Songs at the Edge of the Ocean is a new oratorio by Ketil Bjørnstad, and is a continuation of his previous oratorios Old, Himmelrand and Sanger om tilhørighet.

The work is a tribute to Fartein Valen's composition, Kirkegården ved havet (The Churchyard by the Sea), which was written to accompany the French poet Paul Valéry's world-famous poem Le Cimetière marin.

In Bjørnstad's new oratorio, he has set to music Pelle Christensen's Norwegian version of the same poem, inspired by Valen's atonal composition, as well as melodic and harmonic sources of inspiration from Bjørnstad's time as a musician and composer.

The album also marks the debut of vocalist Solveig Andsnes - sister of pianists Ingrid Andsnes and Leif Ove Andsnes - as a recording artist. Together with Nils Økland on violin and Rune Arnesen on drums, they take us on a journey of existential dilemmas. Song at the Edge of the Ocean was recorded live during the premiere at Festiviteten in Haugesund on 27 April 2022, as a commissioned work for the Fartein Valen Festival.