Eg veit ei lita gjente. Songs, piano pieces and chamber music

I Know a Little Girl...
More beauty in Nordic Edition, this time from composer Paul Okkenhaug. The talented young soprano Eir Inderhaug makes her solo debut on CD with these songs. Warm, engaging melodic music from the recent past.
The music of Paul Okkenhaug is already known to Simax devotees through the recording of the Saint Olav Drama (PSC 3122) and more than 670 000 people through the Stiklestad Spel which takes place every summer on the place where Saint Olav was killed in 1030.
Farmer, composer and musician
Paul Okkenhaug was trained as an organist, and studied composition with Bjarne Brustad, David Monrad Johansen and Geirr Tveitt, among others. His production includes works for orchestra, choir, stage, piano, organ, chamber ensembles and solo song. After finishing his studies, Paul and his wife Magnhild built up a creative environment on the farm, inviting painters (Jakob Weidemann among them), writers and other artists to come and work at Ovre Okkenhaug farm.
First and foremost: the melody!
It was the ear and the heart Paul Okkenhaug wanted to reach in his melodies. Directly to the ear, immediately experienced and reacted to. The arrangement should support the simple tune and at the same time add some refinement, often in the guise of bold chords or a rhythmical edge. It was also important to Okkenhaug that his music should be played and sung by many, another thing that may have guided him into a style that is immediate and easy to like.
Genuine performances
The career of soprano Eir Inderhaug was given a jumpstart when winning a national televised competition in 1991 aged only 19. Since then she has worked for many years in Germany (Deutsche Oper am Rhein, among others) and is now based in Copenhagen. Her way of making music has a magic quality to it, always sounding true, pure and genuine - a trait ideal for the music of Okkenhaug. Pianist Sveinung Bjelland is devoted in his work both as a soloist and in the songs with nuanced and generous playing.
- A great recording with works by a unique composer. [Aftenposten]