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Young Perspectives on Contemporary Music

After a course in music criticism, students from Langhaugen High School attended the concert featuring Song Circus and Britt Pernille Frøholm at USF Verftet in Bergen on November 4th. Afterwards, they wrote reviews of the concert, which was part of this year’s nyMusikk tour.

The course was developed by critics Ida Habbestad and Hild Borchgrevink, who have extensive experience as reviewers in Aftenposten and Dagsavisen, and as editors in Ballade and Scenekunst, respectively.

“When the singers start singing, they are met with wide eyes from the audience. This is unlike anything else I have ever heard. The sounds they make are impressive and can evoke many different associations: a forest with birds, maybe cuckoos, sizzling water, like in an iron, dogs, crying, and stones skipping across water.

Contrasts make the atmosphere exciting, and they can be found both between the different parts of the music and between the voices. For example, in volume, when it is smooth versus rough or bouncing versus gliding. The contrasts in the pieces complement each other, and although there is a lot of repetition and imitation, it does not become boring to listen to, because the structure is so varied.”

— Tiril Totland, 2mm, Langhaugen High School

The vocal ensemble Song Circus and fiddler Britt Pernille Frøholm present a rich concert, inspired by the fiddle tune Graatarslagjet. Through melancholic fiddle playing and impressive vocal performances, the ensemble delivers a concert that gives you chills — but not necessarily in a comforting way.

It all begins with improvisation on the fiddle, where Frøholm guides us into the special journey through different sounds that we are about to experience. You can imagine snowflakes drifting in the air when Frøholm plays with icy precision. Although the tones may feel uncomfortable, I also experience something playful and melancholic, setting the mood for the rest of the concert.

Song Circus then performs various compositions based on the Fuglestad Brothers’ rendition of the fiddle tune. The vocal ensemble impresses with incredible sounds. We hear everything from animal-like breathing and hissing to crying and coughing. Nevertheless, the music is melodic, though in an experimental and unusual form. The performance shows that the piece is made for very skilled musicians, which I believe Song Circus certainly is. It is likely an advantage to be an audience member with a tolerant and receptive ear, as this type of music might not be for everyone.

More instruments are gradually added to the concert, and new pieces are presented. A small portable organ, also called a shruti box, helps create a more comfortable atmosphere, enhancing the mood in the fiddle tune’s story. Frøholm’s fiddling is perhaps the most important mood-setter, as it serves as its own, weeping voice. The instruments and musicians’ voices blend into each other, in a delicate balance between the tragic and the beautiful. It is the harmony of the organ, fiddle, and voices that creates the concert’s highlight.”

— Ingeborg Nygaard, 2mm, Langhaugen High School

http://nymusikk.no/no/artikler/unge-anmelder-song-circus?fbclid=IwAR02NovLYbDKK_3zfNJWJJyQK5aIqxYO_dYowyPUyBcGny9jsH7_J_kOBZs