"Timint Areh" by Yggdrasil and Vera Kondrateva. Released in 2022. (HJF555)
"Porkerisvatn" by Yggdrasil. Released in 2021. (HJF355)
"Masques" – Quatre tempéraments avec ouverture by Yggdrasil, released in 2018. (HJF477)
"Lipet El, Seven Brothers" by Vera Kondrateva, Kristian Blak and Yggdrasil, released in 2016. (HJF377)
"Dímun" by Yggdrasil, released in 2014. (HJF333)
"Grót & Vatn" by Yggdrasil, released in 2012. (HJF233)
"Travelling" by Yggdrasil, released in 2011. (HJF222)
"Seta" by Richard Nunns and Yggdrasil, released in 2009. Seta is Faroese for "meeting/gathering" – a combination of music set in natural and studio settings, bringing together musical instruments and ideas from Nordic and Mäori traditions. Recorded in the Faroe Islands in the cave Klæmintsgjógv on the island of Hestur and a studio overlooking Hest fjord. (HJF155)
"Duologues" by Yggdrasil, released in 2009. This transatlantic joint venture by Faroese composer Kristian Blak and Danish artist Anders Hjuler creates a new concept. Duologues can consist of talk or just two being together. Here, two brilliant destinies meet in an interesting, touching, important or famous situation. We have created 9 compositions in music and oil pastels illustrating meetings over 2500 years from Confucius and Laotse 500 BC to Mandela and Dalai Lama today. (HJF188)
"Askur" by Yggdrasil, released in 2007. In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the World Tree. (HJF133)
"Risastova" by Kristian Blak/Yggdrasil, released 2006. Compositions and arrangements by Kristian Blak and Kári Sverrisson for the ensemble Yggdrasil. (HJF111)
"The Tübingen Concert" by Yggdrasil. Released in 2005. (HJF122)
"Live in Rudolstadt" by Kristian Blak/Yggdrasil, released in 2004. During 2003 Kristian Blak presented his group YGGDRASIL at numerous concerts around the world. Yggdrasil’s music is mainly compositions by Kristian Blak and interpretations of ethnic material from the North Atlantic region: Faroese ballads, hymns, rhymes, Inuit songs, Shetland music, and ethno-jazz-world music. (HJF099)
"Yggdrasil" by Yggdrasil, released in 2002. Compositions and arrangements by Kristian Blak for the Nordic ensemble Yggdrasil and Faroese singer Eivør Pálsdóttir. Yggdrasil is the World Tree in Norse mythology. (HJF088)
"Concerto Grotto" and "Drangar" by Yggdrasil, released in 1984/95. Two suites composed by Kristian Blak. "Concerto Grotto" from 1984 was previously released as an LP and recorded live in a cave of Sandoy. "Drangar" was written in 1993 and first performed at the Faroe Islands Art Gallery during the 1993 Tórshavn Jazz Festival. It was recorded in 1995. (HJF033)
"Brøytingar" by Yggdrasil, released in 1988. "Brøytingar" is about change, about the inevitability of destruction in the name of progress. It is the reason that the melodies Blak has written are tinged with a sense of wistful melancholy. (HJF021)
"De fire tårne" (Four Towers) by Yggdrasil, released in 1997. (HJF019)
"Concerto Grotto" by Yggdrasil, released in 1984. (HJF018)
"Heygar og Dreygar" by Yggdrasil, released in 1983. (HJF015)
"Ravnating" by Yggdrasil, released in 1982. This is a multimedia work, a fusion of music composed by Kristian Blak and photographs by Philippe Carré. A selection of reproductions from the original dias series presented live in concert is included with this CD. This is a special re-release, digitally remastered for Tutl's 25th anniversary. (HJF013)
"Den Yderste Ø" by Yggdrasil, released in 1981. This is a recording of poems by William Heinesen. Music composed and arranged by Kristian Blak. Recitation by Pouel Kern. This was a special re-release, digitally remastered for Tutl's 25th anniversary. (HJF012)
YGGDRASIL
Kristian Blak is pianist, founder and the main composer of the group. He has written several large scale works in suite form for Yggdrasil, most of these released on Tutl Records. Yggdrasil is a Nordic ensemble, based in the Faroe Islands. Formed in 1981, it has always included musicians from other countries.
Yggdrasil has, from its inception, had a distinct concept. Most compositions have been created in collaboration with other forms of art or, in some cases, with nature. Musicians that have been part of the ensemble, whether on long-term basis or as participants in a particular project, have varied musical backgrounds, mainly in jazz, but also in ethnic, folk, rock and classical music. While the works draw ideas or themes from ethnic material, improvisation ranges from free to classical style.
Over the years, many musicians and artists have contributed to Yggdrasil’s projects, which include visual art, poetry, ballet, opera, concertos in grottos; and essential to the Yggdrasil concept is that the personality of each individual member of the ensemble be heard or seen. This makes Yggdrasil’s sound truly unique.
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the World Tree. The branches of the mighty ash reach up above the heavens, and its three roots pass into the realms of the Æsir and of the frost giants and descend deep into the underworld. At the very top of Yggdrasil sits the wise eagle, keeping watch. The three Norns water and nurture the tree each day, while the great serpent Niðhøgg, together with a host of lesser snakes, gnaws at its root. Thus, the tree is in a state of cosmic equilibrium, constantly threatened and devoured as it grows and flourishes.
Yggdrasil, the World Tree, is all-encompassing; Yggdrasil, the ensemble, has a repertoire that encompasses a wide range of genres – from free jazz to classical – and expressions – from humor and beauty to disaster and destruction. The line-up of the band has similarly changed organically over the years. Like new branches of the tree, some of the musicians are a generation or more younger than those who founded the group. As an ensemble, Yggdrasil continues its growth in exploring new paths of musical expression.