CAPE SOLOISTS CHOIR LAUNCHES WITH NYSTEDT TRIBUTE

Cape Soloists’ Choir launches with Nystedt tribute

The newly found Cape Soloists’ Choir will make its much anticipated debut on Saturday 1 June at Bishops’ Chapel in Rondebosch.  According to Jaco Dippenaar, founder and conductor of the choir, the choir’s name refers to the individual members who are all semi-professional or professional singers. Says Dippenaar, ‘Our aim is to take choral singing to exciting new frontiers by performing inspiring and innovative programmes, while at the same time introducing South African audiences to a wealth of choral music not often heard in concerts.’

The Cape Soloists’ Choir launch concert is a tribute to the music of Knut Nystedt, widely regarded as the father of modern choral music. The programme will feature Nystedt’s  Three Motets (Thus saith the Lord, Peace I leave with you, and I will praise Thee, O Lord), If You Receive My Words, Stabat Mater, O Crux, I Will Sing You A New Song, Song of Praise, and For A Small Planet. The Stabat Mater features a demanding cello solo part, performed by cellist Peter Martens. For A Small Planet will be accompanied by a string quartet and harp. The rest of the programme features some of Nystedt’s most treasured a capella works for mixed choir.

The eighteen members of the Cape Soloists’ Choir all currently hail from Cape Town and surrounding areas, although membership will not be limited to the Cape region.  The singers are professionally trained, all of whom are potential soloists in their respective fields. The choir aims at having twenty-six singers on a rotational basis eventually, which would allow the number of singers to vary according to the repertoire of a particular project. This will give both flexibility and stability and allow the choir to maintain an exacting standard of the highest performance.

Of his monumental work, O Crux, Nystedt once commented tongue-in-cheek:  ‘I composed the work in such a way so that only good choirs could sing it.’  Dippenaar confirms this as one of the reasons he chose this specific work for their launch concert. ‘The audience can definitely expect world-class choral singing. ‘

The Cape Soloists’ Choir will make its debut on Saturday 1 June at the Bishops’ Chapel, Campground Road, Rondebosch. The hour-long concert will start at 18h00 and tickets at R100 person will be available at the door. For more information, call 071 350 6220.

About Knut Nystedt:

Born in Norway in 1915, Knut Nystedt is one of the leading figures in Norwegian music in the period since the Second World War. A man of rare musical versatility, he is highly rated as composer, conductor and organist. Founder of the Norwegian Soloists Choir, he has been its conductor from its beginning in 1950 – 1990. As composer, Nystedt’s major oratorio-like compositions include The Way of Grace (1946), The Burnt Sacrifice (1952), Lucis Creator Optime (1968), Dies Irae (1976) and A Norwegian Te Deum (1977). In addition, he has written several masses and cantatas, including well over 100 motets. Nystedt said of himself: “I began as a quasi-romantic, nationalist Norwegian composer during the war.” Later he became intensely interested in exploring new tonal possibilities. At first he experimented with instrumental music, and then he focused increasingly on vocal music: “So I entered a new world of choral sound, one could speak of a kind of kaleidoscope through which to discover entirely new tone colours. Nevertheless, my roots are in Gregorian chant. Even when I write in a modern, experimental style, I combine it with elements of very ancient music.”  Nystedt’s major compositions for choir are mainly based on texts from the Bible or sacred themes. Old church music, especially Palestrina and Gregorian chants, have had a major influence on his compositions.