Amar Oni Wytars

Legends, magic, love and torments in music at the time of the „Tale of tales“. In 1643, in Naples, the probably most important collection of stories and folk tales of all times has been published: the „Pentamerone“ (the five-days-work) or „lo cunto de li cunti“ (the tale of tales) by Giambattista Basile. During five days each day ten tales are told. Basile with this work brought to live the genre of the Fairy Tale wich later on, adopted by the Grimm brothers, Perraut and Brentano, will spread like a wildfire all over Europe.

Led by nyckelharpa virtuoso Marco Ambrosini – first heard on ECM with Rolf Lislevand – Ensemble Supersonus applies its unique instrumental blend, capped by the otherworldly overtone singing of Anna-Maria Hefele, to very wide-ranging repertoire. Building bridges between cultures and traditions, Resonances sets compositions by Biber, Frescobaldi and Hildegard von Bingen next to Swedish folk music, Ottoman court music, and original pieces by the band members. Three pieces – “Ananada Rasa”, “Fjordene”, “Ritus” come from the pen of Wolf Janscha, the ensemble’s jew’s harp specialist. Ambrosini’s nyckleharpa solo “Fuga Xylocopae” opens the programme, leading on to a fresh and sparkling account of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber’s ”Rosary Sonata No. 1”. All of Ensemble Supersonus contribute to the spirited arrangements of the music.

The album arises from an unusual, but extremely convincing symbiosis of two instruments: the nyckelharpa (also called key fiddle), which has survived in Sweden from the Renaissance to this day and has now become an essential part of Scandinavian musical life beyond this country, unfolds through the numerous resonant strings create their fascinating sound with a dazzling overtone spectrum and at the same time a wonderfully warm smoky depth. In connection with the rich color palette of a symphonic organ, Marco Ambrosini, co-founder of the ensemble Oni Wytars and the organist Eva -Maria Rusche take the listener on a Nordic-inspired sound journey in the footsteps of the composer Edvard Grieg.