On their first release for LAWO Classics – the double CD “Historia Sancti Olavi” – vocal ensemble Consortium Vocale Oslo and Graces & Voices presents a rarely heard cultural treasure from medieval Norway.
The “Historia Sancti Olavi” consists of around 30 pieces that for more than 300 years were sung on the feast day of St Olaf, July 29. The present release is the most comprehensive recording of this material to date.
“Historia Sancti Olavi” is unique in its status as a monumental music work from medieval Norway. This release represents an important contribution to our understanding of this era in Norwegian cultural history.
Consortium Vocale Oslo is a male ensemble based at Oslo Cathedral. The group specializes in Gregorian chant under the leadership of Alexander M. Schweitzer, president of AISCGre, the International Association for Studies of Gregorian Chant. Consortium Vocale Oslo is one of three ensembles to have been chosen to record key parts of the Gregorian repertoire as published in the Graduale novum.
For this recording of the “Historia Sancti Olavi” Consortium Vocale has collaborated with the ensemble Graces & Voices. The recording is part of the EU programme Lifelong Learning/Leonardo da Vinci, whose aim is to study the practice of Gregorian chant at a national level. The music was edited and prepared by professor Roman Hankeln (NTNU). The CD booklet includes an essay by Hankeln and an article by Gro Steinsland, specialist in religious history, which examines St. Olaf within a European context.
Title: Historia Sancti Olavi
Performers: Consortium Vocale Oslo, Alexander M. Schweitzer – conductor
Graces & Voices, Adrija Cepaite and Antanina Kalechyts – conductors
Catalogue no.: LWC1106
Label: LAWO Classics
Release date: September 2016
Total time: CD1: 60:20 / CD2: 44:39
Format: SACD Surround 5.0
EAN: 7090020181189
Producer: Jørn Pedersen
Engineer: Arne Akselberg
Design: Blunderbuss
Web: www.lawo.no
