Folk Cycles

Benedicte Maurseth has managed to find her own individual twists on the cycles and patterns of folk music. There are many artists exploring the possibilities of using the Hardanger fiddle in modern music, but Always, and never the same describes the mutating process of folk around a constant theme. My kids also loved the junior version of the piece showed at Deichman Bjørvika a week later!

Whenever you hear someone saying they are rewriting old traditions, it’s easy to be cynical and say: doesn’t everyone? But as an old veteran concertgoer who thought she had seen it all, I was surprised and impressed by what I heard and saw here. These ensembles seem so committed to bringing radical new music to Norwegian audiences! Zhao’s piece was well matched with asamisimasa's continuous exploration of their instruments and extended technique. neoN are always reinventing their musical language, working with artists as different as Susanna Wallumrød, Otomo Yoshihide, and Jan St. Werner. And here they blended perfectly with Maurseth’s fresh folk visions.