A Saami Requiem
Ola Stinnerbom (yoik)
Gunnar Idenstam (organ)
Henrietta Wallberg (vocalist)
Erik Weissglass (guitars)
Rafael Sida Huizar (percussion)
rec. 2019, Studio Accusticum, Piteå, Sweden
Reviewed as 16-bit download from press preview
TOCCATA NEXT TOCN0017 [64]
Toccata Next is a subset of Toccata Records, presenting music “from as wide a catchment area – geographically, historically, stylistically – as possible.” A Saami Requiem fulfills this goal like no other project, blending Western classical, indigenous and folk music and dance, blues, progressive rock, and improvisation in a coming-together of wildly different musical worlds.
A Saami Requiem is the brainchild of Gunnar Idenstam and Ola Stinnerbom. Idenstam is an organist known for innovative programing and conceptual projects, such as pairing traditional Christmas music with Swedish folk music (review ~ review), writing organ music influenced by heavy metal (review), and transcribing orchestral showpieces by Debussy and Ravel for the instrument (review). Stinnerbom is a stage artist, singer, dancer, drummer, and member of the Saami, an indigenous people who have inhabited portions of northern Scandinavia and Russia for thousands of years. Together with fellow performers on guitars, percussion, and vocals, they have masterminded what in other contexts would be termed a concept album.
Their collaboration focuses on the music and culture of the Saami. The foundation of Saami music is the yoik, an oral tradition of singing using short, repetitive, but always-varied phrases that do not only represent a community’s collective memory but actually allow the singer to become whatever it is they sing about. Stinnerbom is a practitioner of yoik, at times blending it with contemporary Western influences from pop, rap, and hip-hop music.
Saami religious belief calls for a shaman, or Noite, to travel from this world to the Kingdom of Death and return safely. The album takes this journey as the basis for its structure, a three-part division into The Journey, The Kingdom of Death, and The Return. Each of these divisions lasts approximately twenty minutes and is subdivided into individual movements lasting between two and eight minutes. As the musical narrative progresses, its stylistic blend becomes more and more concentrated. The Journey begins with an organ Entrée developed from an improvisation by Idenstam. The following Requiem aeternam introduces Stinnerbom’s yoiks atop slow-moving organ lines. The effect is profoundly otherworldly, conjuring an atmosphere of forces beyond and before the human. The Misterioso movement adds various percussion shakers and drums to groovy organ and guitar patterns and more extended yoiks. After this comes a Blues Yoik in C, the combination of blues riffs in distorted guitar and drum set with improvisations in organ and yoik sounding surprisingly natural and effective. This and the following track, Pols Yoik, based on the rhythm of a Swedish polska or polonaise but sounding like a jazz fusion piece, are my favorite moments from the whole disc. A dissonant take on this idea underlies the final part of The Journey, The Door to the Kingdom of Death.
There are four movements making up The Kingdom of Death. First, a bitonal organ chorale – that is, in two keys at once. Second, a Percussion Meditation, a high-concept “mysterious dialogue” for percussion and yoik, with prominent shakers and steel drum. Third, an Adagio based on another organ improvisation by Idenstam. Finally, a Death Yoik. This is as atmospheric as the earlier Requiem aeternam, punctuated by the “cries of death,” provided by vocalist Henrietta Wallberg. In live performance, Wallberg dances as well as cries, combining with projected video to create a multimedia, multisensory experience. Ask the kids to leave the room for this one.
The Return leans farther into the popular music elements. The Return Voyage follows a bolero-like rhythm through outbursts of dissonance, climaxing in the return of the shaman to the land of the living. Back in This World revolves around what the liner notes describe as a melody “reminiscent of a Eurovision song” to provide a “happy ending in which everybody can join in the singing.” A Blues Yoik in E echoes the earlier Blues Yoik in C. Finally, an Epilogue and Hymn concludes the journey with a “modern yoik” co-composed by Stinnerbom and Idenstam culminating in a jubilant crescendo designed to “praise the beauty of our world.”
What to make of A Saami Requiem? Despite initial trepidation before requesting to review this album, I found it surprisingly and enjoyably effective. It is musically uneven, with the concluding division, The Return, sounding somewhat contrived to my ears. The Journey and The Kingdom of Death, on the other hand, are full original ideas that on the surface seem incompatible but blend gloriously together – the Bues Yoiks being the prime example. Stinnerbom and Idenstam are totally committed to the concept and give their all in this performance. Their collaborators contribute their talents successfully as well, although the full effect may only be achievable by attending a live performance. The recording is excellent, with a wide dynamic range and good balances. Despite the unusual combination of performers, no one is left unheard, though the “cries of death” are occasionally distant from the listener, a function of Wallberg’s physical distance from the microphones during the live recording.
If this collision of musical worlds intrigues you, A Saami Requiem will reward your curiosity. If you are on the fence, as I was, about such a project, take the risk. Some aspect of its creativity will capture your attention.
Christopher Little
Contents
Part I: The Journey [23:09]
Entrée [4:23]
Requiem aeternam [5:55]
Misterioso [4:00]
Blues Yoik in C [2:08]
Pols Yoik [2:40]
Saajva – The Door to the Kingdom of Death [4:03]
Part II: The Kingdom of Death [20:32]
Mirrored Chorale – Shimmering Yoik [8:16]
Percussion Meditation [4:03]
Adagio [4:08]
Jaamie Ahkka’s Death Yoik [4:05]
Part III: The Return [19:55]
The Return Voyage [4:31]
Back in this World [4:13]
Blues Yoik in E [4:42]
Epilogue and Hymn (‘Transports de Joie’) [6:29]
