Allehelgenskoncerten: Livets lifligste lektie

Since the Reformation, All Saints' Day in Denmark has been a day of remembrance for the "ordinary deceased," that is, for those who have passed away without sainthood. For several years, this day of remembrance has also been marked with a concert by the Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir—this year as well, with the choir's former and current Composer in Residence at the center.

In 2017, Sven-David Sandström composed three choral songs with texts by Rainer Maria Rilke, which will be performed at this concert, along with "A Seventeenth Century Nun’s Prayer" by the same composer, one of the last works Sandström wrote before his death in 2019.

Rilke’s heartfelt and powerful texts describe the fragile human being in the face of nature, which is at once merciless and infinitely beautiful—especially in autumn, often used as a metaphor for the twilight phase of life, when the contours of a completed life begin to take shape.

The current Composer in Residence, Per Gunnar Petersson, composed a beautiful, resonant setting of the same text that Sven-David Sandström used two years later, the humble prayer by an unknown author, now most commonly known as "A Seventeenth Century Nun’s Prayer." In the prayer, the unknown author expresses hope to endure adversity and loss in life’s autumn with a bright and positive spirit.

Alongside these beautiful and intense modern choral works, pieces by a unique figure in Danish church music, the recently deceased Bernhard Lewkovitch, will also be performed. Throughout most of his long life as a composer, Lewkovitch wrote from a Catholic conviction.

The relatively short "Requiem – In memoriam defunctorum" (Mass for the Dead) for choir and organ from 2012 is among the composer’s latest works and consists of texts selected from the traditional Latin texts, set to timeless, almost ascetic music. The work was composed for and premiered by the Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir.

The concert begins with a true vocal heavyweight, namely the motet by J.S. Bach, "Komm, Jesu, komm."

The motet, written for double choir, is the only one of Bach’s motets that does not have a biblical text as its basis.

PROGRAM:

J. S. Bach (1685–1750):
Komm, Jesu, Komm (1732)

Per Gunnar Petersson (b. 1954):
An Anonymous Nun’s Prayer (2017)

Sven-David Sandström (1942–2019):
Drei Rilke Gesänge (2017)

Bernhard Lewkovitch (1927–2024):
Organ piece

Bernhard Lewkovitch:
Requiem – In memoriam defunctorum, for choir and organ (2012)

Sven David Sandström:
Seventeenth Century Nun’s Prayer (2019)

Performers:
Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir
Organ: Jacob Lorentzen
Conductor: Mogens Dahl