CONCERTS WITH MOGENS DAHL CHAMBER CHOIR

Once again this year, Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir closes the annual Copenhagen-based Golden Days Festival. Golden Days is a cultural-historical festival that explores themes of history, science, and culture. The 2025 edition of the festival is themed “Love,” and in response to this, Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir presents a beautiful programme of love-themed music by Johannes Brahms. There are few singers who have not performed Brahms’ choral music. He was an immensely prolific composer in the genre, and his choral works are of the highest artistic quality. The two collections Sieben Lieder, opus 62 and Fünf Gesänge, opus 104, are both written for unaccompanied choir and contain some of Brahms’ most beloved choral pieces – including Waldesnacht (in opus 62). While Sieben Lieder is written in a light folk-song style—though not true folk songs—Fünf Gesänge is more complex, composed later in life when Brahms had definitively chosen a life of bachelorhood and was reflecting on lost youth, the approaching autumn of life, and its inevitable end. The Liebeslieder, opus 52, consists of 18 short movements for four voices and piano four-hands. The texts are drawn from G.F. Daumer’s collection of folk songs and love poems. This flamboyant work may have been composed during the early realisation of Brahms’ deep longing for Clara Schumann — a love that was never fulfilled. Between the three choral collections, pianists Rikke Sandberg and Kristoffer Hyldig will perform Brahms’ Waltzes, opus 39, composed during his time in Vienna. According to Brahms himself, the waltzes were written both as a tribute to the genre that was so beloved in Vienna, and while his thoughts were filled with “Vienna and pretty girls.” Here, the hope of love’s fulfilment still lives on.PROGRAMME JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897):Sieben Lieder, Op. 62 (1873–74)Waltzes, Op. 39 for piano four-hands, Nos. 1–8 (1865)Fünf Gesänge, Op. 104 (1888) ***Waltzes, Op. 39 for piano four-hands, Nos. 9–16Liebeslieder, Op. 52 (1869) Performers: Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir Piano: Rikke Sandberg and Kristoffer Hyldig Conductor: Mogens Dahl

At this year’s traditional All Saints’ Concert, the Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir will celebrate the light of hope that can only be seen in darkness. Classical music began in the Middle Ages as an attempt to imitate the heavenly song of angels, and the belief that eternity holds a music beyond understanding has always offered comfort and inspiration. The programme for this concert is drawn from that tradition — a musical reflection on life and death in the light of eternity. Bach’s music was a major inspiration for Johannes Brahms, who in 1877 dedicated his choral work Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Müseligen to the great Bach scholar Philipp Spitta. The entire motet turns around the profound question: “Why?” — If God is almighty and merciful, why is there so much suffering in the world? The piece concludes with a chorale text based on Simeon’s Song of Praise, as paraphrased by Martin Luther. Here, the struggle has ended, and the weary soul finds rest and comfort in the belief that death does not have the final word. Herbert Howells composed his Requiem for unaccompanied a cappella choir (occasionally divided into double choir) in 1933 for King’s College, Cambridge. The music of the English composer Howells is far more intricate than much other choral music of the period, which still largely followed the Austro-German tradition that had dominated English music for two centuries. His long, unfolding melodies are seamlessly woven into richly layered textures. The harmonic language is modal, chromatic, and frequently dissonant; the overarching style is free, impassioned, and impressionistic — altogether giving Howells’ music a distinctly visionary quality. The concert concludes with Gabriel Fauré’s radiant Requiem in D minor from 1893: a Romantic masterpiece that gently and confidently sings of eternal peace and the song of angels, with luminous melodies and pure harmonies.PROGRAMME Johannes Brahms (1833–1897): Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Müseligen, Op. 74 No. 1 (1878)Herbert Howells (1892–1983): Requiem (1936)G. Fauré (1845–1924): Requiem, Op. 48 (1887)Performers:Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir Organ: Jakob Lorentzen Violin: Jon Gjesme Viola: Iben Teilmann & Ida Speyer Grøn Cello: Henrik Brendstrup & Øystein Sonstad Double Bass: Katrine Øigaard Conductor: Mogens Dahl

Once again this year, Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir presents exquisite performances of Handel’s seemingly indestructible classic Messiah, in collaboration with the outstanding British ensemble, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and a lineup of international soloists. For Mogens Dahl and his Chamber Choir, performing Messiah has, over the years, become a journey — a process of gradually drawing closer to the essence of the work. The choice of the renowned Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was a natural one. Since its founding in 1986, this British orchestra has been driven by a curiosity to approach music in new and more open ways. Their name reflects this spirit, inspired by the Enlightenment’s relentless desire to question, explore, and discover. The orchestra performs on period instruments, closely matching those used at the time the works were composed—an essential step toward achieving a more authentic sound. This approach is mirrored by the Chamber Choir, which performs with a far smaller ensemble than is often heard today. Historical sources suggest that just 32 singers took part in the original Dublin performance in April 1742. Even in Handel’s own lifetime, Messiah was performed in a variety of versions, shaped by circumstances and experience. As such, it is nearly impossible to know precisely what a performance would have sounded like in Handel’s day. One must let the music speak — and with this performance, Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment come as close as possible to an authentic Messiah.PERFORMERSInternational soloists Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Conductor: Mogens Dahl

Once again this year, Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir presents exquisite performances of Handel’s seemingly indestructible classic Messiah, in collaboration with the outstanding British ensemble, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and a lineup of international soloists. For Mogens Dahl and his Chamber Choir, performing Messiah has, over the years, become a journey — a process of gradually drawing closer to the essence of the work. The choice of the renowned Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was a natural one. Since its founding in 1986, this British orchestra has been driven by a curiosity to approach music in new and more open ways. Their name reflects this spirit, inspired by the Enlightenment’s relentless desire to question, explore, and discover. The orchestra performs on period instruments, closely matching those used at the time the works were composed—an essential step toward achieving a more authentic sound. This approach is mirrored by the Chamber Choir, which performs with a far smaller ensemble than is often heard today. Historical sources suggest that just 32 singers took part in the original Dublin performance in April 1742. Even in Handel’s own lifetime, Messiah was performed in a variety of versions, shaped by circumstances and experience. As such, it is nearly impossible to know precisely what a performance would have sounded like in Handel’s day. One must let the music speak — and with this performance, Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment come as close as possible to an authentic Messiah.PERFORMERSInternational soloists Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Conductor: Mogens Dahl