Oliver Schroer- Telling Stories

Telling Stories

Schroer says:

"I think of my violin as a vibration generator, a drum, a sex partner, a confidante. We dance, we tell each other secrets, we pray. We make music"

Violin as you've never heard it.

"My life has been the exploration of new types of melody. Trying to hear what has not been heard before. Or what has not been listened to for years. Over time really different kinds of melodies have emerged - more rarefied, harder to pin down. There were prayers, incantations, whimsies. melismas, mysteriosos, heisenbergs, fractal reels, forest blues, blessings.... "

Music of the heart.

"I want to push the envelope on my instrument not by going louder, or faster, but by going more musical, more subtle, more able to communicate meaning."

"I can draw some horsehair across these strings, and actually convey meaning and feeling to you. The fact that this communication between me and you can happen at all is the magic. That's why I play music. In fact, that is why I live."

And always the stories.

"My father was a great storyteller, and my mother read to us kids until I was about 18 years old. I grew up on stories. I think one of my mottos must be - If it's not a story, why bother saying it at all. When I'm performing, the stories that introduce the tunes are such an integral part of the show. They are like song lyrics - except that they happen between the pieces of music, not on top of the music. Its another important way for me to connect with the audience."

Living music.

"This music came to me in playing, not in thinking. In fact, I didn't really write these pieces at all. Rather, they announced themselves to me, and I was quick enough and lucky enough to catch them as they flitted by."

"These pieces the result of many hours of taped improvisation. Material surfaces and resurfaces in a cyclical way. The tunes are constantly evolving. Every time I play them, I do some things differently, and I have some new insights. This is very much living music for me."

The fiddle music of the 23rd century.

"The pieces on this double CD may not at first sound like fiddle music. Think of it more like the spirit of fiddle music projected into different landscapes and alternate dimensions. The great Cajun fiddler Dewey Balfa said about traditional music: "It's like a tree. The roots have to be strong, but you can't go cutting the branches off every time they want to grow." Wise words, those."

"When we think of fiddle tunes we often think of dancing and celebrating. In Norway, there are certain fiddle tunes that are specifically for listening, not for dancing. A different kind of celebration. This is what my music is. Stories, flights of fancy, explorations of melody, all told with the warm twang, the familiar brogue of a language called 'fiddle'.