The Road
This work was commissioned by my good friends the Denver-based choir Kantorei, and their conductor Joel Rinsema. Composer Ola Gjeilo wanted to write a musical journey through his favorite places in his homeland of Norway, a country I had never visited. So I asked Ola to share with me stories and photos of these magical places, so I could try to capture some of what made them special to him.
Program Notes
This work was commissioned by my good friends the Denver-based choir Kantorei, and their conductor Joel Rinsema. Composer Ola Gjeilo wanted to write a musical journey through his favorite places in his homeland of Norway, a country I had never visited. So I asked Ola to share with me stories and photos of these magical places, so I could try to capture some of what made them special to him. Working with Ola is always one of deep collaboration and is a special process for me. His style lends itself to soaring poetry, free from fussy structures, although I usually can't help myself! He likes archaic styles, and I have fun playing in that sandbox.
​
Evoking these locations in Norway was a particular challenge, but I have since traveled to that stunning country, and I finally got a glimpse of the beauty of that landscape for Ola, and why it looms so powerfully in his imagination.
Complete Text for The Road
1. HALLINGSKARVET
Rising under a brooding sky
Unmoved by wind or rain
A sentinel
Lording over lesser hills
The valley of his open hands
In deeping shadow
Like a father, strong and sure
Heart of silent stone
Still he stands
2. HARDANGERVIDDA
A single flower, fragile, white,
Trembles in the whistling wind
That prowls across this barren realm
Of beauty, and of desolation.
To stand in utter solitude
Here, among the lichened stones
Ice-hewn and gale-graven,
The waiting soul is opened wide.
For here there is a deeper truth
Upon the shoulders of the earth,
Where naught exists between the Soul
And that which lies beyond all silence.
3. HARDANGERFJORDEN
A narrow valley winding to the sea,
A steeply downward pathway falling,
Revealing there a deeper mystery:
The newly-opened spirit calling.
The soul, descending once again to earth,
A deep tranquility desiring,
Emerges then to find a second birth,
A vision grounded and inspiring.
The labored way is opened to the view
Of waters wide and light unceasing!
The sea becomes a path for journeys new;
The spirit free, all doubt releasing.
4. HUSEDALEN
Water from the highland falling,
Dancing to the sea below;
Spirit opened, ever rising,
Welcoming new grace to grow.
Skies above the falls are spreading,
Bursting open all their joy;
Light through misty prisms flashing,
Deeping darkness to destroy.
The journey of the Soul unfolding,
Passing through this rugged land,
Offers up a new beginning,
Growing now to understand.
Waters falling, Spirit rising,
Wisdom growing on the way;
Beauty calling, path unfolding,
Dawning of a brand new day!