HENNING SOMMERRO: Chrysillis

The title of this piece, Chrysillis, refers to Thomas Kingo ¿s (1634-1703) love poem to his rst wife Cille Balkenborg.

Kingo ¿s grandfather emigrated from Fife, in Scotland, to Denmark. Kingo grew up with a modest background, but despite this he turned out to be one of the foremost hymn writers in the Danish-Norwegian union.

On a personal note, it is a strange coincidence that this colourful baroque poet¿s rst marriage was to the widow Cille Balkenborg. She was the daugh- ter of the vicar of Sunndal, the neighbouring municipality to my birthplace Surnadal, and where I spent my childhood!

The piece is a journey based on my own themes but coloured by tunes from Scotland (Fife), Denmark (Sjælland) and Norway (Sunndalen). Since the soloists Chris Stout and Catriona McKay (who asked me to write the piece) are improvisational musicians of a particularly high level, the piece allows space for improvised passages.

Realising that Chris (Stout), Catriona (McKay), Cille (Balkenborg) as well as the title Chrysillis all start with the letter C, the musical note C gives the piece a special touch.

Henning Sommerro

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