Before turning to the history of Norwegian emigration, Ståle Kleiberg’s new album begins with the remembrance of one young life. Lamento – Cissi Klein in memoriam honours a Jewish girl from Trondheim who was killed during the Second World War. Composed in 2001, the work opens Across the Ocean towards a Higher Firmament, recorded by the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and conductor Peter Szilvay.
The memorial piece belongs to a trilogy in which Kleiberg addresses Nazi persecution. Its companion works are his Requiem and the cello concerto Dopo. On this recording, the 13-minute, 25-second Lamento is followed by The Town and its People, a work from 2022 lasting 10 minutes and 38 seconds.
The remainder of the album is devoted to Symphony No. 3, Across the Ocean towards a Higher Firmament. Commissioned by the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, it received its premiere under Szilvay in April 2025. Its three movements explore the experiences of Norwegians who emigrated to North America during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Issued by LAWO Classics under catalogue number LWC1490, the album will arrive digitally on August 28, 2026, with the CD scheduled for January 2028. Its sequence places a personal memorial at the beginning of a programme that ultimately expands to encompass a major chapter of Norwegian migration history.