Description
A monumental album that unites the roots of the Middle Ages with the sound world of today, composed by Henrik Odegaard and peformed by Ensemble 96, conducted by Nina
T. Karlsen and vocal group Vox Clamantis, led by Jaan-Eik Tulve. European art music is built on traditions spanning more than a thousand years. Yet much of its living heritage remains hidden - forgotten, silenced, or overlooked. It is in this space between past and present that composer Henrik Odegaard emerges as a rare voice: an artist who both preserves and renews. With Te Deum with 5 Poems and a Hymn by Jon Fosse, he presents one of his most ambitious and expressive works, a modern oratorio where Gregorian chant, Fosse's poetry, choral writing, organ, and horn blend into a spiritual and timeless musical universe.
The title work, Te Deum, is a 45-minute composition for two soloists, mixed choir, church organ, and four horns. It alternates between the traditional Latin Te Deum text and five poems and a hymn by Jon Fosse, creating a rich dialogue between medieval liturgy and contemporary poetry. The work unfolds as a modern oratorio in fifteen movements, majestic, mystical, and filled with radiant beauty.
The music opens in an archaic landscape: four natural horns set the scene with resonances that point toward something ancient and timeless. From there, the work expands in power, energy, and spiritual intensity. Odegaard draws on melodic and rhythmic elements from Gregorian chant, integrating them organically into his own musical language, not as quotations, but as living building blocks. The result is an expression in which old chant and new sonic textures coexist much like contemporary art can find a home inside Gothic cathedrals.
Te Deum was composed in 2019, supported by Arts Council Norway and commissioned by Tonsberg Cathedral Choir and Nina T. Karlsen. It stands as a milestone in Norwegian sacred music - mature, brilliant, and a striking example of the symbiosis between the old and the new. The album also includes three of Odegaard's central instrumental miniatures, each pairing original Gregorian melodies with newly written instrumental paraphrases.
Performers:
Ensemble 96, Ditte M. Braein, soprano solo, Halvor Melien, barytone solo, Lena Wik, Marie Solum Gran, Nikolai Heuer and Benedicte Elnes, horns, Nina T. Karlsen, conductor, Vox Clamantis, Jaan -Eik Tulve, conductor, Eivind Ringstad, viola, Brynjar Kolbergsrud, trumpet, Geir Davidsen, euphonium
