Mouth harp fever

Anne Hytta I Eivind Buene I Munnharpeforum I Slagr

Saturday, 16 September, at 21:00–22:30

275–320 kr

Celebrating 25 years of Norsk munnharpeforum (the Norwegian Mouth Harp association), this concert is all about dragging the mouth harp twanging and screaming into the 21st century. Together with Setesdal-based folk musician Daniel Sandén-Warg, the society’s expert mouth harpers will perform Norwegian music from various regional folk traditions and will use their skills in interpreting two compositions written for the occasion.

In Hytta’s piece Slagregn (‘rain of beats’), the unconventional experimental folk band Slagr will surround the mouth harp with a whole range of contrasting textures and tones inspired by the folk music of Telemark.

Meanwhile, with the aid of archive recordings of mouth harpers from a bygone age, and added electronics, Eivind Buene’s Harpefeber (‘harp fever’) clothes the folkdance tune Filleværen in modern dress, transforming the foot stomping rhythmic pulse of the traditional version into a modern disco dance.

ultimAdvisor

Folkie1965

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The twang’s the thang

What Anne Hytta and the guys in Slagr can do with a simple little mouth harp and a plucking finger just has to be heard to be believed. All in all, it was a night that set our feet tapping while giving us a folkloric history lesson we’ll never forget!

Traditionalist12

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New possibilities

Eivind Buene seems to be getting increasingly comfortable with deconstructing traditions from the past, as he did so cleverly in his Schubert Lounge, mixing classical song with pop music. I have also recently heard a talk of his, about he has been fascinated lately with ideas around neofolklorism – what folk means in the modern age – circulating in the Norwegian new music scene. With Harpefeber, he traced a connection between the old folk footstomping rhythms modern day club music, in an incredibly entertaining way. I had a blast!