Karoline Krüger og Erik Hillestad - To messer for kjærlighet

For 12 years a mass has been held every Sunday evening during the winter months in Oslo at the
church Kulturkirken Jakob. This is an event for those who are seeking a new language for their faith.
Four masses have been written by Karoline Krüger (music) and Erik Hillestad (lyrics). They alternate
with the seasons for feasting and fasting, action and passion. Two of these masses are now being
released on a double CD called “Two masses for love”. A solid team of professional musicians and
singers contributes to the masses. They are some of the volunteers who take turns leading and
accompanying the congregation in their singing; reward, one bottle of wine.

These masses are the scene for the development of something resembling a Norwegian “liberation
theology”, where stories from the Bible are recreated and interpreted in the light of the world
around us and our approaches to life. Even if the words and the music are coloured by contemporary
aesthetics, the classical liturgy is the frame and the underpinning of what occurs:

Blessed are the invisibles, theirs is the Kingdom
Blessed are the restless and sleepless, they shall find peace
Blessed are those who have no measure in money, they shall inherit the earth
Blessed are the queers, for they shall see God
Blessed are the open-minded, for them doors shall open
Blessed are the enemies of simplification, yearning for truth, they shall be sated
Blessed are those who hate injustice, they shall be called children of God
Blessed are the ridiculous, they shall laugh
Blessed are the homeless, for the Kingdom of God is theirs

Since 2000 Marian Lisland (lead singer) and Øivind Kristiansen (piano, organ and arrangements)
have collaborated with the student pastors in Oslo to create a meeting-place where words, music,
light, sound, direction and ambience form a whole. The double CD also features Torkild Sannes Søby
(bass), Øystein Bang (drums), Anders Hofstad Sørås (guitar), Per Willy Aaserud (trumpet), Christina
Dimbodius and Margrete Pettersen (violins), Frode Larsen (viola and violin), Sverre Barratt-Due and
Audun André Sandvik (cello), Kirsten Ragnhild Grimstad, Silje Maria Selvåg, Jostein Hasselgård and
Sigrun Sundet Sandstad (song), Anne Anita Lillebø, Arne Jor, Inge Anne Naterstad and Valborg
Orset Stene (liturgists), and Ola B. Johannessen (text reader).

The two masses now being released are “Messe rundt et dekket bord” [Mass around a set table] (2005) and “Rammet av kjærlighet” (Struck by love) (2010). Earlier, “Messe for mennesker i bevegelse” [Mass for people in motion] (2000) has been released on CD. “The Mass around a set table” is written as a celebratory mass to be used for church festivities, or when the theme of the Sunday text invites celebration and praise. The meal is the starting point for the mass. The idea is based on the reflection that “we know we are forgiven, but what are we doing about it?” The theme of “Struck by love” is that human beings have been granted the greatest gift life can give, but that love burns and burdens, demands, forgets and tolerates. To be struck by love is to be tossed into the abyss of freedom.