A keen collaborator, guitarist Knut Reiersrud has chosen his latest release as an opportunity to revisit some of seventeenth century English composer Henry Purcell‘s pieces and see how parts of pieces or even little snippets would respond to modern interpretation. To accompany him on this fascinating journey he chose guitarist Geir Sundstøl who, although renowned as a pedal steel player, sticks mainly to standard acoustic on Purcell, Sannhet, Løgn Og Dårlig Hukommelse (Purcell, Truth, Lies and Poor Recollection).
The stately melancholic nature of the pieces is well captured by the duo; but where they bring their own stamp is in the way they draw what is essentially indoor music evoking gowned ladies and bewigged gents moving in graceful arcs out into the open, lending it an air of dust and yearning that is very much more in keeping with their own music. Their interplay is lovely and the sedate pace allows us to really breathe in the atmosphere, although it is very difficult to tell where one instrument ends and another begins.
A Spanish chime on “Sorgemarsj” reflects a Mexican intent, but there is real peace here, imbuing the listener with an unexpected feeling of calm. You can almost hear the silence in the room as they entwine around one another; and where some of the pieces or sections may be recognisable, the duo manages to update in subtle ways, unusual chord patterns only adding to the fractured sense of time and place. To take something as familiar as “Passacaglia”, which was designed with a particular purpose, and to then give it this strutting widescreen presence if s quite a feat.
The instruments shift from hollow body acoustics to resonators to archtops, taking in a pedal steel on “Timon Fra Athen” until “Jerusalem”, where the sound is swollen with percussion and bass that give a rather jaunty and daring air to the proceedings, helped by bass harmonica. This apogee of sound is the fulcrum of the album and things take a calmer shift towards the conclusion, with a mandolin lending a country lilt to “Maurernes Hevn” and something called a coodercaster adding to the lonesome wail of closer “Gift I bo”.
All in all this is a lovely journey through the centuries from two outstanding exponents for whom the truth of the tale told is the important thing, the careful embellishments and respectful progress just part of the process. A delight for guitar lovers everywhere.
-Mr Olivetti-
