• country:Norway
  • style(s):Folk, Traditional
  • label:NORCD
  • artist posted by:NYE NOR

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Moldestad - hardanger fiddle
Mjølsnes - hardanger fiddle
Høgemo - hardanger fiddle

Gamaltnymalt, a play on words contrasting
the old with the new, represents a
commercial counterweight to what is called
the “Bergen wave” on today's Norwegian
music scene. Its a Hardanger fiddle trio and
they practises at the Arne Bjørndal
Collection (the folk music collection at the
University of Bergen), a stone's throw from
the dark rock club Garage. And dark, raw
and mystical are words one could use to
describe the music played by this singular
trio. These three outstanding
instrumentalists transport the Hardanger
fiddle into a new dimension. The sound
produced by their 5-string Hardanger fiddles
is powerful, and is in itself a unique
contribution to the history of the instrument
in Norway. The members of the trio spend a
great deal of time colouring traditional tunes
and compositions with the right hues. In their
search for the sounds that are found
somewhere between the upper strings and
the sympathetic strings, they bring the music
into a more potent landscape. They lift the
traditions of the instrument as an
individualistic performance medium (solo
playing) into a new sphere. The result is
compelling trio music. Music nobody has
ever made before on instruments nobody
has ever played before. What began with
inspiration from the “old-school trio” of
Hardanger fiddle playing (Sigbjørn Bernhoft
Osa, Eivind Groven and Alfred Maurstad)
has developed into a new, distinctive
musical idiom based on the traditions of the
instrument and of Hardanger fiddle tunes.
The title Gamaltnymalt is thus very
descriptive of their historic CD release.