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Vol. IX: Music for Cello and Nyckelharpa

by benjin

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    Limited edition C58 cassettes with recycled O-cards, 250 gsm riso prints, printed by Wild and Kind in Edinburgh and illustrations by Ambar Sethi, inside an FSC certified cardboard box screen printed by Tuckshop London.

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Samphire I 01:42
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Samphire II 08:02
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Jig 02:25
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about

'Music for Cello and Nyckelharpa', benjin’s 9th solo full-length album, is a musical conversation between the cello and its lesser-known cousin, the nyckelharpa. Translated into English as a ‘keyed fiddle’ or literally a ‘key harp’, the nyckelharpa is a bowed instrument with three melody strings, one drone and twelve sympathetic strings (which give it its unique ethereal sound). The left hand operates three (or four) separate rows of keys which then press directly onto the strings and change the notes. This keyed mechanism means that all ornamentation on the ‘harpa’ is without vibrato and imbued with a distinct percussive aesthetic. Over the last two centuries, the nyckelharpa has been primarily upheld as the national instrument of Sweden where it is generally played in a variety of folk-dance music contexts. However, traces of premodern iterations of the keyed fiddle can be found across Europe. Given this pan-European lineage, the music contained in this release seeks to expand our ideas of the nyckelharpa and to reach beyond discrete national boundaries or repertoires.

So here, amongst original compositions, a Bach violin sonata and free form improvisations, you will also find benjin's arrangements of the Swedish lament ‘Vem Kan Segla Förutan Vind?’ (Who Can Sail Without the Wind?) alongside the Abbotts Bromley Horn Dance, a British folk song which can be traced back to the 1200s.

credits

released September 30, 2022

Tracks 1-7 by benjin

Tracks 8-11 are reworks of Bach's Violin Sonata No. 1, performed by benjin.

Mixed and mastered by benjin.

Design by benjin, Ambar Sethi and Carlos Perea-Milla

Illustrations by Ambar Sethi

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Canigou Records AL, Spain

Int. cassette label based in Málaga, Andalucía

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