While in Sweden in 1992 for the premier performance of Arvo Pärt’s Silouan's Song, producer Manfred Eicher and the Estonian composer took time out to visit a folk-festival held in the vicinity. Entering a church by the shores of Lake Siljan they heard a trio called Frifot perform traditional songs of uncommon purity and power. The group featured the multi-instrumentalist Ale Möller, singer/fiddler Lena Willemark, and Per Gudmundson, also on fiddle. Eicher at once determined to record these musicians and the question of appropriate context was discussed over the next year and a half. Nordan, the album that is the outcome of that almost accidental meeting, marks a departure for all participants. It is a remarkable ECM debut and sheds new light on such perennial ECM concerns as the "Idea of the North", the documentation of Scandinavian creativity, and the contemporary validity of "early music" in all its guises.
Nordan – the title alludes to the fierce northerly wind that buffets the Swedish coastline – features music based upon medieval ballads and folk songs, performed by musicians from the living Swedish folk tradition and from the world of improvisation. The lyrics were selected and edited by Lena Willemark. Arrangements were written by Ale Moller, who also provided additional compositions in the spirit of the project.
Lena met Ale Möller at a fiddlers' convention and folk festival in Sweden in 1984. "We had a little jam session and it worked really well, and we both liked each other from the beginning. So we decided to carry on, together with Per Gudmundson. We've all worked together in different groups and on each other's solo projects ever since".
Of the Nordan music, Ale Möller notes, "For a long time, Lena and I have talked about finding a form that would combine the qualities of the roots with a bigger freedom. Our idea was to go behind the current tradition - based on the music of the village fiddlers of 100 to 150 years ago - to the fascinating repertoire of medieval ballads. Each time we have tried this, we have been overwhelmed by the good musical spirit these pieces give us. In a way, they invite us to a more open-minded musical landscape."
Nordan is an inspired instance of musical reconstruction: "What is left of the medieval music is a treasure-trove of vocal material. Very little instrumental music remains from the days before the fiddle. You can still find a few ancient ballads sung in living tradition today but most of them are to be discovered only in transcriptions in the archives. The bulk of the record, then, goes back to fragmentary documents: we have used our knowledge of tradition to breathe life into them. For us it has been a fascinating work, and has taken up a lot of time - for the songs, as well as the combination of sounds, were new even for us".
As for Willemark's singing: here, the larger world was able to discover for the first time, what the Swedish inner circle had already known for a while, that she is an artist of the first rank. Her immensely graceful negotiation of the ornaments of the melodic lines is more than impressive, as is the emotional range she brings to bear on the material and the electrifying power of the herding-call that brings the album to a climax on "Vallsvit". Throughout the recording, the freshness and the vibrancy of her singing cuts straight to the heart. Subsequent ECM releases Agram, Frifot as well as collaborations with Anders Jormin on In Winds, In Light and Trees of Light would further document Willemark’s unique voice. ecm
Tracklist :
1 Trilo 1'15
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Vocals – Ale Möller, Lena Willemark, Per Gudmundson
2 Kom Helge Ande 3'06
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Mandola – Ale Möller
Vocals – Lena Willemark
3 Gullharpan 6'33
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle], Kantele – Mats Edén
Mandola – Ale Möller
Percussion – Björn Tollin, Tina Johansson
Soprano Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
Vocals – Lena Willemark
4 Mannelig 4'35
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Harp [Folk-Harp] – Ale Möller
Vocals – Lena Willemark
5 Polska Efter Roligs Per 3'00
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller, Per Gudmundson
Fiddle – Per Gudmundson
Mandola – Ale Möller
6 Hornlåt 2'12
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller, Per Gudmundson
Fiddle – Per Gudmundson
Mandola – Ale Möller
7 Sven I Rosengård 5'39
Traditional
Alto Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle – Mats Edén
Mandola, Flute [Drone-Flutes], Dulcimer [Hammered Dulcimer] – Ale Möller
Percussion – Björn Tollin, Tina Johansson
Vocals – Lena Willemark
8 S:t Göran Och Draken 6'14
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Percussion – Björn Tollin, Tina Johansson
Shawm – Ale Möller
Soprano Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
Vocals – Lena Willemark
9 Tacker Herranom / Mats Hansu Polskan 4'06
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle – Per Gudmundson
Mandola – Ale Möller
Vocals, Fiddle – Lena Willemark
10 Knut Hauling 5'51
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Bagpipes [Swedish Bagpipes] – Per Gudmundson
Bells – Tina Johansson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Horn [Cow-Horn], Mandola – Ale Möller
Percussion [Drone-Drum] – Jonas Knutsson
Tambourine – Björn Tollin
Vocals – Lena Willemark
11 Polska Efte Jones Olle 3'02
Traditional
Arranged By – Mats Edén, Per Gudmundson
Fiddle – Per Gudmundson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
12 Svanegångare / Sven Svanehvit 6'49
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Composed By – Ale Möller, Traditional
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Mandola, Flute – Ale Möller
Vocals – Lena Willemark
13 Jemsken 1'51
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller, Lena Willemark
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle – Lena Willemark
Mandola – Ale Möller
Soprano Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
14 Båtsman / Turklåten 3'28
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Mandola – Ale Möller
Vocals, Fiddle – Lena Willemark
15 Vallsvit 4'57
Composed By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Flute [Natural Flutes] – Ale Möller
Percussion – Björn Tollin, Jonas Knutsson, Tina Johansson
Voice [Herding-Call] – Lena Willemark
16 Drömspår - Efterspel 1'51
Accordion – Ale Möller
Composed By – Ale Möller
Double Bass [Bass-Drone] – Palle Danielsson
