Ave maris stella
Edvard Grieg - (1843-1907)
This vesper hymn setting is typical of Grieg's simple, structured style of two- and four-bar phrasing, something often cited as a weakness in his other works. He has no opportunity here to incorporate his nationalistic feelings for his native Norway: just a sincerely expressed hymn of praise and prayer:
Hail bright star of Heaven, praise to thee be given; blest above all other, glorious maid and mother, loose the bonds which bind us, purge the sins that blind us, from all evil guard us, pray God's gifts reward us.
Programme notes compiled by Sara Kemsley