Notre Dame - Meditation And Prayers

Mathilde Grooss Viddal Bbclar/bass clar, soprano sax, tenor sax; Hayden Powell trumpet; Borge-Are Halvorsen tenor sax; Oyvind Brække trombone; Per Willy Aaserud trumpet & electronics Listening to Mathilde Groos Viddal's Meditations and Prayers, her sixth album to date and first for Losen Records, the listener may well feel there is a timeless quality to the music. The majority of the tracks are entitled "Reflection" and "Psalm," and these two dimensions come together on "Reflection V Psalm 3." These references to meditation and afterthought are also explorations of musical material, some of which has its origin centuries ago. The musicians explore this material in a soft-spoken, but at the same time intense, manner. Soft-spoken is obviously not quite the right term, as there is no speech here, although there is communication. Much of the album was recorded in Faervik kirke, a wooden church on the island of Tromoya, where Viddal's foremothers and forefathers where waiting for their husbands, sons, and brothers to come home from the sea. In many ways, the album feels like one long sermon, where different nuances of thought are hinted at, giving ample room for the listener to sink back into their own thoughts and reactions.