For all intents and purposes, the hardanger fiddle (hardingfele) is Norway’s national instrument with its bright tone and clarion sound due to its four “sympathetic” (drone) strings that vibrate beneath the bowed strings. In the hands of a master like Annbjørg Lien, who received her doctorate degree in hardanger performance at the University in Agder in 2019, the instrument presents a robust orchestral sound.

Lien keeps one foot firmly placed in traditional sensibilities while she presents all-original compositions that link the past to the future. Thus, this album entitled Janus, is a reference to the two-faced god of doors, gates, and transitions in Roman mythology, and who represents the middle ground between both concrete and abstract dualities such as beginning and end, war and peace, or life and death. The theme appears figuratively, to some degree, in tracks such as “Amazon,” “The Clock is Ticking,” “Intertwined,” “Mr. Snaky” and “Strangled Stranger.” Informative liner notes explain the different tunings, techniques and meters used to capture different moods and feelings in Lien’s music.

Building on her firm foundation in Norway's traditional music, Annbjørg Lien continues her journey to create a personalized signature sound with elements of jazz, rock and classical colorings. Both inspired and inspiring, she has consistently produced many albums (or contributed on over 100) that demonstrate strength, spirit and depth. Five of her albums have been nominated for The Norwegian Grammies. Some success may be attributed to her long-time multi-instrumentalist collaborator and producer Bjørn Ole Rasch, who plays harmonium, mellotron and keyboards on Janus. Other long-time collaborators include bassist Per Elias Drabløs and Swedish guitarist Roger Tallroth. Janus features other stellar musicians who tastefully color the sonic palate with bass clarinet, resonator guitar, Weissenborn guitar, harmonica, bagpipe, low D whistle, percussion, drums and vibes. Together, the cohesive music becomes majestic, memorable and adventurous, reminding me of my 1988 visit to Scandinavia and a trip on-board a cargo ship steaming through the fjords from Bergen to Trondheim. 

Hardangers are found most often in the southwest and along the west coast of Norway.  The project leader for UNESCO Setesdal, Annbjørg Lien revisited the folk music tradition in Setesdal, one of the Hardanger’s heartlands in southern Norway.  One track, the dark and drone-like “Mr. Snaky” uses a Setesdal tuning (known as gorrlaus) with the lower string tuned down to F.   

The hardanger is a highly decorated instrument, almost like a piece of artwork, with inlays on the fingerboard and around the instrument itself. Similarly, passionate music played well on a hardanger displays warmth, delicacy, charm, sensitivity and invention. While this eight track album ends all too quickly, it’s meant for repeated listenings to discover the poignant nuances in Lien’s forward-thinking vision without losing sight of the past. I plan to explore other albums that Lien has released, as well as other Norwegian music released by the Grappa Musikkforlag record company, on several prestigious labels, during the last four decades. Annbjørg Lien’s Janus exemplifies their approach to music, focusing on its forward motion, momentum and passages. They recognize that its beginnings transform into other shapes as movement and change are intrinsically interconnected.  (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)