Sinikka Langeland: Maria's Song

This collection of Norwegian folk songs devoted to the Virgin Mary is another unexpected gem from ECM, which pioneered recordings by Keith Jarrett, Arvo Pärt, György Kurtág and eclectic others, acknowledging no boundaries in music. Sung by Sinikka Langeland, who also plays the 15-string Finnish kantele, these hymn-songs are wrapped around Bach, on solo viola or organ. If you can set aside purist tendencies, or enjoyed ECM's collaboration between Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble, the disc has a delicate appeal. The sound of the violin chaconne played on viola and transposed to a darker G minor, interwoven with Langeland improvising a keening, open-throated Ave Maria, proves strangely persuasive.