Beyond “Jeg elsker dig”: A Program of Nordic Song

 

Organizer:  Jim Reilly, tenor and piano  Beatrice Giere, piano Ben Cooper, tenor

Date: May 06, 2023

Time: 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Location:  Mindekirken (The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church) 924 East 21st Street, Minneapolis

A few songs by Edvard Grieg are known to the classical music public, and occasional songs by other composers (Sibelius, especially) might show up on concert programs, particularly when the singer is from Sweden or Finland (Sibelius, that patriotic Finn, wrote most of his songs to Swedish texts). But the great flowering of art song in the nineteenth and twentieth century late Romantic period in the Nordic countries is mostly unknown here.

Jim Reilly, though his long association as an accompanist with singers of this repertoire, and his position at Mindekirken (our area’s only surviving Norwegian language church), where he’s now Music Director Emeritus, has had the good luck to both accompany and/or sing many of these neglected songs.  You’ll recognize some of the names, but some (Hakon Børeesen anyone? Julius Behgaard? Sigfus Einarsson? Toivo Kuula? and others) will be new to most Americans.

Inserted in the middle of the program which Jim will sing, accompanied by Beatrice Giere, will be a novelty: an alternation of songs by the great Swedish songwriter Ture Rangström (sung by tenor Ben Cooper, with Jim at the piano) with some of Chopin’s piano preludes. The goal is not to claim any direct influence on Rangström by Chopin, but to demonstrate just how well Rangström wrote for the piano as well as the voice.

We’re hoping to have a short tour of the church after the program (this has yet to be confirmed). If you’ve never been to Mindekirken or visited Norway House next door here’s a fine opportunity to do so, and enjoy some fine and rarely heard music.