Stabat Mater, March 12

Composer Tyler Futrell has delivered his “Stabat Mater”, a commission I made for my new ensemble, supported by the Arts Council Norway, The Cultural Fund. I see through the score the great qualities of this piece, and I am extremely excited in due course to implement what he has made into sounding music.

Unfortunately, the chance to do this in the nearer future is difficult. The corona prevented us from doing the world premiere in Hardanger, Norway, in end of May, because the festival recently had to cancel. But sooner or later we will, with the greatest joy, perform this piece, along with Pergolesi’s iconic “Stabat Mater” from 1736. And this is, after all, a good perspective to have now, today on the 12th of March, one year after Norway closed down. Not the least has the cultural life in our country been utterly and badly hit by this pandemic.

For those who want to hear music by Tyler Futrell, I recommend his “Brittle Fluid”, which I conducted and recorded with the Telemark Chamber Orchestra some years ago – here is the link to Spotify.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2DlibyySJkmnLejUYYLjMh?si=1QE2dPk6QUio_6COZGqqZg