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With the new release “Essays” the ensemble Music For A While, with Mathias Eick and Tora Augestad at the helm, continue its journey of interpreting centerpieces of the classical song canon. “Essays” is the band's 4th studio album, with songs written over three centuries, between 1614 and 1911, from the baroque masters of Monteverdi, Rameau and Charpentier, to the romantic era of Schumann, Brahms, Grieg and Faure.

The songs on the album are sung in French, Italian, German and Norwegian, as well as in English in two songs by Elgar and Engel. The Norwegian tenor, Magnus Rommetveit Staveland is a guest on the love duet “Pur Ti Miro” by Claudio Monteverdi. Thematically all the songs on this album circle around the ever-present themes of love and longing, represented by images, atmospheres, stories, thoughts and lyrics.

Music For A While consists of the award-winning Norwegian mezzo-soprano Tora Augestad and a group of outstanding Norwegian musicians: Stian Carstensen, Trygve Broske, Martin Taxt, Pal Hausken and Mathias Eick. Music For A While started as an ensemble in 2004. Originally interpreting songs by Kurt Weill, set to lyrics by Bertolt Brecht, it soon transcended into a genre-wandering band, digging into the European cultural heritage of western classical music. This group of musicians originates from jazz, rock, bluegrass, pop music, classical, contemporary and experimental music. Music For A While is a collective who enjoys rediscovering and revisiting songs that have belonged to previous generations.

TRACKLISTING:

1. In Haven (Elgar)
2. Sans Frayeur Dans Ce Bois (Charpentier)
3. Hor Ich Das Liedchen Klingen (Schumann)
4. Im Wunderschonen Monat Mai (Schumann)
5. Von Ewiger Liebe (Brahms)
6. Lamento Della Ninfa (Monteverdi)
7. Pur Ti Miro (Monteverdi)
8. Forets Paisible (Rameau)
9. Apres Un Reve (Faure)
10. En Svane (Grieg)
11. Sea-Shell (Engel)