Elja — kristinetjogersen.no

ELJA (2024/25)

For KRONOS quartet and Benedicte Maurseth (50’)

Co-composed with Benedicte Maurseth, hardanger fiddle.
Premiered at Carnegie Hall New York (US) 28.03.25
Visuals by Evelina Dembacke

Elja is inspired by the vast open landscape of Hardangervidda in southern Norway. The mountain plateau is considered the largest in Europe, characterized by barren treeless moorland, with countless pools, lakes, rivers and streams, moraines and glaciers. You can walk for days and still have not reached the end. The Hardanger region is a vital habitat for numerous species.

Elja

Heipiplerka / Meadow Pipit (Rull)

Snødrev / Ground Blizzard (Springar)

Skumringsvinger / Wings of Dusk

Mýrr / Mire

Augnaferd / The Eye’s Distant Journey

Heimfjell / My Mountains (Halling)*

Elja honors the landscape and its inhabitants such as wild reindeer, wolverine, Arctic fox, cranes, golden plover, Lapland longspur, snowy owl, Eurasian whimbrel, curlew, ptarmigan and more: all of them part of a fragile ecosystem where everything is connected and co-dependent. In the past 50 years, several of these different animals, plants and insects have decreased in numbers. The reasons for this are many and complex, but one of the main factors is the human impact on the landscape. The loss of moorland and disappearance of insects are affecting the entire food chain, leaving the landscape more and more quiet.

The tradition of Hardanger fiddle music has been passed on orally from master’s to students over several centuries. This fiddle music is characterized by its use of modal scales, intricate rhythms, rich timbre, ornamentation, and numerous recurring musical motifs, which collectively allow for a high degree of individual expression.

Maurseth’s musical heritage forms the foundation of her compositions, which are often characterized by lyrical qualities, a strong melodic focus, and the use of minimalistic repetition in conjunction with spontaneous composition.

Tjøgersen’s compositional practice is characterized by curiosity, imagination, humor and precision. Through her work, she creates unexpected auditory situations through playing with tradition. Nature in motion and process is often reflected in her works, and collaboration with researchers and biologists is for her a source of new sound and scenic ideas that allows her to incorporate organic forms into the music.

As Tjøgersen puts it, “By giving nature a voice in the concert hall, I want the audience to get to know valuable forms of life, and to raise awareness of what can be lost if humans continue to change nature.”

The dynamic partnership of Tjøgersen and Maurseth is evident in their joint work Elja.
They have collaboratively composed a piece that skillfully blends Maurseth’s expertise as a traditional Hardanger fiddler with Tjøgersen's innovative and sonorous musical style, creating colorful landscapes filled with overtones, lyrical quality, adventurous spirit, wind, and groove.

The work Elja is performed on various types of Hardanger fiddles, which are instruments with resonating strings and different tunings, originating from the Hardanger region in Western Norway. It has been one of the main instruments in Norwegian traditional music for centuries. The gifted Hardanger fiddle luthier, Ottar Kåsa from Norway has custom built the Hardanger viola and Hardanger cello with resonating strings for the Kronos Quartet.

Photo: Ingo J. Biermann