If you’re looking for some winter holiday music that almost totally avoids the familiar and yet is still recognizable as yuletide music, here are two that fit the bill, one by a longstanding Norwegian folk trio, the other by a Norwegian supergroup of sorts.
It’s a common enough story: a musical act of some longevity has often thought about putting out a Christmas album but never seemed to get around to it. When the Gjermund Larsen Trio performed with the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir on their Christmas album “Veni: Songs of Christmas II” in 2022, that provided the motivation to finally get it done. I’d say it was worth the wait.
The trio, with consisting of Larsen on fiddle, Andreas Utnem on harmonium and piano, and Sondre Meisfjord on double bass, has received much acclaim and many awards including a “Norwegian Grammy” for their debut release in 2008.
“In many ways, Christmas music today is everyone’s folk music,” Larsen says, which is an astute observation. Everyone will recognize some of the tunes here, including “Stille natt” (Silent Night), “O Helga Natt” (O Holy Night), “O Little Town Of Bethlehem,” and Pachelbel’s “Det hev ei rose sprunge” (Lo how a rose e’er blooming). If you’re a fan of modern popular Christmas music as I am not, you might also recognize “Home For Christmas.” This is not, as I initially assumed, the American standard “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” but instead is the popular song by Norwegian singer and songwriter Maria Mena, which was the main theme of a 2010 movie of the same name. Mena’s original has some 62 million streams on Spotify (which is catching up to Bing Crosby’s 87 million for his oldie but goodie), so, as I said, some of you might recognize this stately cover by Larsen’s trio. As for those other very well known carols, all are very thoughtful and original arrangements.
The remainder of the program leans more heavily on Nordic holiday tunes, and I’m hard pressed to choose a favorite. Most of the selections are played at a sedate tempo as befits Christmas carols, with a few exceptions. Both the opening track “Det kimer nå til julefest” (It’s time for the Christmas party) and “O Holy Night” have a strong rhythmic pulse even at medium tempi; the Swedish traditional tune “O jul med din glede” (O Christmas with your joy) is a comparative romp, its melodic line slightly suggestive of the American “Up On The Rooftop,” and an arrangement that wouldn’t be out of place at a Hawktail concert. The Norwegian carol “Jeg er så glad hver julekveld” (I’m so happy every Christmas Eve) by Peder Knudsen (1819-1863), though still sedate, comes with a lovely waltz tempo.
One that really speaks to me is another waltz, “Du grønne glitrende tre” (You green glittering tree), with a bass line from Meisfjord that wouldn’t be out of place in a jazz arrangement. But there’s not a track to skip on this one. With the homey harmonium on every tune, this is warm, inviting 
winter holiday music, perfect for an evening around the hearth with a warm drink and good company.
This Norwegian quintet came together in the summer of 2024 at an old wooden church in rural Voss, Norway, to record a program of mostly old, forgotten, traditional Advent and Christmas hymns. Though the songs are traditional, the instrumentation is not so much. I’m very familiar with fiddler Nils Økland and bassist Mats Eilertsen from their many and varied jazz, folk, and experimental recordings, but this is my first exposure to vocalist Berit Opheim, accordionist Irene Tillung, and jazz saxophonist Tore Brunborg.
The songs are mostly folk tunes from the districts of from Voss, Hardanger, Eksingedalen, and Øygarden, sung for hundreds of years but here presented in local variants with new arrangements by the musicians, many of them largely improvized.
“Some of these folk tunes haven’t been used in decades, making it an even greater pleasure to bring them out of dormancy,” says Opheim. “Beautiful melodies that are a joy to sing and to bring forward in new arrangements.”
I’m immediately reminded of some favorite vocal folk/jazz albums including Quercus’s self-titled debut and Elina Duni Quartet’s Matanë Malit. This ensemble like those is illuminating traditional songs through a respectful but creative approach that draws on the players’ jazz orientation but doesn’t turn the tunes into jazzed-up Xmas carols. This is obviously reverent, communal music and the musicians approach it in that spirit.
Just on their face, the carols and yuletide hymns of Scandinavia seem to have a special way of evoking the quiet joy of contemplating the coming of light in the long dark winter months. The one that does that best for me is “Her er det ny som på jorderik skjedde” (Here’s what happened on Earth), maybe partly because of its sparse arrangement. Behind Opheim’s clear-eyed vocal delivery, Eilertsen’s bass plays around but rarely on the waltz-time rhythm, and Brunborg intersperses tasteful saxophone lines between the verses; both Tillung and Økland sit this one out.
“The instrumentation was chosen based on the expression we wanted for the different songs, and to create variety on the album,” Opheim says. “The arrangements are largely collaborative, with much of the music being improvised.” Thus we again get a sparse setting for the lilting “Eg er so glad kvar jolekveld (I am so happy every Christmas Eve),” with just Eilertsen’s bass and Tillung’s melodica accompanying the singer; or Opheim singing unaccompanied for much of “Fryd dig du Kristi brud (Rejoice, you bride of Christ),” joined by the rest of the group plus recording engineer Håkon Brunborg on the choruses – the only addition being subtle drones from bass and violin. Tillung’s accordion plays a major role in “Eit barn er født i Betlehem (A child is born in Bethlehem),” but the whole ensemble eventually joins in; similarly, the saxophone is featured in the opening track “No koma Guds englar (Now come God’s angels). Økland plays a viola d’amore, both arco and pizzicato, on the beautiful song “I denne søte juletid (In this sweet Christmas season), and a short solo tune on the same instrument for the penultimate track “Dei to systrena (The two sisters).” The closing “Fra himlen høyt (From high heaven)” is the only entry I’d call experimental at all, in terms of arrangement, the accordion, bass, sax, and violin improvizing to create an aura of mystery and awe that perfectly suits Opheim’s delivery.
These albums are both non-traditional presentations of ultra-traditional material, quite welcome to some of us during this season that often feels stuck in a rut of the same songs, films, television shows, books, even newspaper editorials (“Yes, Virginia …”). Christmas Sessions is perhaps a bit more accessible with its simpler arrangements, while Helgasong provides more sonic variety. Both are worthy additions to the winter soundscape.
(Grappa, 2024)
(Heilo, 2024)
