Do the best classical works have anything to gain from transcription to the organ? What new dimensions can be explored? Nils Henrik Asheim attempts to answer these questions and more by transferring both Edvard Grieg’s Ballade and Geirr Tveitt’s Hundrad Hardingtonar to the concert organ’s colour palette.

The Ballade is Grieg’s greatest work for solo piano. Through a magnificent, epic range of variations over a Norwegian folk song, he wrote away his grief over the loss of his parents, his marital problems, and his artistic stagnation. Asheim’s organ edition closely follows these restless mood changes, from the lyrical to the triumphant.

Geir Tveitt hit a gold mine when he combined folk tunes from Hardanger with his unique sense of harmony and orchestration. Asheim took inspiration from the lush spectrum of colours of the Hundrad Hardingtonar version for orchestra and pulled out the organ’s entire stock of creative sound combinations for the task. This selection counts 18 tunes, from the poignant “V lkomne med ra” to the hypnotic “Harding l” to the mystical “Folgafodne fort l ingjenting”.

After five years, Asheim believes that the instrument of the Stavanger Concert Hall is ripe for its first CD release. The 65-stop concert organ from Ryde & Berg in Fredrikstad has been praised for its organic, warm sound and is frequently used by performers from home and abroad.