Guide to Easter concerts 2023
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Rachel Einarsson9 min read|25. March 2023
The great Passion concerts with music by J. S. Bach usually sell themselves. And rightly so: they are, of course, well worth listening to.
But just as at Christmas time, there are also other works for Lent, the Annunciation and Easter that deserve attention and time to a high degree.
I have therefore tried to find a few concerts that give an expanded experience of the beautiful music that exists for the church festivals in question.
I hope the guide can be an inspiration and a good source of information about the selection of somewhat less exposed works.
The guide is not exhaustive of all concerts from the whole country, but is a selection that nevertheless covers a fairly wide geographical spread.
Enjoy.
And happy Easter ❤️
25 March 2023 at 15.00 🐣
Budolfi Kirke, Aalborg
Kammerkoret Coro Misto
Theme: Choral music for Lent, the Annunciation and Easter
Admission: Free admission
”I like to make something that suits the church festivals”, says Søren Birch, who is conductor of the Aalborg chamber choir Coro Misto. The choir has existed since 1991, and in the coming concert the choir lends its voices to Lent, the Annunciation and Easter alike. Søren Birch has ranged widely in his programming. He begins with music for Lent, and here he has found F. Mendelssohn's ”Richte mich, Gott” and Herbert Howells's ”Like as the heart”. Two works that give the concert a devotional beginning.
”The concert takes place on the very day of the Annunciation, so it is quite obvious to take that church festival as a starting point too”, Søren Birch continues, and presents a selection of the works for the Annunciation. ”There are three well-known Mary songs by P. E. Lange-Müller, sung with Danish texts by Thor Lange. He was a Catholic and therefore knew the Marian texts”, he says.
In the section of Easter songs you can hear, among other things, a movement written by Søren Birch himself, before Rihards Dubra's ” O crux ave” is heard; a choral work about the cross of Jesus on Good Friday. ”In E. Grieg's ”I himmelen” we get the Resurrection as well”, says Søren Birch. ”This work is Grieg's very last work, and here he has used Norwegian folk music”, he explains further.
The last song of the concert is by B. Britten, and it is titled ”Jubilate Deo”. ”We open the concert in the devotional and close with resurrection and optimism”, says Søren Birch, adding that one is in the best hands with Britten's ending. He had great knowledge of the English evensong genre and knew the acoustic conditions of a cathedral. And there is even organ accompaniment for the closing song, provided by the organist Jørgen Ellekilde.
25 March 2023 at 16.00 🌷
Skt. Clemens Kirke, Aarhus
Skt. Clemens Drengekor and Aarhus Bach-Orkester
Theme: St Mark Passion, R. Keiser
Admission: DKK 200. Members and under-25s: DKK 125.
Together with Skt. Clemens Drengekor from Aarhus Domkirke, Aarhus Bach-Orkester performs the ”St Mark Passion”. An Easter work from 1712 written by the most prominent German opera composer of the Baroque era, Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739).
The Passion describes the story of Jesus's suffering as we can read it in the Gospel of Mark, ch. 14, 26 up to and including ch. 15, and the Passion text is also supplemented with poems that offer reflections on the Gospel text.
What is also interesting is that J. S. Bach knew the ”St Mark Passion” and was behind several performances of it, just as he also made various alterations to the work each time he had it performed. According to the musicologist Peter Ryom there are three versions of the work, and the versions on which J. S. Bach left his mark have received the most attention over time.
At the concert you can experience, among others, the soloists Camilla Button, soprano, and Teit Kanstrup, baritone, while Brian Stenger Poulsen conducts. He is used to this as the director of Skt. Clemens Drengekor itself.
26 March 2023 at 15.30 🐣
Sct. Mortens Kirke, Næstved
Kammerkoret Cantemus
Theme: The Annunciation
Admission: DKK 200 / free for members of Næstved Musikforening
The Annunciation is the theme of this concert, and the repertoire is broad.
From the Romantic period you can hear works by Mendelssohn, Rheinberger and Bruckner as well as ”Three Madonna Songs” by the Danish composer P. E. Lange-Müller, while from more recent music there are works by the American composer Morten Lauridsen.
The Norwegian-American composer Ola Gjeilo and the Latvian composer Eriks Esenvalds are also represented, as is a new Magnificat by Mark Baumann, which could be heard at the festive service in Københavns Domkirke on the occasion of Queen Margrethe's 50th anniversary on the throne. What the more recent works have in common is that they are beautiful, meditative and well-sounding and that they have achieved wide circulation among choirs around the world, according to the presentation.
Kammerkoret Cantemus is an experienced amateur choir based in Næstved. The choir mainly has church music in its repertoire, and the conductor is Jørgen Graven Nielsen.
26 March 2023 at 16.00 🐣
Konservatoriets Koncertsal, Frederiksberg
Akademisk Orkester og Kor
Theme: "Stabat Mater", A. Dvořák
Admission: DKK 180. Students/under-26s DKK 90. A fee is added.
Dvořák's ”Stabat Mater” is at the centre of this concert. 1880 was the year the work was premiered in Dvořák's homeland, the Czech Republic, and with this choral work he sets to music the Latin medieval text about a mother who sees her dying son on the cross.
The work takes the listener through grief, consolation, desperation, tenderness and hope.
Among the soloists you can hear, among others, Nana Bugge Rasmussen, alto, and David Danholt, tenor.
29 March 2023 at 19.30 🌷
Trinitatis Kirke, København
DR Vokalensemblet
Theme: Easter
Admission: DKK 138. Under-30s: DKK 90.
The Christian Easter can also be expressed in the sparkling language of Romanticism, and that is what DR Vokalensemblet intends to do this Wednesday evening.
The audience will thus experience music by J. Brahms, Clara Schumann and F. Mendelssohn, while J. S. Bach also gets to contribute a few notes. In addition you get to hear works by the English composer Ethel Smyth (1858-1944), who was a pupil of J. Brahms and also knew Clara Schumann (married to R. Schumann).
Ethel Smyth, as a woman at that time, struggled to get her works published, and her output includes, among other things, a mass, six operas and two symphonic works.
The Norwegian composer Agathe Backer Grøndahl (1847-1907), who was influenced by F. Mendelssohn, is also on the programme.
31 March 2023 at 15.00 🐣
Fredens Kirke, Svendborg
Odense Barokensemble
Theme: "Stabat Mater", G. B. Pergolesi
Admission: Free admission
Pergolesi, too, composed a work that reflects on Mary's grief over the death of her son.
With his ”Stabat Mater” Pergolesi wrote his very last work, completing it just a few weeks before his death in 1736.
The same concert also takes place, among other places,
2 April at 15.00 in Lundehus Parish, København. Admission: Free admission
5 April at 17.00 in Dalum Kirke, Odense. Admission: DKK 50. Children under 12 free
1 April 2023 at 15.00 🌷
Sct. Mortens Kirke, Randers
Randers Kammerorkester and Sct. Pauls Cantori
Theme: "Messa di gloria", G. Puccini
Admission: DKK 175, with a special price for subscribers and under-25s
How often do you get the chance to hear an Italian mass by the dazzling master of music G. Puccini live? Randers Kammerorkester is now making sure of it. ”Messa di Gloria” is not a Easter work as such, but a mass with the traditional movements such as gloria, ave verum and agnus dei. Thus a religious content that can also give food for thought at Easter.
”We are not here to generate a large audience, but to challenge the listeners and make them aware of new and exciting works”, says David Riddell, conductor and artistic director of Randers Kammerorkester. So a somewhat unusual work for Easter from the central Jutland chamber orchestra. Puccini wrote the work at the age of 22, and if you listen closely, you will recognise passages that he later reused in, among others, ”Tosca” and ”La boheme”. The work for the concert is a special edition that suits the forces of Randers Kammerorkester and the choir.
The soloists at the concert are Jens Søndergaard, baritone, and Anders Kampmann, tenor.
2 April 2023 at 15.00 🐣
Vor Frelsers Kirke, Vejle
Vor Frelsers Kirkekor og Koncertkor
Theme: "7 døgn i Jerusalem", Martin Alfsen
Admission: DKK 100.
Perhaps we are moving a little outside the strictly classical bullseye here. But it is still worth mentioning that Martin Alfsen's ”7 døgn i Jerusalem” will be performed this afternoon.
The work, which is a rhythmic oratorio for nine soloists, two double choirs and five to six instruments, goes through all the events of Easter in 25 movements. Musically you will hear inspiration from the musical genre, gospel, traditionals, rhythmically lively movements and Bach-sounding fugue and recitative movements.
The choir is conducted by Erik Linow, who has great experience of performing the work.
The concert is repeated the same evening in Sct. Michaelis Kirke, Fredericia at 19.30. Admission: DKK 100.
6 April 2023 at 19.00 🌷
Faaborg Kirke
Via Artis Konsort
Theme: Maundy Thursday music and music service
Admission: Free admission
There is a meal in the church and readings from the Bible's Easter texts. And there is unusual music from both a bygone and a present time.
In the middle of the space is the ensemble Via Artis Konsort, which for this concert will consist of clarinet and organetto/organ and voice. The darkness of Maundy Thursday comes alive, and this happens in collaboration with Faaborg Kirke.
”It is a slim orchestra for this concert, and the music will have a Middle Eastern flavour”, says Poul Udbye Pock-Steen, artistic director of Via Artis Konsort. He plays keyboard instruments and also composes new works. A selection of these can be heard at the concert, just as there are also notes from the Sephardic Jewish tradition. That is to say, music from before the 1400s and practised by Sephardic Jews who fled to the Mediterranean region after being expelled from Spain and Portugal in the late 1400s.
”We also play music by Johanna Senfter (1879-1961), who was inspired by early music”, says Poul Udbye Pock-Steen, who also explains that Senfter, who was German, has set the inspiration from early music into her own late Romantic musical language.
In addition there are also a few hymns in the concert.
12 April 2023 at 19.30 🐣
Ansgars Kirke, Odense
Via Artis Konsort and Filharmonisk Kor Fyn
Theme: Post-Easter concert
Admission: DKK 90.
"Life and Death" is the heading of this concert, which brings into play, among other things, songs such as "Jesus bleibet meine Freude" by J. S. Bach and a more recent work "Vinden" by Poul Udbye Pock-Steen. Easter has just been celebrated, but with this concert you can linger a little longer over the great themes of life, death and resurrection.
The concert has a good mixture of new and old music, and from the orchestra's side old Spanish music will have a special place.
At the start of the concert you get the song "Se jeg står for døren og banker", which is composed by Kasper Borchersen, conductor of Filharmonisk Kor Fyn. Likewise Poul Udbye Pock-Steen from Via Artis Konsort has written new works, just as he has written new versions of well-known works such as "Lysets engel går med glans".
There are also works by J. S. Bach, M. Duruflé and A. Bruckner, while from Knud Jeppesen (1892-1974) there are works such as "Herre! hvor er mine fjender mange" and "Een ting har jeg begæret af Herren". In addition you can look forward to a new version of Kingo's hymn "Den klare sol går ned. Here Poul Udbye Pock-Steen promises us a mix of baroque and modern elements.
The concert is repeated on 13 April in Faaborg Kirke at 19.30. Admission: Free admission