Finally it is once again time for Edvard Grieg Boys' and Girls' Choir's traditional pre-Christmas concert at Troldhaugen, where they perform Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols and other selected Christmas songs.
A Ceremony of Carols is one of Benjamin Britten's (1913-1976) most well-known and popular works and is often sung at Christmas time. Britten began composing the work during a five-week voyage from New York to England. On the way they sailed through Canada, where he bought a book of medieval poetry. This book, together with Gregorian chant and other poems from the 14th-15th centuries, inspired him to write a choral work about Christmas.
A Ceremony of Carols gives an excellent picture of Britten's style, which tends to be traditional and modern at the same time. The work was performed in its entirety for the first time in 1943 with boys' choir and harp, and immediately achieved great popularity.
Edvard Grieg Korene
Edvard Grieg Korene is Bergen's largest choral organisation, consisting of over 200 singers spread across ten different choirs.
Edvard Grieg Boys' and Girls' Choir is part of this, and is in short a major investment in singing and choral training for children and young people in Bergen. Here choral singing is taken seriously, and from the age of 6 children are trained in correct voice use, ear training and ensemble singing.
The choir collaborates with the foremost classical cultural institutions in Bergen, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Bergen National Opera. In this way children from an early age get training in participating in large concerts or opera productions at a high professional level.
Those choir singers who wish to pursue a high level are guided further into the talent programme EGK-talent and the programme for music students, Unge Stemmer.
