The Ssens Trio have embarked on a musical journey that will see the ensemble present the string trio arrangement of Bach’s Goldberg Variations in weekly video instalments.

The trio will publish one variation every Sunday, beginning with the opening ‘Aria’ which was released yesterday. On Sunday 31 December, the 16th variation ‘Ouverture’ will mark an intended upbeat to 2024, the year in which the trio will celebrate its tenth anniversary as an ensemble.

’As we start the process of ”digging into” this work, we will be using Dmitry Sitkovetsky’s transcription while also referring to Henle’s Urtext,’ said the members of the Norwegian ensemble, which comprises violinist Sølve Sigerland, violist Henninge Landaas and cellist Ellen Margrete Flesjø.

’We approach this process with a certain degree of humility, but also with joy and enthusiasm. We look forward to studying the splendour and vast richness of the ideas overflowing throughout every moment of the Goldberg Variations.’

The trio intends to show its ‘works in progress’ on social media. The process will eventually culminate in a recording for LAWO Classics.

Photo credit: Bard Gundersen

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