Bergen Domkantori - St. Luke Passion (2011)

Kjell Mørk Karlsen’s St Luke Passion, op. 153, was composed in 2006. The main textual source is the Passion of Christ according to St Luke, Chapters 22–23. In Mørk Karlsen’s work the text is recited with accompanying organ sequences, while the dramatic narrative is reinforced by additional concertizing organ parts. Nine greater Latin choral hymns function as commentaries to the Gospel text, the words having been taken from early liturgical texts for Good Friday, still in use in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

These include hymns celebrating the veneration of the Cross, such as Ecce lignum crucis — “See the Wood of the Cross” and Dulce lignum dulces clavus — “Sweet is thy cross and sweet thine iron”, as well as other significant texts associated with the Good Friday liturgy. While the large-scale, chiefly eight-part choral compositions have their musical roots both in Russian Orthodox church music and in Gregorian chant, the melodic character and particular sound of our own times are also clearly present in Mørk Karlsen’s work. This is how the composer himself describes the structure and design of the St Luke Passion, a work which startles, moves and engages the listener.