The Silk Road by Oslo Kammerakademi

Various composers

Oslo Kammerakademi

The Silk Road

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Lawo Classics
UPC: 7090020182933
Catnr: LWC 1271
Release date: 15 December 2023
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Label
Lawo Classics

UPC
7090020182933

Catalogue number
LWC 1271

Release date
15 December 2023

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

In a world where unrest and war make constant headlines, human migration is an issue that touches peoples everywhere. On its latest release, The Silk Road, the Oslo-based wind chamber ensemble Oslo Kammerakademi presents a beautiful programme inspired by the subject of cultural migration – what happens when cultures meet, for example because of the movement of populations, trade, politics or conflict.

The Silk Road features four works. Two of them are by 19th-century composers who were fascinated by the music of North Africa and the Middle East – Saint-Saëns’ work for military band, L’Orient et occident (1869), and André Caplet’s three-movement Suite Persane (1900).
The disc also contains two works commissioned by Oslo Kammerakademi: the story of The Last Days of Sultan Selim III (2011) retold in music by Turkish composer Mert Karabey, and the album’s title work, Gisle Kverndokk’s suite The Silk Road (2017), inspired by music that might have been encountered along a trade route between Venice and China.

Oslo Kammerakademi was founded in 2009 by oboist and artistic director David Friedemann Strunck, and performs chamber music for winds with the historical Harmoniemusik instrumentation as a foundation – from its origin in Vienna in the 1780s to the music of our own time. The ensemble has established itself as a leader in Europe, with critically acclaimed CD recordings and invitations to prestigious festivals throughout Europe. The Silk Road is Oslo Kammerakademi’s seventh recording on the LAWO Classics label.

Artist(s)

Oslo Kammerakademi

OSLO KAMMERAKADEMI performs chamber music for winds based on the historical Harmoniemusik instrumentation. Founded by artistic director David Friedemann Strunck, the ensemble has established itself as a leader in Europe, with critically acclaimed CD recordings and invitations to prestigious festivals such as the Rheingau Music Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Summerwinds Holzbläserfestival Münsterland, Glogerfestspillene, the Fartein Valen Festival, Trondheim Kammermusikkfest, Stavanger Chamber Music Festival, Valdres Sommersymfoni and Nordic Wind Festival among others. Oslo Kammerakademi utilises historical brass instruments in repertoire from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods. This contributes to the ensemble’s authentic sound and historically oriented performances. Since it was founded in 2009, Oslo Kammerakademi’s ambition has been to embrace the full range of literature for the Harmonie ensemble – from...

OSLO KAMMERAKADEMI performs chamber music for winds based on the historical Harmoniemusik instrumentation. Founded by artistic director David Friedemann Strunck, the ensemble has established itself as a leader in Europe, with critically acclaimed CD recordings and invitations to prestigious festivals such as the Rheingau Music Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Summerwinds Holzbläserfestival Münsterland, Glogerfestspillene, the Fartein Valen Festival, Trondheim Kammermusikkfest, Stavanger Chamber Music Festival, Valdres Sommersymfoni and Nordic Wind Festival among others.
Oslo Kammerakademi utilises historical brass instruments in repertoire from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods. This contributes to the ensemble’s authentic sound and historically oriented performances.
Since it was founded in 2009, Oslo Kammerakademi’s ambition has been to embrace the full range of literature for the Harmonie ensemble – from its origin in Vienna in the 1780s to the music of our own time. It therefore commissions and performs music for Harmonie ensemble, and has collaborated with composers Mert Karabey (Turkey), Magnar Åm, Morten Gaathaug, Ketil Hvoslef, Trygve Brøske, Gisle Kverndokk, and Henrik Hellstenius. Oslo Kammerakademi collaborates regularly with the acclaimed Norwegian string ensemble Ensemble Allegria.
Oslo Kammerakademi has released several CD recordings. The first three recordings, Beethoven for Wind Octet (LWC1036, released in 2012), Leipzig! (LWC1093, 2014) and the first beauty (LWC1093, 2015), formed a trilogy of Harmoniemusik from three eras. The ensemble has since released Mozart for Wind Octet (LWC1141, 2017) a collaboration with Christian Ihle Hadland, Mozart/Danzi/Beethoven for Piano and Winds (LWC1187, 2019) and Chanson et Danses (LWC1225, 2021). All of their recordings have earned overwhelmingly positive reviews.
Oslo Kammerakademi holds an annual festival – Ski Hagefestival – in Ski in Akershus, south-east of Oslo. The ensemble is also committed to nurturing coming generations of musicians and holds a yearly summer course for young wind and double bass players.

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David Friedemann Strunck

Composer(s)

Gisle Kverndokk

Camille Saint-Saëns

Camille Saint-Saëns was a French composer, conductor, pianist and organist. He was a musical prodigy, writing his first pieces of music at the age of four and making his concert debut at the age of ten. During this concert he astonished the audience by playing one of the 32 piano sonatas of Beethoven at its request. After his studying at the Conservatory of Paris he followed a career as a church organist at Saint-Merri and later La Madeleine in Paris. He was also a successful freelance composer and pianist in France and abroad.
Saint-Saëns initially helped to introduce German composers such as Robert Schumann and Richard Wagner in France. However, from 1870 onwards anti-German sentiments began to arise in France as a result of the Franco-Prussian War, which enhanced support for the idea of a pro-French musical society. In 1871 Saint-Saëns consequently founded the Société Nationale de Musique together with Romain Bussine, that was devoted to the promotion of French music and organised concerts on which young composers could perform their works.
Saint-Saëns was a keen traveler, and made 179 trips to 27 different countries during his life. He favoured Algeria and Egypt, were he gained inspiration for compositions such as the Suite Algérienne and the Fifth Piano Concerto, also known as The Egyptian.
Saint-Saëns' best-known works include the First Cello Concerto, Third Symphony, the opera Samson et Dalila, Danse Macabre and Le carnaval des animaux, a humorous suite in which various animals are musically portrayed. However, he never wanted the last work to be performed, since it was contrary to his image as a serious composer.

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