SOMETHING FOR EVERY TASTE: Alexander Rybak, Tor Endresen, Anna-Lisa Kumoji and Rune Larsen come together to create a Christmas atmosphere this December.

PHOTO: MARIA EVENSEN / NRK

It’s the holiday season for Christmas concerts – and Norwegians are not difficult to please.

For Norwegian artists and songwriters, the pre-Christmas period is an important source of income.

The cold teases.

The minus degrees are creeping in. But in the Church of Our Lady, the blue-purple light and the atmospheric harmony make it warm.

The hairs stand on end when the violin is tested before the concert starts.

– This mix of the four of us – it doesn’t always work out and sound good together, but we think it does, laughs Tor Endresen.

🎄

– No one has a monopoly on Christmas

This Christmas, Alexander Rybak, Anna-Lisa Kumoji, Tor Endresen and Rune Larsen will tour together with the concert “Silent Night, Holy Night”.

– It is a privilege to do a versatile tour, a versatile concert, says Rybak.

Violinist and artist Alexander Rybak. PHOTO: MARIA EVENSEN / NRK

– It’s an honor. We’ve covered all the emotions and all the genres, says Kumoji.

– No one has a monopoly on Christmas. Christmas is joy, but Christmas is also sadness for many people. Our intention is to create a Christmas atmosphere, by all means, but we should also get the feeling that Christmas is diverse, adds Larsen.

Tove Kragset and Jon Arne Bjørnstad accompany the four-leaf clover on stage with guitar, piano and vocals.

Even though the artists come from quite different musical worlds, the chemistry in the church room is palpable. Everyone is laughing freely.

Alexander Rybak, Tor Endresen, Anna-Lisa Kumoji and Rune Larsen. PHOTO: MARIA EVENSEN / NRK

The Christmas songs we listen to most

In the top 50 right now there are over 40 Christmas songs.

The new Norwegian “Last Dance – from Snøsøsteren” by Delara is climbing the charts.

Willy Martinsen is the communications director at Tono, which handles performance rights on behalf of musicians.

In 2023, they investigated which Christmas songs we Norwegians like best.

Of the good oldies, “Driving Home for Christmas” and “O Helga Natt” are at the top in Norway.

Geographically, it is the “Northern Norwegian Christmas Carol” that is the clear favorite from Trøndelag and northward.

🎅

– It knocked out all the others, says Willy Martinsen, who believes people can’t get enough of Christmas music.

– People are in the mood for Christmas music and we are quite omnivorous and open to new songs in addition to traditional music.

Artists’ Christmas favorites

With a repertoire packed with Christmas classics, you might think that the songbirds at Our Lady’s Church would get tired of them. That’s not the case.

The hymn “A manger was the cradle” (“En krybbe var vuggen”) is Rybak’s favorite this year.

– It hits a nerve in me both as a classical musician and as a person.

Kumoji has always had Mahalia Jackson’s version of “Silent Night” as her favorite.

– But now that has changed. “ Det hev ei rose sprunge ” has become a new favorite, but also a song that Rune Larsen does. I cried the first time I heard it: “ Jerusalem ” . Unfortunately, very relevant to the day.

Tor Endresen and Rune Larsen must return to their childhood home and the songs they grew up with there.

– If I were to single out one that just touches my heart because I imagine my mother, grandmother and everyone together, it would be “Beautiful is the sky blue,” says Endresen.

– I also have to return to my childhood home. “I am so happy every Christmas Eve,” Larsen continues.

– Important for Norwegian artists and songwriters

– Christmas music has a very strong thematic undertone, which allows it to be taken in slightly different directions in terms of genre, continues Willy Martinsen.

“Silent Night, Holy Night” brings together artists in genres such as soul, pop, gospel and classical each year to reach a wide audience.

If several artists come together so that the audience gets a whole bunch of top artists singing together, it is attractive, according to the communications director.

Tono has long researched Christmas traditions and what Christmas music does to us humans.

– 34 percent of Norwegians have a tradition of going to Christmas concerts, says Martinsen.

– This willingness to go to concerts is very important for Norwegian artists and songwriters. They need to have income to be able to continue making this music that we love so much. It’s a nice meeting between the audience and musicians, says Martinsen. 🎄

Stimulates happy hormones

Music therapist and associate professor Katarina Lindblad’s Christmas favorite is “Jul, jul, strålande jul” by Gustaf Nordqvist.

PHOTO: MARIA EVENSEN / NRK

 

Music is relational and keeps us together, according to her.

– It stimulates dopamine, oxytocin and all the good hormones, says Lindblad.

The music therapist encourages people to go to a concert.

– There is something very special about coming together, listening together. You have your own experience, but you also have something in common with others in the room.

– It’s still Christmas

Back at Vår Frue Church, there is half an hour left until the concert starts.

The queue stretches far.

Grandparents, children and grandchildren. Couple with no children.

The target group is broad.

 The artists behind this year’s Christmas concert will have nearly 50 concerts in just one month.

PHOTO: MARIA EVENSEN / NRK

The artists go backstage to get ready for the concert.

– I can promise you that if you take the trip, we will enter your hearts, enter your hope, go through the entire range of emotions and hopefully you will leave with a lovely warm feeling that it will be Christmas after all, says Kumoji.

❄️

---