Refractions: Choral works by Valen, Berg, Messiaen, Webern (2012/2013)

Berit Norbakken Solset (soprano), Det Norske Solistkor & KORK & Members of the Oslo Sinfonietta, Grete Pedersen

Music in the early 20th century did pass from one medium to another, from late Romanticism into an unknown future. Refractions allows the listener to sample this transition through the choral music of four very different composers.

Berg:
 Die Nachtigall
 Sieben frühe Lieder

Messiaen:
 Cinq rechants
 O sacrum convivium

Valen:
 Ave Maria
 Der 121. Psalm
 Hvad est du dog skiøn, Op. 12
 Kom regn fra det høie, Op. 25

Webern:
 Entflieht, Op. 2
 Two Songs, Op. 19 (Texts: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

"an unusually diverse and unhackneyed 20th-century programme."
Gramophone Magazine - May 2013

"The ecstatic, tonality-bending music of the Norwegian Fartein Valen sits well with ethereal Webern plus better-known Messiaen, a challenge met by this fine choir"
BBC Music Magazine - October 2013****