BETWEEN GERMAN ROMANTICISM AND NORWEGIAN FOLK TUNES

A number of recordings in recent years bear witness to a revival of interest in the music of Catharinus Elling – a composer who lived around the same time as Grieg and who, like Grieg, studied in Germany. Now, critically acclaimed and Grammy-nominated Marianne Beate Kielland and Nils Anders Mortensen have added to the Elling discography with their recording of songs by the young Elling, written while he was still living in Germany.

Here are many lovely melodies composed to familiar verse of Shakespeare, Janson, Randers, and Aasen, as well as a bundle of songs with texts from “Des Knaben Wunderhorn” (“The Youth’s Magic Horn”). Although Elling’s compositional style appears simpler than Grieg’s, it is never banal, and in these songs of the young composer one sees why he became a central person in Norwegian musical life.

Mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate Kielland is one of Norway’s leading singers, performing regularly with prominent orchestras and conductors on major concert stages in Europe and Japan. Her close to 40 albums have brought her exceptional success in the international recording market.

With his numerous recordings and concert performances, Nils Anders Mortensen has distinguished himself as one of Norway’s foremost pianists. In his day-to-day musical life, he is state musician in Finnmark County, but he is active as well as a freelance musician.