New Classical Tracks: Rich harmonies, from just three voices

Trio Mediaeval - Aquilonis (ECM)

"It's fantastic to start something that actually becomes a way of living," says Linn Andrea Fuglseth of Trio Mediaeval. "I'd hoped for that but I didn't expect for it to happen. But now we've been doing this for 17 years, and we've made a living from it."

Linn came up with the idea to form Trio Mediaeval while she was still a student at the Guildhall School of Music. That's where she first heard three girls in her class sing a 15th-century English carol titled Alleluia. "One American, one Hungarian, and one Spanish girl," Linn recalls. "These girls sang this piece and I was totally blown away. It was so powerful, so cool. A very spectacular piece, I thought, in the harmonies and in the way it's kind of a fanfare. So when I came back to Norway, I felt I had to start a group so we can sing more of these great pieces. So that's how it started."

Linn and Anna Maria Friman started the group in 1997 with Torunn Østrem Ossum. When Torunn left the group last year, Berit Opheim became Trio Mediaeval's newest member. Together, they've just released their sixth recording titled Aquilonis. Linn says it's a word that's connected to the north wind. "And this particular word comes from the texts of the office of St. Thorlak, which is the Icelandic mass. Not mass movements, really," she explains, "it's an office to the saint of Iceland, Iceland's first bishop, who was called St. Thorlak. He died on the day before Christmas on 1193, so it's sort of considered music for Advent."

The music you'll hear on Aquilonis is a mixture of everything Trio Mediaeval has done over the past 17 years. "Both the medieval carols that we started out doing in the trio and the beautiful Italian Lauda, songs to the Virgin Mary that we've done for many years. And also pieces that have been written for the group. A nice mixture of old songs and then some completely new things that we like, and even some pieces that we have made ourselves, little improvisations, " Linn explains.

"Ave rex angelorum" is one of the three medieval carols featured on this new release. According to Linn, this piece really put Trio Mediaeval's musical skills to the test. "When we started thinking about the recording, we thought, this probably won't work out because it's quite strange and it's quite hard to sing," she says. "In our 17 years of the trio, I think this has the strangest lines. It's going up and down and it doesn't go the way you think it should go. But it's very cool and it's both in Latin and in English. 'Hail the king, the mighty king' — 'angelorum,' the king of the heavens, that's the translation of that title."

Andrew Smith, an English composer who's lived in Norway for more than 20 years, has written several pieces for Trio Mediaeval, including three new carols that appear on Aquilonis. "He's very inspired by Gregorian chant, so it fits well with our other material, to put these contemporary pieces into our medieval music," Linn says. "The three are: 'Ave Maris Stella,' 'Joseph fili David' and 'Regina Coelorum.' Three very beautiful pieces and we like the sound of the pieces. It's strange how he can find a way of mixing only three voices and make it sound so contemporary, to make the harmonies that rich. The harmonizing is quite extraordinary and we like very much the sound in his pieces."

Anders Jormin is a Swedish contemporary composer who captures the atmosphere of this trio beautifully in a piece titled "Ama." Linn admits it's probably her favorite piece on the recording. The text is based on a 2,000-year-old love poem by Virgil. "It's a beautiful text as well, in Latin: if you wish for love, then love," Linn says. "Life is short-lived for us all. Love overcomes all things. Let us be conquered by love."

Over the past 17 years Trio Medieval have shared their passion of medieval carols, sacred music and contemporary works. Linn Andrea Fuglseth says it's been a very rewarding experience to turn their three voices into an instrument. "But we've also been able to sing such great music that not so many people have heard before. Finding this rare music and making arrangements and bringing this old music to life — I think that's a good thing."

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