I am a singer and a writer of music, and my natural mode of expression is music and sound. I think in sounds and tones, and I produce them, partly in the form of sung sounds and partly as heard, written-down sounds. And it’s a long way from that to the spoken word. - Hanne Ørvad, 2000

As a composer creatively driven by text, it is no surprise that one-quarter of Hanne Ørvad’s compositions are full choral works or that almost all of them use the human voice somewhere in their orchestrations. On September 30, Dacapo releases Corona, a recording that celebrates Danish composer Hanne Ørvad’s most important choral works expertly and powerfully performed by the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Danish National Chamber Choir, and Danish National Girls Choir.

Ørvad, who began her career as a professional singer in the Danish National Chamber Choir/DR, didn’t start to compose until 1990.The 5 pieces represented on this recording span most of Ørvad’s compositional career, from Winter Organ (1991) to Threna (2003). Vega, composed in 1996 for the Netherlands Chamber Choir, comprises seven continuous pieces in seven strophes that illustrate the star Vega and its luminous surroundings. Using word rhythm and vocal color, Ørvad depicts a far-away galaxy as seen by an earth-dweller. Ørvad’s second choral work, Kornell, consists of three movements, Melody, Adagio and Serenade, based on the poetry by Bo Bergman. Although it refers to music, the poem’s text actually is an expression of love and nature that easily translates into song: “Just walking in the fields / You bring each wellspring alive, Each little mound sings your name.”

Threna (Easter Music I), orchestrated for girls’ choir, tubular bells, snare, low gong, and cello, is a setting of the 13th-century text of the Stabat Mater, which describes the grieving Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross. Dramatic, pleading, and dark, this piece leaves listeners with an impression of the questions raised in the Stabat Mater, using the cello and girls voices as the primary storytellers. The second Easter work on the recording, Paschal Hymn (Easter Music II), is a setting of three English hymns that Ørvad has abridged and edited. Here Ørvad paints a vivid picture of the most significant moment in Christianity: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The final piece on the recording, Winter Organ, is a striking 12-part choral work of great complexity. Based on the poetry of Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Ørvad uses the choir as a unified instrument, while also testing the limits of its expression