When you think of harps, it’s usually either the nickname for the harmonica, or the stringed thing that angels play in heaven. Not here; we’ve got Marco Ambrosini on the nyckelharpa, Wolf Janscha on the Jew’s harp, while the harpsichord and square piano is supplied by Eva-Maria Rusche, the zither-like kannel is strummed by Anna-Lilsa Eller, and , oh yes! Anna-Maria Hefele plays the celestial strings as well! What a combo!
They play in ensemble form as well as a handful of solo excursions, with Busche striming a pianistic baroque feel to “Toccata in E minor,” and Ambrosini going it along on an aria of a resonant “Fjordene.” Some melancholy strings and sighing harps resonate on “Hica Humayyn Saz Semaisi” and even some Gaellic moods float with folksy tones on “Ritus” while rich pulsations give a folksy feel on the traditional Swedish piece “Polska.” A trip through the back villages is taken with a casual sense of folk familiarity. Is it a travel through lands or through time? Or both?