Rímur

Audio Mixer: Peter Laenger.
Liner Note Author: Anna Maria Friman.
Recording information: Himmelfahrtskirche, München (02/2016).
Photographers: Åsa Maria Mikkelsen; Oddleiv Apneseth; Håvard Lotsberg; Anna Maria Friman.
Is this ECM release an exploration of early Scandinavian repertories? A showcase for the chillingly beautiful harmonies of the all-female Trio Mediaeval? An investigation into the nature of early polyphony? Of the relationship between chant and folk music? Of the possible meeting points of jazz and medieval music? It is all those things, yet even taken together, the classifications don't convey the effect of the music. Start sampling with one of the tracks featuring Norwegian jazz trumpeter Arve Henriksen, perhaps O Jesu dulcissime, from an early Icelandic manuscript. The idea of adding jazz improvisations to early music was anticipated by saxophonist Jan Garbarek in his work with the Hilliard Ensemble, but the effect here is more stark, ancient. Most of the music is originally monophonic, but it is expanded in various ways, not just by the addition of a trumpet. Arrangements by Trio Mediaeval add polyphony in such a way as to suggest the experimental quality early polyphony must have had, concealed by the later worship of notation. Some pieces include a sruti box or accompaniment by a Hardanger fiddle, a melody instrument that produces its own drone. The music is drawn from Norwegian, Icelandic, Swedish, and Scottish sources and includes both chant and secular folk music, approaching the sometimes elusive connections between the two in a wholly novel way. Certainly, as with many of ECM's more experimental releases, this will appeal most of all to listeners with a certain speculative frame of mind, but it might catch the attention both of early music specialists and of those in search of an exotic meditative mood. Sound engineers will also be in the audience: ECM's work in the Himmelfahrtskirche in Munich is exemplary. ~ James Manheim