Henning Sommerro: Ola Skutvik og Mariann

At the initiative of the legendary clarinet teacher and band leader Arne Sæther, Henning Sommerro created a song cycle in 1983 with 23 of Hartvig Kiran's songs that together convey a strong story connected to Ålesund. Through these songs, a lifelong love story is depicted – from a youthful love affair after the First World War to a reunion at the old people's home and Mariann's death in the 1970s.

Hartvig Kiran was one of the most important cultural figures to have grown up in Ålesund, known both as a radio voice on NRK and the BBC during the Second World War, and as a translator and rewriter of classics such as Shakespeare, Robert Burns and musicals such as Spelemann på taket and The King and I. For Kiran, music and poetry were inextricably linked.

The work was released on two LP records (later cassette and CD), accompanied by a songbook with sheet music and citation. The project was awarded the Spellemannprisen in 1983, and a shortened music film was made in 1985 and shown on NRK. In the 1980s, the work was regularly performed to great audience response. We have been trying to get hold of the material for several years and feared that it had been lost until we, together with Sommerro, managed to track it down this spring. The music work has now been digitized and is ready for a new life: This time with Magne Fremmerlid as the sailor Ola Skutvik and Birgitte Grytten Velsvik as Mariann.