Ostensibly a Hardanger fiddle and harmonium duo album - the Hardanger, revered in Norway, is a folk fiddle that has four bowed strings and an additional four sympathetic strings beneath the bridge. It sounds pretty ancient and suitably its first heyday was as long ago as the 18th century. Best track to our ears not being at all specialist in Norwegian folk music but knowing some of violinist Nils Økland's recordings in various settings and having heard him and Apeland play live near Bergen in a trio called 1982, the traditional 'O Venner' works so hauntingly well. And what a beautifully conveyed suitably antique sounding atmosphere is evoked on this Etne studio recording that includes music written for a film about the 19th century Norwegian painter Lars Hertervig. Glimmer is for traditional music fans primarily - not really jazz appreciators. But like a process of photosynthesis moving from one music to another it is a natural enough process to experience your listening transition however mysteriously across light into an aborption of such a lambent chemically reactive, in this case, centuries distilled end result.
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Nils Økland, photo: Malene Kristopine Økland/ECM. 'O Du Min Immanuel' is streaming ahead of the full Glimmer release on 16 June
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