The ballads are performed with an unpretentious, traditional mode of delivery, utilizing tonality, ornamentation and rhythmic understanding that have survived the centuries - despite continual, conscious attempts to quell these ever since the Reformation of the 1500’s. Øyonn Groven Myrhen has grown up in a home of musicians, rich in tradition and old style singing. Her parents come from families where traditional singing has been a normal part of daily life for generations. From her mother’s family she has inherited an especially large repertoire of songs and melodies. Øyonn has also learned a great deal from Hagny Huso, of the Gugard family singing tradition. The ballads presented are largely part from the Groven and the Gugard family traditions of western Telemark. Some are performed a cappella. Others are arranged, using instruments whose no tempered tunings help emphasize the melodies’ peculiar qualities.

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