Ensemble Solis - The Little Match Girl Passion

THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL PASSION Ensemble Solis invites you to a concert as we transition into the Advent season – a time that for many is associated with community and anticipation, but which can also highlight loneliness and social exclusion. David Lang's work, based on H.C. Andersen's tale of the little girl with the matchsticks, focuses on those who fall outside the community, while Per Nørgård's Drømmesange opens a more contemplative space where dream, hope, and imagination can flourish. David Lang's The Little Match Girl Passion is a work that unites the simple and the deeply human. Drawing inspiration from Bach's passions, Lang places the classic story of suffering in a modern and universal context. The music is stripped-down, almost ascetic, yet intense and moving. Through repetition, silence, and subtle shifts in sound, the listener is invited into a meditative state, where text and sound merge into a reflection on compassion and human vulnerability. The work challenges performers to precise intonation and great sound awareness, while also demanding strong emotional closeness and musicality in expression. In the same program, we will perform Drømmesange by the Danish composer Per Nørgård who passed away in 2025 – a work that in a uniquely profound way circles around dreams, existence, and the unspeakable. The composer's characteristic musical language moves in the borderland between structure and freedom, challenging the singers on precision while allowing space for poetic expression. Together, these two works form a program that explores the inner landscape of humanity – from the down-to-earth narrative of human vulnerability to a more open, dreamlike, and existential sound universe. Both works are written for choir and percussion. PARTICIPANTS Ensemble Solis was formed in 2012 and is a project-based ambitious classical chamber choir from Oslo. The singers are skilled and experienced amateurs with backgrounds from some of the country's leading choirs. The choir has a varied classical profile, aiming to perform new music by both Norwegian and foreign composers, and strives to present Norwegian premieres of newly composed music, as well as develop a specialized knowledge of early music. The choir's founder and conductor is Ida Cecilie Holm. Ylva Bråten Rian, Geir Strande Syrrist, and Nora Sjøgren are three Norwegian percussionists with education from the Norwegian Academy of Music and extensive experience in orchestras, chamber music, and various ensemble and band settings. As freelance musicians, they have gained experience from both professional orchestras, festivals, and smaller ensembles. Together, Rian, Syrrist, and Sjøgren have experience from a wide range of musical contexts. They combine backgrounds from professional orchestral work with experience in chamber music, contemporary music, and various ensemble and band settings. This provides them with a strong foundation to work with varied repertoires and different concert forms, both as an ensemble and in collaboration with other musicians.