In a world where unrest and war make constant headlines, human migration is an issue that touches peoples everywhere. On its latest release, The Silk Road, the Oslo-based wind chamber ensemble Oslo Kammerakademi presents a beautiful programme inspired by the subject of cultural migration – what happens when cultures meet, for example because of the movement of populations, trade, politics or conflict.

The Silk Road features four works. Two of them are by 19th-century composers who were fascinated by the music of North Africa and the Middle East – Saint-Saëns’ work for military band, L’Orient et occident (1869), and André Caplet’s three-movement Suite Persane (1900).
The disc also contains two works commissioned by Oslo Kammerakademi: the story of The Last Days of Sultan Selim III (2011) retold in music by Turkish composer Mert Karabey, and the album’s title work, Gisle Kverndokk’s suite The Silk Road (2017), inspired by music that might have been encountered along a trade route between Venice and China.

Oslo Kammerakademiwas founded in 2009 by oboist and artistic director David Friedemann Strunck, and performs chamber music for winds with the historical Harmoniemusik instrumentation as a foundation – from its origin in Vienna in the 1780s to the music of our own time. The ensemble has established itself as a leader in Europe, with critically acclaimed CD recordings and invitations to prestigious festivals throughout Europe. The Silk Road is Oslo Kammerakademi’s seventh recording on the LAWO Classics label.

Oslo Kammerakademi