Schola Cantorum & Tone Bianca Sparre Dahl - Trachea (2019) [Official Digital Download 24/176]

Trachea, the windpipe. A source of transformation where the breath of a human being can be refined into the most beautiful, powerful, tender art. The voice is humankind’s primeval instrument, plumbing the greatest depths of our emotional register. Schola Cantorum takes us through six unique musical landscapes that share something fundamental: This is music that celebrates the physical and spiritual, thinking and feeling human being — and at the same time poses a challenge. Who are we?

Bjørn Kåre Odde: Snilla Patea
Martin Ødegaard: Trachea
Ståle Kleiberg: Alt i universet
Bjørn Morten Christophersen: Oak and Mayfly
Karin Rehnqvist: When I close my eyes, I dream of peace
Frøy Aagre: Gloria

"I love the choir — this instrument which is so unpredictable, so personal. Each member sings with his or her own voice, communicating their own personal story, and my objective is to collect it all, unify and purify it, and hopefully make the Eros, the profound and inherent love, shine brightly by way of the instrument. Whether the music is complex or simple, the objective remains equal: to cultivate an energy and a timbre which merge with the composition, elevating it to something larger than the sum of all its individual elements. It is during this encounter, where each individual forms part of something larger than themselves, that musical magic arises. This is what I seek. Those moments when the eyes of both the performers and our audience glow. This is the moment I know that we have succeeded." — Tone Bianca Sparre Dahl, conductor

Ever since Schola Cantorum was founded by composer Knut Nystedt in 1964, the chamber choir of the Department of Musicology at the University of Oslo has had as its prime goal to present contemporary choral works with a particular emphasis on Norwegian and Nordic composers.

Tracklist:
1. Snilla Patea
2. Trachea
3. Alt i universet
4. Oak and Mayfly
5. When I close my eyes I dream of peace I. Just in English
6. When I close my eyes I dream of peace II. In twelve tongues
7. Gloria

Personnel:
Schola Cantorum
Tone Bianca Sparre Dahl, conductor
Bjørn Kåre Odde, fiddle
Frøy Aagre, soprano saxophone
Marie Solum Gran, horn
Niklas Sebastian Grenvik, horn
Daniel Weiseth Kjellesvik, horn
Julius Pranevicius, horn