Benedicte Maurseth / Kristine Tjøgersen /   Kronos Quartet //

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ELJA 2025

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«Elja» a new comissioned work by Benedicte Maurseth and Kristine Tjøgersen for Kronos Quartet and Maurseth. Premiered at Carnegie Hall, New York March 28, 2025.​

Elja was commissioned by the renowned Kronos Quartet and Carnegie Hall in New York, with its world premiere held at Carnegie Hall on March 28, 2025.

 

The piece was co-composed by Benedicte Maurseth and Kristine Tjøgersen, specifically for the quartet performing on Hardanger fiddles, Hardanger viola, and Hardanger cello pecially crafted by instrument maker Ottar Kåsa. The quartet is joined by composer Benedicte Maurseth as soloist on Hardanger fiddle.

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Benedicte Maurseth and Kristine Tjøgersen are part of a new generation of Norwegian composers deeply engaged with questions of ecology, and the ways in which we perceive our surroundings. Together they have created Elja, a musical response to the vast nature of Hardangervidda. 

 

The music embraces the resonant strings, alternative tunings and enveloping acoustic spaces of these traditional instruments, while opening tradition to new sonic worlds. At the Norway premiere at Ultima and in Strasbourg, Evelina Dembacke contributes with a visual design inspired by the unique flora of the mountain plateau, the shifting weather, and the changing daylight.