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Alfred Janson: The Wind Blows

Alfred Janson (melodica), Emilie Heldal Lidsheim (violin), Jan Clemens Carlsen (cello), Embrik Snerte (contraforte), Helge Lien (piano), Ditte Marie Bræin (soprano), Olle Holmgren (bass), Eirik Krokfjord (baritone), Maria Angelika Carlsen (violin), Anders Kregnes Hansen (percussion), Embrik Snerte...

Whether spikily satirical or mournfully melodic, the Norwegian composer Alfred Janson is a superb word-setter, though his quirkier elements may irritate some. The performances are terrific. — BBC Music Magazine, January 2019, 3 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 28th Sep 2018
Catalogue No: BIS2341
Label: BIS
Length: 66 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

October 2018

Editor's Choice

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Janson, A: 3 Poems by Ebba Lindqvist

Work length4:24

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Alfred Janson (melodica)
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Grete Pedersen

Janson, A: The Wind Blows - Where It Wishes

Work length8:55

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

Emilie Heldal Lidsheim (violin), Jan Clemens Carlsen (cello), Embrik Snerte (contraforte)
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Grete Pedersen

Janson, A: Nå er det fint å leve

Work length3:54

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Helge Lien (piano)
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Grete Pedersen

Janson, A: Lille mor klode

Work length4:58

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Ditte Marie Bræin (soprano), Olle Holmgren (bass), Helge Lien (piano), Alfred Janson (melodica)
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Grete Pedersen

Janson, A: Sarabande

Work length12:06

$2.05

$3.85

$5.25

The Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Oslo Sinfonietta
Grete Pedersen

Janson, A: Sonnet no. 76

Work length5:56

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Eirik Krokfjord (baritone)
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Grete Pedersen

Eriksson, G: Construction (after A. Janson's Construction and Hymn)

Work length8:28

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

Maria Angelika Carlsen (violin), Jan Clemens Carlsen (cello), Embrik Snerte (bassoon), Alfred Janson (melodica), Anders Kregnes Hansen (percussion)
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Grete Pedersen

Janson, A: Ky og vakre Madame Ky

Work length4:42

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Helge Lien (piano), Alfred Janson (melodica)
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Grete Pedersen

Janson, A: Viska du vind

Work length3:30

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Helge Lien (piano), Alfred Janson (melodica)
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Grete Pedersen

Janson, A: Nocturne

Work length9:30

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

The Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Oslo Sinfonietta
Grete Pedersen

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About

Born in 1937, Alfred Janson was a key figure among the young Norwegian composers who emerged in the beginning of the 1960s. With a background in jazz and popular music he seemed to represent a new era, and this was confirmed by works such as Construction and Hymn and Nocturne. Ever since then Janson has continued to write his own music, seemingly independently of the current ‘-isms’.

One of the cornerstones of his production has been vocal music, and this disc from the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir and Grete Pedersen presents an opportunity to listen to his choral works from five decades. These reveal to the listener his free melodic gift and original approach to harmony, but also his keen instinct for good texts – the programme includes settings of poems by Shakespeare (Sonnet No. 76), Nietszche and Emily Dickinson, but also a lyrical hymn to Mother Earth and politically charged texts by contemporaries of the composer.

The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir and Janson have collaborated on numerous occasions, and two of the works recorded here were commissioned by the choir: the wind blows … from 2016 and Sonnet No. 76 (2000). Janson often allows for the possibility of including instruments in his works, and joining the choir are musicians from Oslo Sinfonietta, as well as Alfred Janson himself, playing his beloved plastic melodica.

Artists

The Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Grete Pedersen

Reviews

January 2019

Whether spikily satirical or mournfully melodic, the Norwegian composer Alfred Janson is a superb word-setter, though his quirkier elements may irritate some. The performances are terrific.

January 2019

Janson was shaped by jazz, which explains the improvisational freedom of his melodica introduction to Tre dikt av Ebba Lindqvist and to the album. Janson is hugely important in Norwegian music, and Grete Pedersen approaches him with concentration, respect and much affection.

October 2018

All the choral-instrumental works here feel timeless, refreshing and sincere, while many of them are notably bold. Their rigorous simplicity is often tied up in those things...Every word on every track is crystal clear, whether sung in Norwegian, Swedish or English...What a surprise and delight to come across an 82-year-old with such an important, refreshing and honest voice.

November 2018

Alfred Janson’s luminous choral sound world cannot fail to provoke and delight.

Alfred Janson: The Wind Blows

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