Valdemar Söderholm: Ave Crux. Henrik Berg, organ.

Ave Crux (Hail to the Cross), a meditation for organ by Swedish composer Valdemar Söderholm (1909-1990), played on the 1973 Grönlund organ in Teg Church, Umeå, Sweden. Söderholm was an organist and composer, whose books on music theory have been studied by generations of Swedish musicians.
Here I'm using:
b. 1: SW: Salicional 8'; CH: Kvintadena 8';
b. 8: SW: + Principal 8', Rörflöjt 8', Oktava 4', Traversflöjt 4'; PED: Principal 16', Subbas 16', Oktava 8', Gedackt 8', SW/PED;
b. 12: CH: Gedackt 8', Blockflöjt 2';
b. 13: GR: Principal 8', Rörflöjt 8', Oktava 4', Spetsflöjt 4', SW/GR; + SW/PED;
b. 21: CH: + Kvintadena 8', Koppelflöjt 4'; - SW/PED, GR/PED;
b. 25: SW: + Svigel 2', Mixtur V;
b. 26: + SW/PED;
b. 29: GR: + Gedacktpommer 16', Kvinta 2 2/3', Oktava 2', Kornett IV, Mixtur VI;
b. 32: PED: + Kvinta 10 2/3', Rörgedackt 4', Nachthorn 2', Mixtur VI, Basun 16', Trumpet 8', Skalmeja 4', GR/PED;
b. 34: BRUSTWERK: Gedackt 8', Rörflöjt 4', Principal 2', Kvinta 1 1/3, Terscymbel III;
b. 36: SW: Rörflöjt 8', Salicional 8', Traversflöjt 4'; BW: Ranked 16', Krumhorn 8'; PED: Subbas 16', SW/PED.
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Recorded on the 15th of March 2024.

[@HenrikBergpianorganist]

We’re about to enter the Holy Week, or the Quiet Week as we call it here in the north, so to set the mood: a meditation titled Ave Crux (Hail to the Cross), based on "Du bar ditt kors" (You carried your cross), a Swedish hymn very often sung on Good Friday.✝ But… it’s perhaps not your typical meditation…! Written in 1968, it’s a child of its time: quite harsh at times, describing the horrors of the crucifixion.😰The hymn appears only in fragments until the end, where the first line is played in its entirety, but marked "not too pronounced". I chose to record this in the Church of Teg in Umeå, a modernistic building likewise from the 60’s, dominated by the huge chandelier in the shape of a crown of thorns.👑🩸The organ built a few years later has all the right stops for this kind of music. A sort of Gesamtkunstwerk! Now I wish you a week of agony (😉), and don’t forget to click the thumbs-up and subscribe!

[@philippelegargean5120]

What a discovery! This composition which requires several listenings, the organ, the place..

[@HenrikBergpianorganist]

I wasn't sure I liked the piece first, but I've become quite fond of it now! The organ is perfect for the piece, it has all the 'torture devices' (as a colleague would put it😅) of the organ reform movement: Kvintadena, Rankett, Terscymbel... Personally I like these stops in the right context though! The church is amazing, it looks a bit like a war bunker from outside though. Especially the day I was recording, a grey slushy day, I couldn't get any good photos, all you could see were big dirty piles of snow😆

[@philippelegargean5120]

@@HenrikBergpianorganist The interior of the church is very good!
For many pieces it is like this: more you play, more you understand and love. It also happens that I hear a piece and like it, but when I play it, I no longer like it!

[@pianothingsmusic]

Sounds quite experimental, unlike those dissonances ☺️
Exquisitely played 👏🏻

[@HenrikBergpianorganist]

Thank you. It's cool, right?! I got the score from a friend and was like "oh, this title is good for Good Friday", but then I was like "oh, this is quite harsh...!", but now I love this piece!

[@pianothingsmusic]

@@HenrikBergpianorganist yes, definitely differently expected regarding the title 😁