It's quite an achievement to become famous in one's lifetime, even to be hailed as a great master, yet the creators of Immortal Nystedt seem to have presented the esteemed Norwegian composer his eternal reward a bit prematurely. Knut Nystedt is indeed celebrated in his country, and he has been honored with a knighthood in the Order of St. Olav for his work, so some kudos are clearly in order. But if the a cappella choral music on this SACD by Øystein Fevang with Ensemble 96 and the Bærum Vokalensemble is representative of ...
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It's quite an achievement to become famous in one's lifetime, even to be hailed as a great master, yet the creators of Immortal Nystedt seem to have presented the esteemed Norwegian composer his eternal reward a bit prematurely. Knut Nystedt is indeed celebrated in his country, and he has been honored with a knighthood in the Order of St. Olav for his work, so some kudos are clearly in order. But if the a cappella choral music on this SACD by Øystein Fevang with Ensemble 96 and the Bærum Vokalensemble is representative of Nystedt's best work, then the praise is a little extravagant. These are workmanlike pieces, to be sure, consisting of fluid tonal melodies over block chords that proceed at a moderately slow pace and that rarely stray from their lush added-note harmonies. However, though Nystedt's compositions are polished and effective, they reflect a fairly conservative approach to choral writing that makes them sound less than innovative and feel unexciting. Perhaps only Nytt er livet for women's...
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