Lieder Program for All Souls

This year’s All Saints’ service at Bryn Kirke offers a moving blend of music, scripture, and remembrance, honoring those who have passed.

Tenor Patrick Parker and pianist Bina Karpisova present a program for the Feast of All Souls that intertwines sacred tradition with the intimate lyricism of lieder by Grieg, Dvořák, and Strauss.

The service is framed by Edvard Grieg’s serene songs Ved Rondane and Våren, evoking the quiet beauty of nature and renewal.

Between the readings from scripture, Antonín Dvořák’s Psalm 23 offers consolation: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,” a timeless message of comfort for those remembering loved ones.

During the reading of the names of the deceased, three of Richard Strauss’s songs provide moments of reflection. Most poignantly, Allerseelen—set on this day dedicated to memory—transforms remembrance into a celebration of enduring love:

Each grave today has flowers and is fragrant,One day each year is devoted to the dead;Come to my heart and so be mine again,As once in May.”

Through these lines, the song gently reminds listeners that love and memory endure, even in the midst of loss. The program also includes Strauss’s Traum durch die Dämmerung and Morgen!, culminating with Zueignung during the takkoffer, a radiant expression of gratitude and devotion.

Blending sacred liturgy with the emotional depth of lieder, this All Saints’ program at Bryn kirke in Rykkin, Norway on Sunday, November 2 at 6:00 p.m. invites reflection, consolation, and the quiet joy of honoring lives remembered.