Vivaldi - The Norwegian Seasons Ragnhild Hemsing & Barokkanerne

On this album, the Norwegian Ragnhild Hemsing, together with the early music ensemble Barokkanerne, dedicates herself to the famous Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) and turns them into ‘The Norwegian Seasons’ - a unique sound experience that reveals far more similarities than contrasts.

Ragnhild Hemsing has since made an astonishing career. She is recognised throughout Europe as a subtle violinist, but is now also regarded as ‘the’ expert on traditional Norwegian music. This is certainly due to the fact that on the four albums she has released with Berlin Classics to date, she has repeatedly taken up the Hardanger fiddle. It is Norway's national instrument and was invented in the Hardanger region in the middle of the 17th century. This instrument has an unmistakable sound, which is produced by the five additional strings that are not bowed but resonate when played. Vivaldi's Four Seasons from 1723 are among the best-known and most frequently performed works in music history. Ragnhild Hemsing has also often played them on the normal violin. However, as she is rooted in both classical and folk music traditions, she asked herself: ‘How would these popular concertos sound if they were played on a Hardanger fiddle?’ In her research and reflections, she discovered many similarities between Vivaldi's music and the folk music of the Valdres region, where she still lives with her family. ‘There are these rich ornaments and improvisations, beautiful melodies and rhythmic swing everywhere,’ she explains, adding: ’With my Vivaldi recording, I want to show a new musical approach to the Four Seasons by using the Hardanger fiddle as a baroque instrument and playing ornaments and the special trills from my own folk music tradition in Valdres, which has lived parallel to the baroque tradition for centuries.’

For this, as for other recordings before, she teamed up with the composer Tormod Tvete Vik and arranged the violin part from Vivaldi's original score. The orchestral accompaniment was arranged in parallel by the Barokkanerne ensemble. This task turned out to be not too complicated at all, as Vivaldi was also inspired by folk music, in his case Italian music of course, when composing his ‘Le quattro stagioni’. The music is sometimes strikingly similar to the Norwegian version. This is perhaps not so surprising when you consider how many cross-fertilisations there have been. ‘I am sure, for example, that research will show a close relationship between the Hardanger fiddle and the viola d'amore,‘ explains Ranghild Hemsing “I would even go so far as to say that the Hardanger fiddle, although it is a folk instrument, is Norway's ”own’ baroque instrument with its sympathetic lower parts and individual sound.’