Ketil Bjørnstad presents new choral work: "Chasing the Wind"

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In 1992, Ketil Bjørnstad composed "Mass for a Wounded Earth." It premiered at Frogner Church, and Erik Hillestad and KKV released the album. Hillestad wrote the text for the mass. In the years that followed, Bjørnstad often thought about Ecclesiastes, with some amazement that these fantastic and existential texts had not previously caught the attention of choirs, festivals, or concert organisers. Were they too powerful? Too ruthless?

In 2019, the opportunity arose when Catharina Jacobsen, Bjørnstad's wife, asked if Ketil could compose something new for her own choir, the Nordstrand Music Society Choir. Both had heard baritone singer Brynjar Onsøien perform Vaughan Williams' "Songs of Travel" during a Christmas concert with the choir, and his voice and delivery left a strong impression. Neither Catharina nor Ketil forgot Brynjar's powerful baritone, and when the Covid pandemic arrived in Norway for real, Catharina sat down and edited the Bible texts, focusing particularly on their existential aspect. Ketil shares:

• When she showed me what she had done, I was deeply inspired by reading the text’s mixture of intimacy, warning, comfort and monumentality. My mind was still on Herbert Blomstedt and the Oslo Philharmonic’s performance of Bach’s St John Passion, along with Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, and under the influence of these powerful sources of inspiration the cantata Chasing the Wind began to take form as a dialogue between the Teacher and Humanity.

In August 2023, Bjørnstad went to producer and engineer Mike Hartung at Propeller Studio. He played through the entire work on the Bechstein grand piano. The piano sketches later served as support for the singers and musicians during rehearsals. The sketches developed their own dynamic and are included in part 2 of "Chasing the Wind."

With the Nordstrand Music Society Choir as the base choir, new singers were invited to join an expanded project choir of over a hundred members through the Norwegian Choir Association Oslo-Akershus, which also supported the project financially and practically. Bjørnstad reached out to musicians he had previously worked with, as well as new ones he was curious about.

Ketil concludes:

• We held the world premiere of Chasing the Wind at the Oslo Cathedral, filled to capacity, on 10th of  February this year. Brynjar stood in the pulpit. The mighty choir, featuring singers aged from eight to eighty, filled the space in front of the altar. It was cold outside. The world was at war on several fronts, and the texts struck us all both as a fist and as a consolation:

 

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up.” 

Text: Forkynneren/Ecclesiastes, edited by Catharina Jacobsen
The text is taken from NO78/85 and Bibel 2011 © Bibelselskapet. Used with permission.

Music: Ketil Bjørnstad

Conductor: Tore Brox

Vocal: Brynjar Onsøien
Organ: Stefan Ibsen Zlatanos
Piano: Ketil Bjørnstad
Violin/Hardanger fiddle: Nils Økland
Flute/Bassoon: Hanne Rekdal
Double bass: Ellen Brekken
Percussion: Helge Andreas Norbakken
The project choir Jag etter vind
Nordstrand Musikkselskaps kor
GAEA
Amalie Grani (solo)
Singers from Oslo Domkirkes Guttekor
Singers from Trefoldighet Jentekor

Sound Design: Sven Persson