Øystein Sevåg official web site

New, immersive recording of Sevåg’s 1987 wind quintet

"The Lyrical Joke in the Secret Garden When the Leaves are Falling" appears in a new recording by the award-winning Czech ensemble Alinde. Øystein Sevåg’s chamber work from 1987 was recorded in immersive audio for the German label GENUIN in March 2026, and this new interpretation adds another chapter to the work’s history. Written over the course of just two weeks in the summer of 1987, the work was premiered later that year in Oslo by the Norwegian Wind Quintet. In 1999, the Bergen Wind Quintet recorded it for Siddhartha Records, where it was released alongside Sevåg’s Triora String Quartet. Alinde’s new recording suggests that its journey is far from over.

Sevåg says about the piece: “The titles of the work’s three movements form an image when placed side by side. At the same time, each title is an image, or an idea, in itself. The second movement, In the Secret Garden, describes a place: the setting of the event. The third, When the Leaves Are Falling, describes a moment in time. The first, The Lyrical Joke, is the very thing that unfolds within this space and time: The lyrical joke takes place at that moment when the leaves are falling in the secret garden, in autumn, a season of transition. It is a reflection on transience, seen with a playful gaze.

In the 1980s, contemporary music in Norway was still strongly influenced by modernism, and many composers had an ambivalent relationship to tonality. For a young composer drawn toward classical ideals, it was easy to feel somewhat alienated within such a cultural climate. During these years I was searching for my own musical truth, and in 1987 I felt that I had finally found a direction. The Lyrical Joke was the first piece I wrote after regaining my trust in tonality. The work was composed over a period of two weeks in the summer of 1987.

My close engagement with jazz and groove-based music likewise informed the work, which requires a strong sense of rhythmic rigor from the performers, while at the same time maintaining a playful, light, and lyrical character.“

Alinde is concidered one of europe’s leading wind quintets today. They were the 2024 ARD Munic winners. Prize winners of the Carl Nielsen Competition 2023, BIMC 2019, ODIN & OPUS 2021, Finalists of the ROSL Competition London 2024.

https://www.alindequintet.cz

Recording the Alinde Quintet in Evangelische Festeburgkirche in Frankfurt on March 4th. 2026.
From left: BARBORA TRNČÍKOVÁ / oboe, ØYSTEIN SEVÅG, HOLGER BUSSE / tonmeister, ANNA TALÁCKOVÁ / flute, DAVID ŠIMEČEK / clarinet, PETR SEDLÁK / bassoon and KRYŠTOF KOSKA / french horn.