Violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing has released her new album Colors of Bach on the Sony Classical label.

On the new recording, Hemsing uses new arrangements to reimagine J.S. Bach's music. The album presents twenty of Bach's most beloved works reinterpreted by arrangers Tim Allhoff, Jan-Peter Klöpfel, and Jarkko Riihimäki.

The three arrangers take a variety of approaches that range from new harmonic contexts to unexpected instrumentations to novel genres, but they are unified by a desire to maintain the essential artistic core of Bach's compositions.

Hemsing is joined in these arrangements by violinists Elise Båtnes, Liv Hilde Klokk-Bryhn, and Maria Carlsen, violist Ida Bryhn, cellist Louisa Tuck, bassist Kenneth Ryland, pianist Tim Allhoff, and harpsichordist Christian Kjos.

“Bach is such a genius composer that there are endless ways to look at the shapes and forms that make up his pieces," Hemsing reflects. "Every melody Bach composed contains an intriguing duality of being highly technical, yet profoundly emotional, and thus, there are endless possibilities for reinterpretation.”

“We wanted to create an opportunity for the audience to reconnect with such important pieces of history,” Eldbjørg continued.

Find the full album below:

 

 

Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing has performed internationally at venues including Lincoln Center, Wigmore Hall, and Beijing's National Centre for the Performing Arts. In addition, Hemsing is the Artistic Director of the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, the co-founder of the Hemsing Festival, and head of the Dextra Musica Foundation’s selection jury. She also serves as Artistic Director of the SPIRE initiative for young artists and is a member of the advisory board of Barratt Due’s progressive artist training program. An exclusive Sony Classical recording artist, Hemsing plays the 1707 Rivaz Baron Gutmann Stradivarius.