Göteborgs Konserthus Song for Those We Miss

OLIVIER MESSIAEN (1908-1992) APPARITION DE L'EGLISE ETERNELLE Olivier Messiaen was one of the pioneering and most influential modernist composers in the second half of the 20th century. Already in his very first published composition, the organ piece Le banquet céleste, composed when the composer was 18 years old, he emerges as a profoundly original composer personality. Throughout his long career, Messiaen explored new possibilities of expression: he developed his own melodic and harmonic systems (including seven scale types, "modes with limited transpositions"), incorporated rhythms from Greek metrics and Indian music, and generally saw rhythm as the central element of music . Well known is his use of birdsong, reproduced with great accuracy. Certain aspects of Messiaen's tonal language became a source of inspiration for young avant-garde composers of the post-war period. Most central to Messiaen's creation was his Catholic faith: almost all of his works have a theological content. Alongside Bengt Hambræus, he is the only one of the great post-war modernists for whom the organ was central in the creation - although he also composed many significant works in other genres. For over 60 years he served as organist on Sundays at the Sainte-Trinité Church in Paris, and throughout this time new organ compositions were added, most of them in the form of larger work cycles with titles such as La Nativité du Seigneur, Les Corps Glorieux, Pentecost Mass and Meditations on the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. Apparition de l'église éternelle ("Apparition of the Eternal Church") is one of the early works (1932), composed around the same time as the first work cycle, L’Ascension. The piece is Messiaen's first organ composition after taking over as organist at Sainte-Trinité the year before. The work is a vision of the heavenly church, which first looms in the distance, then comes ever closer, and then recedes again. The piece exhibits features that from today's perspective can be seen as minimalistic. In his own commentary on the work, Messiaen emphasizes the simple building blocks: the rhythmic patterns, the harmonic colors contrasted against "hard and cold" empty fifths, and the first rising and then falling dynamics. The Messiah continues, referring to a Catholic hymn: "chisel, hammer, suffering and trials cut and polish the chosen, the living stones of the spiritual building (which is expressed by the incessant pulsation of the base). The vision is very simple, at its height almost brutal . It builds up slowly and takes a long time to dissipate…”

Iver Kleive is a Norwegian composer and organist. He is known for his composing style which is a fusion of traditional church music with other musical idioms such as blues, jazz, and Norwegian folk music. He has appeared in nearly 200 recordings as a studio musician, composer and arranger. Kleive was born in Skien to a musical family. His father, Kristoffer Kleive, was also an organist and his brother, Audun Kleive, is a noted jazz percussionist. He studied church music and organ at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo and then served as the organist at the Frogner Church from 1976 to 1981 and the Røyken Church from 1982 to 1985. Since 1987 he has been the musical director of the Helgerud Church in Bærum. He is also director of the Oslo Bach Choir which he founded in 1988. The recording of his Blå Koral (Blue Chorale) won Spellemannpriset Award in 1991.