A Choirmaster’s Christmas

For 10 years I was the choirmaster of my local choir, Vestbygda Blandakor. And as such, I had the pleasurable duty of preparing the annual Advent Concert. I had to ensure that when the lights in Onsøy Church were turned down and the audience relaxed in their pews, lit only by the hundred flickering flames of the candelabra, then they would snuggle closer together, feel the warmth of community again. And most of all, the emotional pull of Christmas music. I love those Advent and Christmas songs that are intended to resound in a building devoted to the continuity of generations. Those old songs put you in contact with humans as they have been at midwinter: struggling with daunting temperatures, with the need for fuel and sustenance – but coping thanks to the bonds of community and family.

CONTACT
Twitter: @northbynorway
Email: northbynorway@gmail.com

MUSIC
00:00 North by Norway
written on GarageBand by Andrew J. Boyle, using the Norwegian folksong ‘I Ola-dalom, i Ola-tjønn’

02:35 Det lyser i stille grender
Text: Jacob Sande
Music: Lars Søraas
Sung by Vestbygda Blandakor

08:20 En rose er utsprungen
Text: Anon.
Music: Old German hymn (1599)
Sung by Vestbygda Blandakor

14:05 Mitt hjerte alltid vanker
(Traditional folksong)
Sung by Vestbygda Blandakor

20:40 O helga natt
Music: Adolphe Adam
Text: Placide Cappeau
Sung by Vestbygda Blandakor
Soloist: Tommy Johansen
Piano: Svenn Poppe