column
by Genevieve Williams
Spring is almost here, though it's sometimes hard to tell in the Pacific Northwest. (Although yesterday morning, less than a week after the snow that made my daily commute to the University of Washington a two-hour odyssey, I caught spears of daffodils sprouting by the front door.) In token of that, I've acquired a number of new and recent releases that might help push you through the last month or so of rain and gloom. Personally, I don't handle our short winter days very well, and my usual method of dealing with them is to listen to something a wee bit moody while drinking a great deal of coffee. (This is also my method for getting through grad school. I'll let you all know how well it works next year.) I'm leaning heavily toward the Celtic, British and Scandinavian this column, though I promise more sunshine for Oestara.
First, though, a bit of news. I've written a couple of times in this column about the ensemble Värttinä, the Finnish group with a penchant for experimental arrangements and mythical subject matter. This band is collaborating with composer A.R. Rahman on a musical stage adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. Yes, you read that right. The musical is scheduled to premiere in London in 2005 and is already being called the most expensive stage musical ever produced. For more information on the production -- which we can only hope will come to the States -- visit the Web site www.thelordoftheringsmusical.com
Speaking of The Lord of the Rings, mark your calendars: In July, the Seattle Symphony presents three performances of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: A Symphony in Six Movements conducted by none other than film score composer Howard Shore. The performances are Friday, July 16, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, July 17, at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Last I heard, tickets were still available for all three performances and can be had by visiting www.seattlesymphony.org or calling (206) 215-4747.
Until that date rolls around, however, if you're a fan, chances are you've already picked up the score to The Return of the King -- which, by the way, has been breaking box-office records since it opened in December. Like the two previous installments, this score is full of sweeping, epic musical themes and melodramatic arrangements that at times seem poised to go overboard. But really, nothing less would serve this particular story. Shore's work has the kind of un-self-conscious grandeur that John Williams' work used to, and in this particular case makes the same use of leitmotif, or tunes associated with particular characters or concepts. The most prominent new theme introduced in this score is the one associated with the kingdom of Gondor, and another, sweetly stirring theme that appears very late in the film and signifies the Grey Havens. Themes used for the previous two films appear in new arrangements, giving the entire work a feeling of momentum, certainly appropriate for a film that doesn't lack for action.
Lest this column turn into all Rings, all the time, let's get on to the rest of this issue's offerings. Late last fall, I had the good fortune to attend a concert by Väsen. This Swedish folk group, nominally a quartet, was touring at the time as a trio and had released a recording, appropriately titled Trio (NorthSide). Consisting of viola, acoustic guitar and nyckelharpa (a kind of fiddle that somewhat resembles a hammer dulcimer, played with a very short bow), Väsen is one of the most tightly focused ensembles I've heard in a long time. As I've commented before, Scandinavian folk music bears some resemblance to that of Ireland and Scotland, which makes perfect sense if you know anything about the history of these regions. This resemblance is very audible here; the structure and arrangements of these tunes calls to mind some of the Irish fiddle music I've heard. It does, however, have somewhat more of an edge; the instruments are more strident, and the tunes have an urgency that I rarely hear in music from the Isles.
Very different in feel, if no less assured, is the latest release from British folksinger June Tabor. Titled An Echo of Hooves (Topic Records), this is a collection of English and Scottish ballads that preserve the spirit of the material while making use of thoroughly modern arrangements. Accompanied mostly by piano, and often by strings, Tabor's mature, earth-deep voice soars above the instrumentation, which is kept tastefully spare in order to show her off to best advantage. It's probably worth mentioning at this point -- though I'm sure that many of my readers already know this -- that a ballad is a very particular kind of song. The term has been unfairly elasticized in recent years, but a ballad is properly a song that tells a story. It can be American as well as British (Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and even Bruce Springsteen have all written ballads), and like most folk music, largely concerns the themes of love and death, usually together. One need only listen to Tabor's heartbreaking rendition of the old classic "Fair Margaret and Sweet William" to experience the full effect such songs can have for themselves. I have heard this song covered many times by many artists, but none have achieved the stark emotional power that Tabor does here.
Somewhat similar, although quite distinctive in its own right, is the new release from Swedish trio Frifot, titled Sluring (NorthSide Records). Vocalist Lena Willmark is out in front, while she and bandmates Per Gudmundson and Ale Möller provide spare, efficient yet intriguing arrangements on a variety of instruments, including fiddle, pipes and several different kinds of flutes and whistles. This album is more traditionally arranged than Tabor's and is also more traditionally oriented than some other NorthSide artists I've reviewed in the past. Gudmundson and Möller also provide vocal support from time to time; this choral singing bears some resemblance to shape-note singing and other forms of unaccompanied group singing heard on both sides of the Atlantic, sparking an intriguing possibility of musical connection. It also, as previously noted, bears a certain familial resemblance to An Echo of Hooves, and indeed the liner notes indicate that many of the songs on the CD are ballads. (Although lyric translations aren't included, there are notes for each song to tell what it is about and where it comes from.)
There are a number of recent releases from well-known Irish bands, including Danu and The Chieftains, but my personal favorite is probably a new greatest-hits collection from Altan, titled The Best of Altan: The Songs (Narada World). At 14 tracks, it's reasonably short, though it only includes material from their more recent albums for Virgin Records and Narada World. Their earlier songs, recorded for the Green Linnet label, are not included. Practically speaking, this means that this CD tends rather more to the pop side than the traditional one. Don't let that deter you, however. The collection weaves a potent musical spell, beginning with a song titled in the liner notes as "Girl from the North Country" but which most listeners will recognize as "Scarborough Fair." By the time "Gleanntáin Ghlas Ghaoth Dobhair" rolls around, the enchantment is complete, and things like the jazzy horns and additional percussion on "Cuach Mo Lon Dubh Bui" are just extra spice.
Steindór Andersen's Rímur (Naxos World) is a bit of a curiosity but intriguing enough that I felt it worthy of inclusion. This is a collection of Icelandic epic poems, sung by Andersen unaccompanied. Structured very differently from the romantic poetry of Europe, the epic poetry of Nordic societies endured longest in Iceland, despite centuries of censorship mostly originating with the Church (one sixteenth-century commentator quoted in the liner notes refers to rímur, as they are called, as "evil and wicked recitation"). With the advent of recording, these epics began to be archived. Andersen, the president of a society dedicated to the preservation of rímur in Iceland, here sings these poems simply and unaccompanied, much as they have been performed for centuries. While printed translations of these stories are readily available (and you may wish to seek them out; the liner notes include synopses and lyrics, but the latter are not translated), when reading them one can only guess at how they sound when performed. Listening to Andersen's recording is a revelation; one gets a sense of the rhythm and impact of these poems, even if one does not understand the language.
That's all I have room for this issue. Keep your eyes peeled (ouch!) and your calendars marked for these upcoming shows: Saeta at Chop Suey with Low and The Mines on February 5, and Burning Hearts Burlesque at the Rendezvous Jewelbox Theater in Belltown on February 14. Also, if you've been digging Middle Eastern trance, Asia Massive and other related world music I've recommended over the past couple of years, head to ToST in Fremont on Fridays to hear DJ Darek Mazzone spinning a lot of it.
Genevieve Williams is a Seattle freelance writer and drummer. She can be reached at rimrun@drizzle.com with feedback, suggestions or recommendations. Local musicians and pagan groups are encouraged to submit material for review.
Copyright © 2006 by the article's author