Album: Sinikka Langeland, Maria's Song (ECM)

An odd and intermittently beautiful combination of finger-in-the-ear Norwegian folk songs about the Virgin Mary (sung by Langeland), with performances of Bach played by Lars Anders Tomter on a viola of 1590 and Kare Nordstoga on the baroque organ of Nidaros cathedral in Trondheim, where the recording was made.

The Bach pieces include Suite No 1 transposed from cello to viola and interwoven with the folk songs, and the disc concludes with the Partita No 2. A note by Langeland explains why, which is something to do with hymns.