Short Stories Slagr

• 1 Folkevise 06:25
• 2 Gamletun 06:07
• 3 Sylvelin 08:08
• 4 Auga 05:00
• 5 Blinde-Margit 05:58
• 6 Årolilja 07:58
• 7 Lysning 01:12
• 8 Skare 07:21
• Total Runtime 48:09

Info for Short Stories

On „Short Stories“, Slagr give time a sound. Carefully yet relentlessly the Oslo based trio explore what remains when time is passing, and, through doing so, illustrate some of the transient nature of our being.

The inspiration for „Short Stories“ came from a story by Norwegian author Hans Herbjørnsrud: „On an old farmstead in Europe“. The protagonist of the story finds a skull on a field near his farmhouse one day. Through the skull and the story of blind Margjit that is linked to it, he becomes aware of his own life and the continuity of earthly existence.

Slagr take different elements of Herbjørnsrud's story and make them into music. „Gamletun“ is the field by the river that symbolises tranquility side by side with the flow of time. Of course there is „Blinde-Margit“ and her dramatic, long passed story, and there is the nearly forgotten folk song that get reconstructed and deconstructed in „Folkevise“. Condensed moments, made from a bit of eternity.

Anne Hytta on hardanger fiddle, Amund Sjølie Sveen on vibraphone and tuned glasses and cellist Sigrun Eng create finely woven, pulsating structures that seem delicate but provide enough support for all these memories and emotions. The sounds that Slagr work with are ages old, yet timeless. Every now and again the swelling movements make room for a little melody that seems familiar. Then strange sounds step out of the background, only to disappear again shortly after.

This is artful, but always musical and natural. Slagr transcend their folk traditions into an all new genre of their own. There is a reason why people mention names like Philip Glass and Morton Feldman, when they speak about Slagr. „Short Stories“ unites this musical innovation with a lyrical vision and reminds us that our own lives and even the whole of human existence is only but a „Short Story“ in the eternal flow of time.

Anne Hytta, hardanger fiddle
Sigrun Eng, cello
Amund Sjølie Sveen, vibraphone

Recorded in Hoff Church, Østre Toten , Norway, December 2013
Engineered by Jonas Niederstadt
Produced by Slagr and Jonas Niederstadt

Slagr
The members of Slagr are: Anne Hytta – Hardanger fiddles Amund Sjølie Sveen – vibraphone and percussion Lars Johansen – viola da gamba and lute You have never heard anything like the music that Slagr plays. The group was founded by Anne Hytte in the summer of 2003, with the aim of exploring the possibility of combining elements of Norwegian folk music with medieval and Oriental musical traditions to generate a new, modernistic musical idiom with roots in folk music. The contrast between crisp and soft sounds that meet at the point of intersection between serenity and intensity is a distinctive element of Slagr’s music. The melodic structures that move beyond the ordinary major and minor modes, and the sounds that first collide and then merge, evoke changing colours and landscapes. The contrast between the round, gentle sound of the vibraphone and the raw, brittle nature of the Hardanger fiddle and the viola da gamba emphasizes the shifting colours of the music. “Cool. Beautiful. Absurd.” These are some of the adjectives that have been used to describe Slagr’s music. The group’s music is created primarily by Anne Hytte. Slagr also plays fiddle tunes and medieval melodies. The entire group is responsible for the arrangements, with Lars Johansen setting the tone. “It appears that ‘slagr’ was the word used in Old Norse for what we would call a tune.” – from the book “And the Fiddle Sounded” Performances: Fabrikken, Oslo Telemark International Folk Festival

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