Kjeringe i Snodrevet

The langeleik is one of the more unusual members of an instrumental family that can be loosely described as ‘plank with strings’, and more formally as a ‘box-zither’, and which includes both the Appalachian mountain dulcimer and the harpsichord. Its Norwegian incarnation is as long as its name suggests, with a single melody string and seven drone strings, which double up as resonant sympathetic strings. The effect is to surround even the liveliest dance melodies with a faintly twilit melancholy. The ‘Halling etter Ragna Brenno Frydenberg’ is a striking instance of this, its peppiness undercut and alienated by the ghostly halo of harmonics. It's not a terribly widespread, or much played, instrument, but it remains part of a living tradition and is clearly undergoing something of a revival.

Brennhagen, who has been playing since childhood, is embedded in Norway's folk-music teaching and competition network. Her playing is firm and assured, with a subtle rhythmic flexibility in faster tunes such as ‘Rangdi Rølung’, and a gentler fine-tuned approach to slower-paced melodies like ‘Tusselåten’. The sound she produces is clear, the single string chiming cleanly above the rhythmic plucking of the drone strings, and her playing and choice of tunes is varied enough to sustain a listener's interest throughout the entire CD of 20 tracks, without recourse to any accompanying instrument. It might not appeal to everyone, but the light it sheds on an unfamiliar, and unexpected, aspect of Scandinavian music is very welcome.