HELGA MYHR

Artwork and coverdesign by Solveig Lønseth (photos: Solveig Lønseth)
Buy LP here

“Slåttespelet” (i.e. traditional Norwegian folk fiddle tunes and tune-playing) is a living musical practice containing many interchangeable “layers” of things like bow-stroke, melody, rhythm, ornamentation, and tonality, all of which interpreters over the course of generations have used as a point of departure, recombined, and variated upon. With the “slåttespel” of Hallingdal as the starting point for the new music that was to be written, it was these same layers I drew from. To the trained ear familiar parts of tunes or layers will surely poke out but the majority will slip under the radar. Three of the tunes contain poems - which I consider myself very lucky to have been able to use - from Margit Lappegard (1918-2011) from Leveld in Ål, a town in Hallingdal. Lappegard was a well-loved poet whose poem-collection “Noko vil alltid lysa” (which means roughly “something will always shine”) received critical acclaim when it was published in 1988.

The word “Andsyning” can be found in the book “Ord, uttrykk og inntrykk frå Hallingdal og Valdres” (“Words, expressions, and impressions from Hallingdal and Valdres”) (Boksmia, 2002), a book with Ivar Aasen’s collections of dialect- vocabulary from his travel in the area starting from the year 1845. The word is a compound of “and”, which means roughly “against”, “towards” or “opposite”, and “syning” which can mean “horizon”, “to present” or “to show off”, or the occurrence of something revealing itself. Together one could say it means “to see or present something from the opposite horizon”.

Helga Myhr

The first time I listened to Andsyning the sounds took physical shape in my mind; they assembled themselves into memories of mine that had long sat dormant. It was as if I could see the music. A vision - a reverie - vast and sculptural, teeming with life. The music dropped me onto a log floating in undulating seawater. The log seemed to be split by the surface of the water horizontally between two worlds; one facing up to the endless clarity of air and light - the other facing down, soaked in the dense, mythical darkness. Despite its horizontal division, its will had to bend to the lapping waves, its course maneuvring for all eternity around its own core. Such are the ongoing negotiations between our truths and their opposites: up and down, there and back again, to and from, before and now. I venture to say that we allow ourselves to listen, read, see and sense the music dissimilarly, with endless variation and nuance - just as we all in fact are.

The design of both the record and cover is a reflection of how I’ve experienced Andsyning. Thank you, Helga, for giving me the leeway to shape the work that gets to embrace such a warm and solid release.

Solveig Lønseth

One of the most stunning, expansive listening experiences of the year, and another reminder of the endlessly renewable forms, modes, and ideas embedded in traditional music.

• Peter Margasak, Nowhere Street 01.01.2

For hvad er den modsatte horisont? Og hvem er det, der betragter? Er det et moderne musikalsk blik, der fra en afstand kigger ind i fortidens landskab og i kraft af denne forskydning har mulighed for at afdække overraskende perspektiver? Eller er det folkemusikeren, rodfæstet i sit eget personlige landskab, som fra dette ståsted skuer ud mod det fjerne, det nye og det ukendte, og som via sit ståsted finder kraft og mod til at udforske det? Når man lytter til Andsyning, fornemmer man, at begge dele er sandt. Og selv er man jo som lytter en betragter, der måske befinder sig fjernt fra det landskab, som Myhr indkredser, men som via pladen alligevel bliver beriget af at skue ind i det. Således favner Helga Myhr på endnu et imponerende og personligt værk folkemusikkens dobbelte natur af rodfæstelse i det nære og længsel efter den anden horisont.

• Rasmus Steffensen, Dagbladet Information 20.12.22

…På «Andsyning» makter Myhr og hennes makkere virkelig å åpne nye horisonter for slåttespillet. Fra de samtidsminimalistisk pulserende partiene på «Leia» til nedstrippede «Andfares II», med Michaela Antolovás stortromme som spelemannsfot.

• Martin Bjørnesen, Klassekampen 03.10.22