Earlier this week a prolific Norwegian composer left us and went Home: Egil Hovland, whose opera "Captive and Free" (Fange og fri) had its English-language world premiere with Augsburg College's Masterworks Chorale in Ted Mann Hall (on the University of Minnesota campus) in 1997.

I was a freshman and thrilled to start the school year off with an opera--a small role even!

We were really lucky at Augsburg to have been part of this premiere. It was a pretty big deal--Bradley Ellingboe came in from New Mexico and Susan Sacquitne Druck, one of Augsburg's voice faculty, had the lead female role. Singers came in from around the Twin Cities, students sang small roles, and we even took it to Willmar, Minnesota for a performance.

The piece "Stay With Us" is from this opera and is now a well-known gem of a piece.

Stay with us, Lord, stay with us

it soon is evening...and night is falling.

"Stay with Us" creates a permeating feeling of peace, hope, and comfort. I highly recommend a listen to the video below, from the National Lutheran Choir in Minneaplis, MN.

We had a rich experience with this opera, and I'm very glad to know this music will live on for a long, long time.

In fact, just this last weekend at the Candlemas Vespers a few of us were reminiscing about this piece...