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=524&q=90&w=1000&s=d3e1a44f2066cf8f032bf01c239742a9 1000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Persons/Conductors/Storgards-3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=655&q=90&w=1250&s=23fb26d8098f99069c51fcd86d8cf78d 1250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Persons/Conductors/Storgards-3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=786&q=90&w=1500&s=30bec0029cd4daa570799bcc941e6fc3 1500w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Persons/Conductors/Storgards-3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=917&q=90&w=1750&s=731ba7ad751f2ebe5190ebbff549d0bf 1750w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Persons/Conductors/Storgards-3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1048&q=90&w=2000&s=8cd6ae8454314bd466c241eb8fd505c9 2000w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Persons/Conductors/Storgards-3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1179&q=90&w=2250&s=54d4b5c600c76f8cda1ba3bb3f9e5d58 2250w, https://ofo.imgix.net/Persons/Conductors/Storgards-3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&crop=focalpoint&cs=srgb&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=1258&q=90&w=2400&s=968b3947146d0e614a059d376bd1efcb 2400w)
John Storgårds conducts the Oslo Philharmonic in a new recording of Per Nørgård's symphonies. (Photo: Fred-Olav Vatne/Oslo-Filharmonien)
Psalms and Spirituals
Psalms have been the inspiration for many composers in creating strong and widely differing musical expressions.
Åm lets a religious folk song from his local area blend seamlessly with his own musical language, and also Bernstein went back to his roots when he used Jewish psalm texts in Hebrew in the powerful, dramatic and challenging epic work Chichester Psalms. When Dvořák travelled to “the new world” he encountered spirituals which flowed into his wonderful and popular Symphony No. 9. In this programme, Oslo Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra are led by Finnish conductor John Storgårds.
When Antonín Dvořák (1841-1903) travelled to the United States in 1892 he let himself immediately inspire by different American musical traditions, among those Negro Spirituals, and several of the themes in Symphony No. 9 (1893) reflect this. The piece was composed in New York in 1893 and bears the subtitle “From the New World”. Dvořák is well-known for his many easily recognisable and catchy melodies, and few symphonies contain as many beautiful melodic lines as this one does. The harmonious and resonant musical language has made the work hugely popular — so popular that Neil Armstrong brought a recording of it with him to another new world in 1969; the moon, to be precise!
In the same city, more than half a century later, Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) found inspiration in a completely different musical tradition as he composed the spectacular piece for choir and orchestra, Chichester Psalms (1965). Bernstein studied biblical psalms directly and used their Hebrew texts in his new work, which is characterised by complex and powerful rhythms and an extreme level of difficulty for both choir and orchestra, as well as for the boy soprano who sings the solo.On the other side of the globe, in Luster in Sogn og Fjordane, Magnar Åm (b. 1952) came across the psalm The Day Wanes and Fades Away, with a text by Dorothe Engelsbretsdatter, among the folk songs collected and transcribed by Ole Mørk Sandvik. The folk tone inspired him to compose Study of a Psalm from Luster (1977), where the original blends with his own, mildly dissonant and introverted expressive style.
(Text: Thomas Erma Møller; Translation (from Norwegian): Sarah Osa; In photo: John Storgårds; Photo: Fred-Olav Vatne/Oslo Philharmonic)
What is played
- Magnar Åm Study on a Norwegian Hymn
- Leonard Bernstein Chichester Psalms
- Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 9, "From the New World"
Duration
Performers
-
John Storgårds
Conductor -
boy soprano
-
Oslo Philharmonic Choir
-
Øystein Fevang
Choir conductor
Tickets
Prices
Price groups | Price |
---|---|
Adult | 100 - 470 NOK |
Senior | 100 - 375 NOK |
Student | 100 - 235 NOK |
Child | 100 NOK |
Bernstein Dvořák Storgårds