Høyre du, Mann! Langeleikopptak 1955-83

The National Library of Norway is extremely good at archiving historical recordings and making their collections available for wider listening. It’s most recent release features the langeleik, the Norwegian drone zither, with 42 tracks of recordings made between 1955 and 1983. The sheer variety of sounds and styles makes this a fascinating listen. There are regional differences between the four main areas of langeleik playing – Valdres, Hallingdal, Telemark and Gjøvik – represented in dance tunes such as the polka, springar or mazurka, or there are what are known as ‘bell tunes,’ which show off some of the richly resonant instruments, and there are tunes simply to while the nights away. Although the langeleik was primarily a domestic instrument, there were often concerts for the community as well as competitions, which is where some of the recordings come from. This isn’t just one for the collectors though, there’s some gorgeous and wild music-making here. Close your eyes and it could be John Fahey at times, or revel in the sound of some duelling langeleiks. Worthy of note too is that it includes a recording of the world’s oldest dated langeleik, which was made in 1524.