Nils Henrik Asheim - Mazurka (Remaking Chopin) (2010)

Choosing Frédéric Chopin's mazurkas as his subject, composer Nils Henrik Asheim presents a cycle of reinterpretations in collaboration with Gjertrud's Gypsy Orchestra. He writes: "For whatever the reason, perhaps I was in a melancholy period, Chopin's mazurkas turned up on my piano, day after day over the course of one year. Little by little, as the music was played over and over again, it began to live its own life. Small details grew larger, tore themselves loose, and formed their own music."

The final result is a completely new reading of the classical score, resurging through a wider palette of colours. The ensemble takes its liberties from a love for the original material and toys with a variety of musical styles, from Gypsy and Balkan-like arrangements to classical references and sonic experiments. Chopin's melody, at times obscured , at times obvious, is always present as the connecting thread. Thus regarded, the CD perhaps helps us reflect on how free we can be with respect to the classical repertoire: shall we restrict ourselves to reproducing authentically what the composer intended, or may we let the work inspire us to continue the writing, to add to it according to our own understanding?