Reflections Archive

As Dreams – Music by JANSON, LACHENMANN, NØGÄRD, XENAKIS & SAARIANO – Norwegian Soloists Choir /Grete Pedersen – BIS

by Audiophile Audition | Jan 17, 2017 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

As Dreams –  Music by JANSON, LACHENMANN, NØGÄRD, XENAKIS & SAARIANO – Norwegian Soloists Choir /artistic director Grete Pedersen – BIS multichannel SACD BIS2139, TT: 61:00 10/28/16 [Distr. by Naxos] ****: Contemporary music representing dreams. This is an interesting and compelling disc from BIS and the Norwegian Soloists Choir and its artistic director Grete Pedersen. With a theme of ‘dreams’, the disc gives us a sampling of music that suggests a dreamlike quality. With music from Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany and Greece, and texts ranging from fragments of ancient Assyrian and Sumerian (in Xenakiss Nuits) and the 8th-century Wessobrunner Prayer (Lachenmann) to poems by Balzac (Saariaho), Nietzsche (Janson) and Rilke (Nørgård), the music is all very different, but all adhere to the theme of the disc. The presentation includes musicians from Oslo Sinfonietta in the accompanied works, which include Nørgårds Singe die Gärten for eight-part choir and 8 instruments and Jansons Nocturne for double choir, 2 cellos, harp and 2 percussionists. In life, as on this disc, dreams can be good dreams or bad, and this program gives us the variety of nocturnal experiences. It’s not all ethereal and wistful, but like real dreams, sometimes upsetting and dramatic. The performances […]