Missa da Tromba - Jan Fredrik Christiansen, Terje Winge

The first town musician we know of by name in Norway was Peter Trompeter. He was a musician in official employment in Christiania (now Oslo) in the seventeenth century; in addition to his duties playing for dances he was also required to play from the church tower and participate in church services at major festivals. The tradition of combining brass instruments with organ is even older, however. The first works composed in Norway for organ and brass were by Ludvig Mathias Lindeman and Just Riddervold Lindeman and date from the mid nineteenth century. Trumpet and organ is a combination associated with festivals and celebrations; innumerable wedding couples have been accompanied along the aisle to Henry Purcell and Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Tunes and Trumpet Voluntaries. Despite this long tradition, however, it is only in more recent years that Norwegian composers have found the inspiration to compose concert music for trumpet and organ. In addition to the fanfares and festive music we usually associate with hearing the trumpet in church, these composers have also explored the instrument’s potential for expressing a tender and meditative atmosphere. 

Kjell Mørk Karlsen: Choralsonate nr. 3
Jon Laukvik: Lamento
Kjell Mørk Karlsen: Missa da Tromba
Ketil Vea: Sonate for trompet og orgel
Egil Hovland: Cantus X for trompet og orgel

Jan Fredrik Christiansen (1942) was born in Lebesby, Norway, and studied with Harry Kvebæk, William J. Overton (BBC Symphony Orchestra) and Adolph Herseth (Chicago Symphony Orchestra). He was appointed to a position in the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1966 and was principal trumpeter from 1973 to 2007. Christiansen has performed under many conductors including Leopold Stokowski, Witold Lutoslawski, Zubin Mehta, Paul Kletski, Kirill Kondrasjin, Herbert Blomstedt and Andre Previn. Most important to him nonetheless were the twenty-three years under Mariss Jansons as principal conductor.

Terje Winge (b.1950) made his début recital in 1970. His repertoire ranges from early baroque to music of the present day. A particular area of interest for him lies in French romantic music and the modern French school, including the majority of Olivier Messiaen’s large scale organ works.

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