21st october Grappa music publisher release my latest cd: "Te lucis ante terminum". The Estonian State Male Choir RAM and the vocal ensemble Vox Clamantis from Tallinn perform my music for male voices. The publisher writes:
Voices from the Gregorian tradition, from the depths of our western vocal tradition, meet a new, modern musical language in an organic, but nonetheless refreshing and unpredictable way, filtered through composer Henrik Ødegaard ́s finely tuned means of expression.
With a background from “the Gregorian class” at the music conservatory in Paris, Ødegaard has engrossed himself in Gregorian chant and written several works taking their inspiration from the Gregorian tradition and from Catholic liturgy. On this recording we will be getting to know works in that tradition, performed by world renowned Gregorian choirs The Estonian National Male Choir (RAM) and Vox Clamantis.
Contrasting elements
There are always contrasts in Henrik Ødegaard ́s music. Overtones or modality are set as a contrast to an abstract, personal musical language. Improvisation is contrasted to the annotated, and contrasting elements – light and shade, foreground and background, open and closed – are generated through his development of the material. He investigates the relationship between the Gregorian tradition and a modern, free-tonal style, in both a playful neo-classical direction and abstract, almost impressionist, experiments in timbre. “Te lucis ante terminum” sets improvisatory elements against the traditional material in a large-scale tuneful composition, while the three “Cantus”-works puts Gregorian melodies in the original notation together with modern harmonisation. The opening work “Arise, my love!”, however, takes a different approach, not being based on the Gregorian, and creates with its open intervals and additions of whistling, laughter and shouts a positive, joyful style, where the sensuality is clear both in music and words.
Henrik Ødegaard: a Gregorian conductor amidst a vital folk-music scene
Henrik Ødegaard was educated as a music teacher, organist and composer. He studied composition with Lasse Thoresen in Oslo and Tristan Keuris in Utrecht, Holland, and later studied Gregorian conducting at the National Conservatory in Paris. His list of works cover all genres, with emphasis on vocal music. Residing in Sauherad, Telemark, Ødegaard lives amidst a vital folk-music scene – a musical heritage that has proved to play an increasing part in his compositions.
Buy the cd here
