SINIKKA LANGELAND – The Half-Finished Heaven
ECM 377 7155
Sinikka Langeland (kantele, vocals); Lars Anders Tomter (viola); Trygve Seim (tenor saxophone); Markku Ounaskari (percussion)
Recorded January 2013
This fourth release on ECM by Sinikka Langeland has been sometime in the making, as the original idea was suggested by producer Manfred Eicher back in 2006 when the singer, kantele player and composer recorded her debut album for the label, Starflowers. The original idea proposed by Eicher was for a solo kantele recording “with three songs and the remainder instrumental”.
The resulting album does indeed have three songs, with Langeland setting the words of Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer to music, and the remainder as instrumental pieces for which she has expanded the initial concept by bringing in the additional voices of Trygve Seim’s jazz inflected tenor saxophone and the Norwegian classical soloist, Lars Anders Tomter on viola.
Listening through to The Half-Finished Heaven the choice to bring in other instruments was exactly the right thing to do, and adds a much needed variety to the overall feel and sound of the album. The sound of the kantele (or table harp) will to many sound rather limited over the course of a CD, even though Langeland incorporates the use of her 39-string concert kantele as well as the 10 and 15 string folk kanteles.
The nature of the music performed is very calm and gently reflective, and the natural world is very much at the heart of the music. Seim’s tenor sax soars gracefully on ‘The magical Bird’ above the accompaniment of kantele and percussion, and blends wonderfully with harp on the opening theme of ‘The Blue Tit’s Spring Song’, with Seim’s lines becoming increasingly lyrical and urgent as the rhythmic tension rise.
The conversational element of music making, with melody and counter-melody is beautifully played on ‘The White Burden’ (a previously unrecorded piece written by Sinikka in 1978) with saxophone and viola, and the interaction between harp, viola and voice on ‘The Tree And The Sky’.
An album full of subtle nuance no little charm that is perhaps best sampled a few tracks at a time, as the sound of the table harp lacks the dynamic variation to hold the attention from first piece to last.
ECM 377 7155
Sinikka Langeland (kantele, vocals); Lars Anders Tomter (viola); Trygve Seim (tenor saxophone); Markku Ounaskari (percussion)
Recorded January 2013
This fourth release on ECM by Sinikka Langeland has been sometime in the making, as the original idea was suggested by producer Manfred Eicher back in 2006 when the singer, kantele player and composer recorded her debut album for the label, Starflowers. The original idea proposed by Eicher was for a solo kantele recording “with three songs and the remainder instrumental”.
The resulting album does indeed have three songs, with Langeland setting the words of Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer to music, and the remainder as instrumental pieces for which she has expanded the initial concept by bringing in the additional voices of Trygve Seim’s jazz inflected tenor saxophone and the Norwegian classical soloist, Lars Anders Tomter on viola.
Listening through to The Half-Finished Heaven the choice to bring in other instruments was exactly the right thing to do, and adds a much needed variety to the overall feel and sound of the album. The sound of the kantele (or table harp) will to many sound rather limited over the course of a CD, even though Langeland incorporates the use of her 39-string concert kantele as well as the 10 and 15 string folk kanteles.
The nature of the music performed is very calm and gently reflective, and the natural world is very much at the heart of the music. Seim’s tenor sax soars gracefully on ‘The magical Bird’ above the accompaniment of kantele and percussion, and blends wonderfully with harp on the opening theme of ‘The Blue Tit’s Spring Song’, with Seim’s lines becoming increasingly lyrical and urgent as the rhythmic tension rise.
The conversational element of music making, with melody and counter-melody is beautifully played on ‘The White Burden’ (a previously unrecorded piece written by Sinikka in 1978) with saxophone and viola, and the interaction between harp, viola and voice on ‘The Tree And The Sky’.
An album full of subtle nuance no little charm that is perhaps best sampled a few tracks at a time, as the sound of the table harp lacks the dynamic variation to hold the attention from first piece to last.
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Reviewed by Nick Lea
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