And I gave my heart Jakob Bloch Jespersen & Peter Navarro-Alonso

• Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (1932 - 2016): I:
• 1 Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: I: Bah! Vanity… 04:01
• II:
• 2 Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: II: And I gave my heart… 04:23
• III:
• 3 Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: III: It is a grievous evil… 02:07
• IV:
• 4 Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: IV: And I gave my heart… 05:00
• V:
• 5 Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: V: Madness and folly! 01:43
• VI:
• 6 Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: VI: Great were my deeds… 04:32
• VII:
• 7 Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: VII: Then I looked upon all I had done… 03:41
• Bent Lorentzen (b. 1987): To meet you, my sweet treasure:
• 8 Lorentzen: To meet you, my sweet treasure 02:28
• You abyss of terror, which threatens us:
• 9 Lorentzen: You abyss of terror, which threatens us 03:03
• And when your strong voice one day:
• 10 Lorentzen: And when your strong voice one day 02:20
• My fine treasure:
• 11 Lorentzen: My fine treasure 01:56
• Jesus, sweet rose-cheeks:
• 12 Lorentzen: Jesus, sweet rose-cheeks 04:34
• My breath, so close:
• 13 Lorentzen: My breath, so close 03:17
• How shall I meet you:
• 14 Lorentzen: How shall I meet you 03:10
• So, so, my dear:
• 15 Lorentzen: So, so, my dear 01:58
• I lie at Jesus’ breast so close:
• 16 Lorentzen: I lie at Jesus’ breast so close 03:05
• Nicolai Worsaae (b. 1980): Faith:
• 17 Worsaae: Faith 02:28
• Passacaglia:
• 18 Worsaae: Passacaglia 02:29
• The Lightning:
• 19 Worsaae: The Lightning 02:15
• Recitativo:
• 20 Worsaae: Recitativo 03:04
• The Night’s Funeral Procession:
• 21 Worsaae: The Night’s Funeral Procession 04:20
• Revelation:
• 22 Worsaae: Revelation 02:12
• The Waves:
• 23 Worsaae: The Waves 05:40
• Total Runtime 01:13:46

Info zu And I gave my heart

Der gefeierte dänische Bassbariton Jakob Bloch Jespersen, der hier auch alle Perkussionsinstrumente spielt, und der dänisch-spanische Organist und Komponist Peter Navarro-Alonso haben zehn Jahre an diesem Album gearbeitte, das ein Tribut an den Organisten Jens E. Christensen darstellt.

Drei kontrastreiche Liederzyklen herausragender dänischer Komponisten erkunden diese einzigartige Klangwelt. Der verstorbene Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen ist mit seinem musikalischen Vermächtnis vertreten, einer Reihe von Transkriptionen aus seiner Oper „Sun Rises, Sun Sets“, die auf dem biblischen Hohelied Salomos basiert. Der ebenfalls verstorbene Bent Lorentzen, eine der Schlüsselfiguren und Pioniere der frühen dänischen elektronischen Musik, beschäftigte sich in seinem Liederzyklus „Erotic Hymns“ mit Themen der sinnlichen und göttlichen Liebe, wobei er manchmal an einen nordischen Messiaen erinnert.

Das Konzert endet mit Nicolai Worsaaes emotional und klanglich überwältigendem Theaterstück für Bassstimme und Orgel, „A Shipwreck“. Dieses Werk beschäftigt sich mit den Themen Leben, Tod und Auferstehung und reizt die Ausdrucksmöglichkeiten der prächtigen Orgel der Vor Frelsers Kirke (Kirche Unseres Erlösers) in Kopenhagen bis zum Äußersten aus. Die Aufführung wurde von einem der renommiertesten Toningenieure Dänemarks, Preben Iwan, mit beeindruckender Unmittelbarkeit eingefangen.

Der Bassbariton Jakob Bloch Jespersen ist ein gefragter Konzert- und Opernsänger in ganz Europa und sein Repertoire umfasst Barock bis zeitgenössische Musik, mit einem besonderen Schwerpunkt auf Dieterich Buxtehude und Johann Sebastian Bach.

Organist und Komponist Peter Navarro-Alonso hat über 400 Konzerte in Europa und den USA gegeben, wobei er sich auf zeitgenössische Musik konzentrierte und rund 100 Auftragswerke uraufführte. Seit 2021 ist er Organist an der Our Saviour's Church in Kopenhagen.

Jakob Bloch Jespersen, Bass-Bariton
Peter Navarro-Alonso, Orgel

Jakob Bloch Jespersen
acquired his initial musical education and interest in singing as a member of the Copenhagen Boy’s Choir. This led to his earning a diploma from the Royal Danish Academy of Music and to further studies at the Opera Academy of the Royal Danish Theatre.

In 2013, Jakob Bloch Jespersen was awarded the Music Reviewers’ Artist Prize, in 2014 the Aksel Schiøtz Prize, and in 2020 the Music Price of the Danish Composers’ society.

Jakob Bloch Jespersen made his stage debut at the Royal Danish Theatre in 2006, where he has subsequently taken part in among others Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen and Light – Bach Dances with Concerto Copenhagen, under the leadership of Lars Ulrik Mortensen. Worth mentioning is also his role as Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Norwegian National Opera, Basilio in Rossini’s The Barber in Seville, Pistola in Verdi’s Falstaff as well as a large number of roles in contemporary music theatre and opera.

As a concert singer, Jakob Bloch Jespersen is in demand throughout Europe, with a repertoire ranging from the 17th to the 21st century. He has especially concentrated on German Baroque music in collaboration with such ensembles as Concerto Copenhagen, Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lautten Compagney, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and Australian Brandenburg Orchestra with conductors such as Stephen Layton, Johannes Leertouwer, Andrea Marcon, Olof Boman, Paul Hillier, Andrew Lawrence-King, and Lars Ulrik Mortensen.

In the contemporary repertoire, Jakob Bloch Jespersen has taken part in numerous world premiers in collaboration with ensembles such as Theatre of Voices Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, Figura Ensemble, Scenatet, and London Sinfonietta.

Amongst his extensive discography are Kurt Weill’s Berliner Requiem on the label Glossa, the Grammy Award and Pulizer Prize-winning Little Match Girl Passion by David Lang with Theatre of Voices on Harmonia Mundi, and several recordings on the Danish label Dacapo, including Poul Schierbecks opera Fête Galante with Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, DVD-recording of Carl Nielsen’s Maskarade, the part of Christus in the three passions of Heinrich Schütz with Ars Nova Copenhagen and Paul Hillier, numerous recordings of early German baroque cantatas with both Theatre of Voices and Concerto Copenhagen, and not least own productions of Sacred Songbooks of the 17th and 18th century Danish hymnists Thomas Kingo and Hans Adolf Brorson.

Since 2023 Jakob Bloch Jespersen has been teaching singing at the Danish National Academy of Music (SDMK) in Odense.

Peter Navarro-Alonso
The compositional focal point for Navarro-Alonso has always been the dramatic and narrative, along with a deep fascination with sound. His works repeatedly delve into the anatomy of timbre, turning it inside out, smashing it, and devouring it from within. Through his compositions, he explores the human mind while striving to understand why the phenomenon of hope exists at all.

Navarro-Alonso has composed vocal music, chamber and orchestral works, two operas, as well as a number of pieces investigating the relationship between electroacoustic and acoustic instruments. He has been nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize and the Danish Music Awards (four times), has received awards from the Danish Arts Foundation, and in 2023 was granted Denmark’s most restigious national music prize, the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Honorary Award.

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