Martin Fröst / The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra ROOTS

Sony Classical pre-releases Roots today exclusively in Sweden in advance of next week’s premiere performances of “Genesis” in Stockholm with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic.
The album, which is Martin Fröst’s first recording on the Sony label is set for international release on 29 January 2016.

The stunning new recording and concert programme created by Martin features a kaleidoscope of repertoire ranging 2000 years, tracing the evolution of music through a continuous soundscape. ”The listener will search long and hard to find works and performances like these in which folk music, a religious atmosphere and an avant-garde technique are combined to create such inspired music for our age” writes Wolfgang Sander of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in the booklet note.

Describing the programme – in which Martin features as both soloist and conductor – he comments “My sound-world journey travels through the sources of classical repertoire, and draws a line from the earliest “roots” of music—music inspired by dance and folk, music drawn from sacred rituals of praise, and music as pure entertainment—and explores how, from these roots,  we can open up a new musical door into the future. My journey moves from Gregorian chant, Hildegard von Bingen and Telemann, via gypsy, klezmer and traditional folk music from a variety of countries, all the way through to new works and re-workings of classical pieces… I wanted to give the feeling that, by listening to this programme its like walking through from one room to the next and suddenly you are in a totally different sound world – that idea turns me on.”

Roots refers not only to the origins of classical music in religious music and folk music but also to the very personal roots of Martin himself. The final track is a setting of the beautiful and simple Scandinavian folksong Jag vet en dejlig rosa (I know a rose so comely) which comes from Dalarna in the heart of Sweden.