Gudbrandsdølen

EM95 / 2013

About this CD project:
Recently, I spent time in the Follebu church and recorded more than 200 tunes on a variety of instruments, using my own computer. I have selected some of them for this double CD.

CD1 contains traditional music from the entire Gudbrandsdal valley, mostly learned directly from other fiddlers. I have visited and recorded many musicians over the years and present some tunes from this collection. Over all, the content reflects the fact that I have resided in and been part of fiddlers’ groups in several places, and that I have learned from musicians belonging to various traditions in the Gudbrandsdal valley.

CD2 contains tunes primarily from Otta, where I grew up. In my childhood, focus was on fiddle traditions further up the valley, in Vågå, Lom and Skjåk, and local folk music got little attention. The idea behind this CD, containing tunes from Otta and Sel, has been to present them (for the first time) on solo fiddle. Much of the Syver Nysæter material is new –even to those who knew Syver well and know the tradition of the region. Little (aside from the Syver-mazurka) has ever been released before. Also, as far as I know, no other fiddler from Otta has ever released solo CD before.