Mats Edén

Milvus

       ^{Mats Edén — Milvus (1999/December 19, 2008)}
ΕΠ  Přicházím s novým oceněním: Mats Edén jakožto jeden z největších švédských lidových hudebníků, s multi–tváří houslisty a skladatele hluboce zakořeněného v tradici, přesto přetékajícím novými nápady a možnostmi. V obou jeho polohách tradiční i soudobé hudby najdete širokou škálu hudebních režimů, rytmů a emocí. Jeho melodie můžou být naplněné melancholií i radostné, zasmušilé i povznášející, zarážející i uklidňující. Malujete si obrazy z jeho oblíbených míst, nebo si při nich můžete tančit, plakat nebo sedět a divit. Ale obvykle se budete cítit dobře.★Ξ•   Mats Edén är en lysande fiolspelman med fast förankring i värmländsk folkmusiktradition och en av de viktigaste aktörerna i utvecklingen av folkmusiken i Sverige sedan 1970–talet. Hans inflytande som stilbildare som fiolspelare, ensemblemusiker, kompositör och improvisatör inom svensk folkmusik går knappast att överskatta och han har därigenom starkt bidragit till dagens mångfacetterade
folkmusikliv i Sverige.
★Ξ•   Mats Edén är en musiker som ständigt utmanar gränser. Hans konstnärskap har inneburit integration och möten mellan olika traditioner, både mellan olika folkmusiktraditioner, men också mellan folkmusik och konstmusik och folkmusik och jazz.  — Sven Ahlbäck•Ξ★   Mats Edén is an outstanding fiddler with a firm foothold in the folk music tradition of Värmland, and is one of the most important figures in the development of folk music in Sweden since the 1970s. His influence as a trendsetter in the roles of fiddler, ensemble musician, composer and improviser within Swedish folk music is hard to overestimate and he has thereby contributed hugely to today’s multifaceted folk music life in Sweden.
•Ξ★   Mats Edén is a musician who constantly challenges boundaries. His artistry has involved integration and meetings between different traditions, both between different folk music traditions as well as between folk music and art music, and folk music and jazz. — Sven Ahlbäck                                            © Black kite, Photo by Laurent Breillat
Location: Vårgårda ~~ Färjestaden, Sweden
Album release: December 19, 2008
Recorded: 1997
Record Label: ECM
Duration:     66:41
Tracks:
01. Havang     5:03
02. Polska efter Ärtbergs Kalle Karlström     2:40
03. Stegen pa taket — Polska efter Lejsme Per Larsson     3:10
04. Variation I     2:48
05. Septemberljus     4:51
06. Den lyckliga (Beate Virgine)     4:08
07. Nordafjälls — Efter Torleiv Björgum     4:15
08. Vardag     2:17
09. Variation 2     5:17
10. Bäckahästen     3:21
11. Sjöraets Polska — Efter Olof Schyman     3:54
12. Spillet     3:18
13. String Quartet No 1 — Andante Comodo     10:20
14. String Quartet No 1 — Presto Giocoso     5:31
15. String Quartet No 1 — Lento Tranquillo     5:55
Written by:
★Ξ Mats Edén     1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15
★Ξ Mats Edén / Swedish Traditional / Traditional     2, 7
★Ξ Mats Edén / Jonas Simonson / Swedish Traditional / Traditional     3, 11
★Ξ Jonas Simonson     12
Personnel:
•  Mats Edén — drone–fiddle, violin, viola
•  Jonas Simonson — flute, alto flute
•  The Cikada Quartet
Credits:
•  Recorded September 1997 at Rainbow Studio, Oslo
•  Engineer: Jan Erik Kongshaug
•  Produced by Manfred Eicher
•  Photo by Laurent Breillat
Description:
★Ξ Mats Eden has been hailed, by Ale Moller, as the "real leader" of the Swedish folk revival. Eden's drone–fiddle, violin and viola have been at the heart of the music made by the Nordan Project of Moller and Lena Willemark and many other groups. On the first ECM album issued under his own name, Eden plays alone and with flutist Jonas Simonson: “Each of us has in his own way been searching for new means of expression within the range of traditional music. Having deep knowledge of these old methods has given us a secure base from which to explore new artistic possibilities.” The timbre and the stark beauty of the old music also informs Eden's contemporary compositions, such as his String Quartet No. 1, played here by the distinguished Cikada Quartet.
★Ξ After making vital contributions to the ECM collaborations of Lena Willemark and Ale Möller, Swedish multi–instrumentalist and composer Mats Edén brings his folk revival sensibilities to this leader date from 1999. He joins longtime musical partner Jonas Simonson in paying homage to many great fiddlers, including Ärtbergs Kalle Karlström and Lejsme Per Larsson, and old–time masters Torleiv Björgum and Anders Rosén. The latter revived the use resonating strings, which Edén took on himself in developing a custom instrument called the bordunfiol, or drone–fiddle, featured prominently in Milvus.
★Ξ Of that drone we get plenty in “Haväng,” an original tune dedicated to Indian violinist K. Shivakumar. Simonson’s flute is the photographic image that develops in Edén’s solution. This frothy combination of sublime harmonies and cohesive adaptation permeates especially the vibrant polskas that speckle the program. The contrast between airy riffs and tethered harmonics, between flowing lines and jagged accompaniment, between fragrant soil and dry winds makes for an altogether inviting atmosphere.
★Ξ Having grown up in Värmland, which borders Norway, Edén takes inspiration from the region in “Norafjälls,” which he plays to earthen perfection. Likewise the dirge–like lows of “Vardag.” He also offers two improvised solo “Variations,” which bring with them a darker cast. Their strained quality and wrenching, emotional grit reveals a highly ingrained mind at work.
★Ξ Simonson brings spiritual centeredness against distant fiddle accompaniment in “Den lyckliga (Beate Virgine),” a devout, reverberant jewel in the album’s rusted crown, and brings reflection and depth to his solo “Spillet,” a brief but profound segue.
★Ξ As if this weren’t enough, the Cikada String Quartet concludes with Edén’s three–part String Quartet No. 1, of which the first movement feels like an unpacking of all the traditions that came before. As such, it is a distillation, a crystal fragmented and made whole again (the “jigginess” here is far more subtle, internal). The second movement is a quiet agitation of rubber–banded ideas, a spiral into the final Lento, engaged by folk themes amid careful attention to surroundings.
★Ξ The album’s title refers to the kite bird. Not surprisingly, the music created in its name embodies the cut of those wings, angular and sure against the sky. Such contrasts would seem to be of vital importance to Edén, a musician who understands that the spaces in between the strings are just as important as the strings themselves.
★Ξ http://ecmreviews.com/ // MySpace: https://myspace.com/matseden
★Ξ http://www.cdroots.com/amigo-eden-milvus.html
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yp4T76bvgY&sns=em
Website: http://www.matseden.se/
INTERVIEW, Allen Barnes, 2010–05–14
Fiddler Magazine: http://www.fiddle.com/Articles.page?ArticleID=49742
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Mats Edén

Milvus

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