''Aquilonis'' (Latin "of the North Wind") is a classical and

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

trio

Trio Mediæval Trio Mediæval is a vocal trio established in 1997 in Oslo, mainly to sing medieval polyphonic works. Its members are Anna Maria Friman (from Sweden) and Linn Andrea Fuglseth and Torunn Østrem Ossum (from Norway). The trio's debut album, ''Word ...

recorded in June 2014 and released on the

ECM New Series ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) is an independent record label founded by Karl Egger, Manfred Eicher and Manfred Scheffner in Munich in 1969. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a variety of recordings, and ECM's a ...

November that same year.

Composition

The album is named after a Swedish North Wind. On this album the trio sings

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic chant and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

sacred songs, with performing custom arrangements from old Norwegian folk melodies. The trio also sings some 15th-century English carols, as well as contemporary works by

Anders Jormin Anders Bertil Michael Jormin (born 7 September 1957) is a Swedish bassist and composer. Jormin established a musical partnership with Bobo Stenson in the mid-1980s which led to international recognition playing with Charles Lloyd, in the early ...

, William Brooks and Andrew Smith. It's the first time that the trio also plays instruments with their voice on a record.

Reception

James Manheim in his review for

All Music AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

says that "This certainly isn't an authentic performance of medieval music." but, he add that "In a way, it gets listeners closer than almost anybody else to the time when vertical sonorities in European music were new, and for those who have never heard it, it's time to begin." In The New York Times' ''Classical Top Music Recordings of 2014'', James R. Oestreich says that "So varied are the sources that it is hard to find a theme or even a common thread. But the enchanting vocal style and sonority that the female trio has evolved unifies the whole beautifully."

Track listing

Personnel

Trio Mediæval

Anna Maria Friman Anna Maria Friman-Henriksen (born August 1972) is a Swedish singer, known as one of the members of Trio Mediaeval. Friman studied at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo and Trinity College of Music in London, then gained a doctorate ...

–

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...

Hardanger fiddle A Hardanger fiddle ( no, hardingfele) is a traditional stringed instrument considered to be the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than fo ...

, melody chimes *Linn Andrea Fuglseth –

portable organ A portative organ (from the Latin verb , "to carry"), also known during Italian Trecento as the , is a small pipe organ that consists of one rank of flue pipes, sometimes arranged in two rows, to be played while strapped to the performer at a ...

, melody chimes *

Berit Opheim Berit Opheim Versto (born 18 June 1967 in Voss, Norway) is a Norwegian singer, known for her interpretations of folk music. Career Opheim studied at Bergen Musikkonservatorium (1987–90) and Norges Musikkhøgskole (1990–92), and has worked ...

–

, melody chimes

References

{{Authority control ECM Records albums ECM New Series albums 2014 albums Albums produced by Manfred Eicher