“I had an occasional flash of understanding, but then got selfishly wrapped up again in my own problems and pleasures,” is a quote from Anne Frank’s diary, the book on which The Beauty That Still Remains is based. These are thoughts we must all take heed of, confronting injustice that does not strike directly at ourselves. This recording represents a deep musical engagement with such universal values as empathy and faith in the good that is in every person. Asylos deals with the contradictions of inclusion and exclusion, and points up the connection between the pilgrims of the past and the asylum seekers of our time. The Norwegian Girls Choir addresses the theme of the inviolability of human dignity. The music by Marcus Paus and Maja S.K. Ratkje frames, in contrasting ways, the power that humanity and hope carry with them even amid the most intense horror, and through testimonies of the past these works tell us how relevant these topics still are. Released by 2L in January 2020.
Marcus Paus The Beauty That Still Remains (2015) text by Anne Frank
— Prologue: Dearest Kitty
— The World Transformed I
— Cadenza I
— Empty Days
— Cadenza II
— Prescription for Gunfire Jitters
— A Portrait of Anne
— Intimations of Love
— Cadenza III
— The World Transformed II
— Epilogue: The Beauty That Still Remains
Det Norske Jentekor & Anne Karin Sundal-Ask (conductor)
Frode Haltli (accordion), Nora Aleksandra Lindeman Katla (soprano)
Maja S.K. Ratkje Asylos (2013) text by Aasne Linnestå and Simone Weil
— Et hvert menneske
— Menneskesøyle
— Ly — Kjærligheten er sjelens blikk
— Ista est speciosa
— Stolleken
— Bønn
— Den vanskelige forståelsen
— Sover bjørnen?
— Ring — Aureola
— Like fra den tidlige barndom
Det Norske Jentekor & Anne Karin Sundal-Ask (conductor)
Marianne Beate Kielland (mezzo-soprano)
Nora Aleksandra Lindeman Katla, Amalie Eikenes Randen, Selma Aurelia Holth (sopranos)
Schola Sanctae Sunnivae & Anne Kleivset (gregorian choir master)
Immersive Audio is a sonic sculpture that you can literally move around and relate to spatially; surrounded by music you can move about in the aural space and choose angles, vantage points and positions. Dolby Atmos and the Auro-3D on this Pure Audio Blu-ray delivers a new standard in immersion, fully enveloping the audience in a cocoon of life-like audio. Recorded in discrete 7.0.4 at DXD resolution.