The Sound of Telemark

Drive three hours west of Oslo and nature beckons. There are farms, trees laden with red apples in late summer, and the promise of snow capped mountains in winter. Telemark invites you to walk on the Hardanger plateau, learn skiing history, and immerse yourself in its magical folk music and folk traditions. Sigmund Groven (harmonica) and Knut Buen (Hardanger fiddle) are worldwide folk royalty, but they live and breathe melodies that are the heritage of Telemark's communities, and create poems and tunes representing life today. Surprisingly this is the first time they have recorded together, prompted by their concert marking the 75th anniversary of the World War II sabotage of the heavy water plant near Rjukan (as immortalised in the film The Heroes of Telemark). The 16 tunes (including some featuring the haunting voice of Anne Gravir Klykken) revel in the exquisite sounds of harmonica and fiddle, sometimes playful (as in the ‘Bruremarsj Frå Seljord’) sometimes gentle and reflective (‘Nu Solen Går Ned’ portraying the dying light of the sun) or the final ‘Hjaling’ where their music echoes in the landscape. Outstanding music celebrating the region's musical treasure trove.