PRÆTORIUS: Behold, a Rose is Springing
BINGEN:
O vis æternitatis; O frondens virga; Ave, generosa
FAGERHEIM: In this Blessed Christmas Time
NØRGÅRD: The Joy of Christmas
NORDQUIST: Yule, Yule, Radiant Yule

TRADITIONAL:
Old Marian Song; The Angels of God;
The Fairest of Roses;
My Heart Forever Dwells; A Christmas Verse;
A Child is Born in Bethlehem

Norwegian Soloists’ Choir, Grete Pedersen

• In Christian symbolism, the rose is closely associated with the Mystery of the Nativity. This has captured the imagination of poets and musicians throughout the ages and from all walks of life.

• With this original and wide-ranging Christmas collection, Grete Pedersen – the artistic director of the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir – has created what might be compared to a rosary, combining 12th-century hymns by Hildegard of Bingen with a carol by the Danish 20th-century composer Per Nørgård, as well as traditional Christmas psalms, in many cases sung to Norwegian folk tunes following age-old usages.

• Grete Pedersen and the choir have reached a wide international audience through four previous discs on BIS, ranging from collections to the folk-inspired White Night and, most recently, Refractions: the unexpected combination of three 20th-century giants.