It was a long wait serving notice on my job in London ahead of eventually moving to Norway – over 12 months in fact – which is a lot of time to ponder a new culture awaiting me on the other side of the North sea. Through research for the project æðelfrìth, I’d already started to become acquainted with Norwegian heritage beyond the most obvious global icons, as well as folk-music and instruments such as the Hardanger fiddle. A piece I was particularly struck with was Fanitullen by Johan Halvorsen (1864–1935), originally written for the play Fossegrimen by Sigurd Eldegard and premiered in 1905. Having already attempted some Celtic folk-inspired trumpet (in turn inspired by the brilliant Neil Yates‘ New Origins and Five Countries jazz albums), I wanted to try some Norwegian folk music on cornet. And so passing the hours waiting out my last days in London, I worked out an arrangement of Fanitullen for for eight cornets, and recorded it as a multitrack, playing all parts one by one.

Now in 2018, I’ve scaled it up to a full brass band cornet section and added accompaniment. Manger Musikklag have already programmed it for a number of concerts, including a foyer performance at Brass in Concert at the Sage, Gateshead in November. Looking forward to taking it live!

Here is the sheet music preview: