New names to the ECM roster, Claudio Puntin and Gerdur Gunnarsdóttir arrive with a highly unusual project in "Ylir" – a musical topography of Iceland, an Iceland both observed and imagined, mirrored in legend and folklore as well as in the work of composers of our time. The music on "Ylir" is highly contemporary yet also timeless; it has very deep roots.
Ýlir
Claudio Puntin, Gerður Gunnarsdóttir
- 1Ýlir / Winter
04:01 - 2Huldufólk / Fairies: I Draumur / Temptation - II Taeling / Seduction
05:11 - 3Einbúinn / The Eremite
04:51 - 4Enginn lái öðrum frekt / Contemplation
00:49 - 5Skerpla / Midsummer
02:43 - 6Þeysireið / Gallop
06:13 - 7Vorþankar / Reflections On Spring
03:28 - 8Hvert örstutt spor / Each Little Step - Lullaby
04:16 - 9Sofðu unga ástin mín / Lullaby For An Abandoned Baby
04:13 - 10Huldufólk / Fairies: III Hringekja / Whirligig
02:32 - 11L’ultimo abbraccio / Last Embrace
03:08 - 12Kvæðið um fuglana / Fantasy About Birds
03:03 - 13Leysing / Melting, Thaw
05:19 - 14Epilogue
01:57
Ein Duo, das vor Wagemut sprüht, das traumwandlerisch zu musizieren versteht und in jedem Moment höchste Individualität offenbart! Aus der Schweiz und aus Island kommend, haben sich der Klarinettist Claudio Puntin und die Geigerin Gerdur Gunnarsdóttir ihr kreatives Potenzial auf dem harten Weg des Experiments erarbeitet und definieren auf Ýlir ihren eigenen, sehr subjektiven Begriff von imaginärer Folklore! ... Der Gestus in den 15 überwiegend kurzen, manchmal fast miniaturartigen Stücken changiert zwischen Stillstand und tänzerischer Verwirbelung, zwischen frostiger Erstarrung und intimer Wärme, zwischen liedhafter Melodie und abstraktem Klanguniversum.
Stefan Pieper, Jazz Zeitung
Beim in Deutschland lebenden Schweizer Klarinettisten Claudio Puntin und der isländischen Geigerin und Sängerin Gerđur Gunnarsdóttir dreht sich alles um Island. Allerdings gehen sie sehr vielschichtig mit diesem regionalen Bezug um. Neben traditionellen Melodien und Stücken zeitgenössischer isländischer Komponisten erklingen auf Ýlir etliche von Puntin geschriebene Nummern, die man wohl am besten als impressionistische Annäherungen an Land, Leute, Fauna und Mythologie bezeichnen dürfte. ... Diesem Duo gelingt der Spagat zwischen konzis Komponiertem und spielfreudig Improvisiertem, zwischen griffigen Melodien und dichten Klangschichtungen auf unangestrengte Weise.
Tom Gsteiger, Der Bund
Die neuen Dinge bilden sich meistens am Rande von Regionen und Stilen. Der norditalienisch-innerschweizerische Klarinettist Claudio Puntin verschmilzt zusammen mit seiner isländischen Partnerin Melodien oder Anklänge an nordische Volksmusik mit Jazz und klassischer Ästhetik. Mit Klarinetten, Violine und Frauenstimme weben sie sparsame Improvisationen – poetische Reflexionen Islands.
Jürg Solothurnmann, Radiomagazin
Ylir ist ein bewegendes Bild dieses Landes, ein Gemälde, das Claudio Puntin und Gerđur Gunnarsdóttir intensiv darzustellen wissen. Eine Geige und eine Klarinette, mehr braucht es nicht. Um die Farben im rechten Licht scheinen zu lassen. Island stellt sich nun schon des öfteren in Resteuropa vor. Den vielversprechenden Beginn machte Björk, es folgten Sigur Ros, und Puntin/Gunnarsdóttir verfeinern das Gehörte nun noch um ein Vielfaches.
Jazz Zeit
New names to the ECM roster, Claudio Puntin and Gerður Gunnarsdóttir arrive with a highly unusual project in "Ýlir" - a musical topography of Iceland, an Iceland both observed and imagined, mirrored in legend and folklore as well as in the work of composers of our time. The music on "Ýlir" is highly contemporary yet also timeless; it has very deep roots.
Iceland is the homeland of Gerður Gunnarsdóttir, violinist and vocalist. Her partner, clarinettist Claudio Puntin is from Switzerland and of Italian descent. They have collaborated on many projects over the years. The working title for the present concept was "Essence of North", and its programme derives from original compositions and improvisations, influenced by the land and the people of Iceland and by the folk music and contemporary composition of that volcanic island in the North Atlantic.
These elements - original composition, improvisation, folk song, adaptations of contemporary music - are interwoven and contrasted with each other throughout "Ýlir". Sometimes the folk songs are presented in their purest form, with that almost effortlessly graceful proportional balance of sound, harmony and melody that seems specifically Northern/Scandinavian; sometimes Puntin and Gunnardsdóttir use the "systems" of folk music to build a new kind of improvising. Myriad aspects of Iceland come into play as inspirational sources - from ancient sagas of elves and trolls to the movement of Icelandic horses in the hills today, from descriptions of the invisible "hidden people" ("huldufólk") to programmatic impressions from the natural world - the slow melting glaciers over thousands of years, the midnight sun. Both musicians play beautifully throughout.
The vocals of Gunnarsdóttir are for the most part wordless, but on "Hvert örstutt spor" she sings a text by Halldór Laxness, the Icelandic writer who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1955, in an adaptation of a composition by Jón Nordal (b. 1926). Nordal was part of the Darmstadt circle in the late 1950s, and his early work was strongly influenced by Icelandic folk music. On "Kvæõiõ un fuglana" Puntin arranges a piece by composer Atli Heimir Sveinsson (b. 1938), once an associate of Stockhausen, Pousseur and B.A. Zimmermann but also known for his work in films exploring Icelandic folk themes (e.g. "Seven Folk Tales", 1976).
Gerður Gunnarsdóttir has worked regularly with the Ensemble Modern, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Kölner Kammerorchester, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Consortium Classicum, and other leading orchestras and chamber ensembles. She has been second concert master of the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and leader of the Icelandic Opera. In the last six years - since 1995 when she co-founded the duo Essence of North with Puntin - she has been involved in groups that investigate Northern roots in the context of a larger "world music." Since 1998 she has also played in Claudio Puntin's band Quipu.
Claudio Puntin, who studied both jazz and contemporary music in Cologne and Rotterdam (participating also in courses with Sergiu Celibadache), has played with a very wide range of musicians - from Dave Liebman to the Ensemble Modern, from Hermeto Pascoal to Klaus König's Orchestra. He has been a member of Fred Frith's bands Tense Serenity and The Science Group, played tributes to Benny Goodman with the popular King of Swing Orchestra, toured the USA with the contemporary klezmer band Kol Simcha, performed modern composition (several composers have written works for him) and free improvisation, and written music for films and radio plays. His own music has been performed at the Donaueschingen Tage Neuer Musik. Puntin also leads his own quartet with Anders Jormin, Miroslav Tadic and Marcio Doctor. Claudio Puntin has appeared at international numerous festivals, from Amsterdam to Peking, from Rio de Janeiro to Kansas City. Outside of music he maintains a parallel artistic career as jewellery designer and goldsmith, and has exhibited his work widely. More details of his broad-based activities can be found on his web site at http://www.puntin.de
Iceland is the homeland of Gerður Gunnarsdóttir, violinist and vocalist. Her partner, clarinettist Claudio Puntin is from Switzerland and of Italian descent. They have collaborated on many projects over the years. The working title for the present concept was "Essence of North", and its programme derives from original compositions and improvisations, influenced by the land and the people of Iceland and by the folk music and contemporary composition of that volcanic island in the North Atlantic.
These elements - original composition, improvisation, folk song, adaptations of contemporary music - are interwoven and contrasted with each other throughout "Ýlir". Sometimes the folk songs are presented in their purest form, with that almost effortlessly graceful proportional balance of sound, harmony and melody that seems specifically Northern/Scandinavian; sometimes Puntin and Gunnardsdóttir use the "systems" of folk music to build a new kind of improvising. Myriad aspects of Iceland come into play as inspirational sources - from ancient sagas of elves and trolls to the movement of Icelandic horses in the hills today, from descriptions of the invisible "hidden people" ("huldufólk") to programmatic impressions from the natural world - the slow melting glaciers over thousands of years, the midnight sun. Both musicians play beautifully throughout.
The vocals of Gunnarsdóttir are for the most part wordless, but on "Hvert örstutt spor" she sings a text by Halldór Laxness, the Icelandic writer who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1955, in an adaptation of a composition by Jón Nordal (b. 1926). Nordal was part of the Darmstadt circle in the late 1950s, and his early work was strongly influenced by Icelandic folk music. On "Kvæõiõ un fuglana" Puntin arranges a piece by composer Atli Heimir Sveinsson (b. 1938), once an associate of Stockhausen, Pousseur and B.A. Zimmermann but also known for his work in films exploring Icelandic folk themes (e.g. "Seven Folk Tales", 1976).
Gerður Gunnarsdóttir has worked regularly with the Ensemble Modern, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Kölner Kammerorchester, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Consortium Classicum, and other leading orchestras and chamber ensembles. She has been second concert master of the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and leader of the Icelandic Opera. In the last six years - since 1995 when she co-founded the duo Essence of North with Puntin - she has been involved in groups that investigate Northern roots in the context of a larger "world music." Since 1998 she has also played in Claudio Puntin's band Quipu.
Claudio Puntin, who studied both jazz and contemporary music in Cologne and Rotterdam (participating also in courses with Sergiu Celibadache), has played with a very wide range of musicians - from Dave Liebman to the Ensemble Modern, from Hermeto Pascoal to Klaus König's Orchestra. He has been a member of Fred Frith's bands Tense Serenity and The Science Group, played tributes to Benny Goodman with the popular King of Swing Orchestra, toured the USA with the contemporary klezmer band Kol Simcha, performed modern composition (several composers have written works for him) and free improvisation, and written music for films and radio plays. His own music has been performed at the Donaueschingen Tage Neuer Musik. Puntin also leads his own quartet with Anders Jormin, Miroslav Tadic and Marcio Doctor. Claudio Puntin has appeared at international numerous festivals, from Amsterdam to Peking, from Rio de Janeiro to Kansas City. Outside of music he maintains a parallel artistic career as jewellery designer and goldsmith, and has exhibited his work widely. More details of his broad-based activities can be found on his web site at http://www.puntin.de
