The orchestral programme presented in Ståle Kleiberg’s Across the Ocean towards a Higher Firmament is carefully organised so that history and human experience lead the listener from one piece to the next. The album, recorded by the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra with Peter Szilvay conducting, includes Lamento – Cissi Klein in memoriam, The Town and its People, and the three-part Symphony No. 3; rather than consisting of a series of unrelated works, the programme forms a convincing transition from personal remembrance through to the community and on to the deep experience of leaving one’s homeland behind.
The song ‘Lamento’ gives the album its reflective character since it is dedicated to Cissi Klein, a young Jewish girl from Trondheim who was murdered during the Second World War; by including this dedication the opening of the record acquires a strong historical and human aspect. The Town and its People then changes the focus to provide a more general picture of the area and its community. This piece was composed in 2022 and thus serves to connect the personal character of the first track with the wider orchestral narrative that comes after.
The fullest expression of that narrative is found in Symphony No. 3: Across the Ocean towards a Higher Firmament. This symphony, which is inspired by the Norwegian migration to North America in the 19th and 20th centuries, has three movements that take the listener from a state of yearning and uncertainty through to drama and end with a conclusion resembling a hymn. By linking this historical migration with issues of identity and belonging, Kleiberg imparts a human dimension to the symphony alongside its large-scale orchestral setting. The individual movements, Espressivo e rubato. Andante, Tranquillo. Drammatico. Misterioso, and Maestoso. Quasi corale—form a coherent journey.
Throughout the album, Kleiberg combines the themes of memory, migration, identity, and place in a programme that is carefully planned from start to finish. The performance by the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Szilvay, forms the basis for these contrasting yet closely related works. For listeners who are interested in Contemporary Classical and modern orchestral music, Across the Ocean towards a Higher Firmament provides a thoughtful listening experience centred on stories that go beyond their historical contexts and prompt reflection on memory, belonging, and the journeys which shape individuals and communities.
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