Music for a while at Oslo Kirkemusikkfestival!

Date

Saturday, March 5, 2016
http://www.kirkemusikkfestivalen.no/index.php?kat_id=73&art_id=685 "Graces That Refrain, the new album from vocalist Tora Augestad and the group Music for a While, tears down genre boundaries and challenges us to rediscover our European musical heritage." Erling Wicklund, NRK Cantatas in a new light In contrast to the classic performances of the cantata, and as an exciting supplement, the Norwegian ensemble Music for a While led by Tora Augestad will present a varied selection of Italian, German, French and English Baroque music with emphasis on cantatas by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764). Improvised variations have always been an important element in almost all forms of music-making. Baroque music was a natural arena for improvisation, and there is a written record of Bach and Handel's incredible organ improvisations. Music for a While carries forward the best of Baroque music and operates where tradition and improvisation intersect. Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque period. He left behind a large number of cantatas, operas and works of instrumental music that belong to the crown jewels of French Baroque music. At the concert, excerpts from his cantatas L'Impatience and Aquilon et Orithie will be performed, along with music from his opera ballet Les Indes Galantes. Music for a While will also interpret music by other composers including J. S. Bach, J. Dowland, G. F. Handel and G. Carbonelli. Tora Augestad will be joined by a distinguished group of Norwegian jazz musicians: Stian Carstensen, Mathias Eick, Martin Taxt and Pål Hausken who will provide the audience with a concert that blends tradition and reinterpretation.