Svetlana Alexievich, Nobel Prize 2015 Laureate, Set To Contemporary Music

Nobel Prize 2015 Laureate Svetlana Alexievich's famous documentary novel "Voices from Chernobyl" is set to reflective contemporary classical music by Swedish composer and concert cellist Chrichan Larson.

A recording of Larson's five movement composition "Chernobyl Consorts" was released on the Swedish comtemporary trio Das Orchester's debut album in 2015, titled Consorts, released on BlueMusicGroup.com. Readers of Alexievich's novel may experience an additional dimension by indulging in the musical reflection of "Chernobyl" by Larson and Das Orchester.

The Swedish contemporary trio "Das Orchester" was founded in 1999 as the result of a staging of a theatre piece based on the book "Voices from Chernobyl" by the Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich. The unusual constellation of recorder, trombone and cello was in fact, to a certain extent, inspired by the subject of the book. However, the combination of instruments with their disparate characters, presented no existing repertoire and the first piece performed by the ensemble was written by the cellist, Chrichan Larson.

During the sixteen years of its performance activity, Das Orchester has collaborated with numerous composers, producing a solid repertoire base. Exploring the heterogeneous mystery of the three instruments as a chamber trio, has proved to be an exciting challenge. So far, the ensemble has performed throughout Scandinavia, Germany, Austria and France. Apart from the purely musical performances, Das Orchester has also produced concerts in collaboration with singers and dancers.

Chrichan Larson (b. 1956): Chernobyl Consorts (1999)
Chernobyl Consorts was written in the year 1999 for a theater play based on a book by the Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich, "Voices from Chernobyl". The piece was partially given its first performances in the given theatrical context but was expanded to its final five movements, shortly thereafter. As this work marks the start of the collaboration between the members of "Das Orchester", it can be noted that the choice of the instruments to a certain extent was a consequence of the theme of the book, but, as disparate as the ensemble may seem, it would soon prove to offer an astonishing world of timbres.