Sigmund Groven & Iver Kleive: harmOrgan

HARMONICA AND ORGAN - AN UNUSUAL DUO. The world's smallest and the world's largest musical instrument; "David and Goliath" together in stunning baroque pieces and Norwegian folk music.

Sigmund Groven and Iver Kleive have collaborated for more than 30 years and have built a repertoire consisting mainly of baroque pieces and Norwegian music, most of which they have composed and arranged themselves. Even though they have chosen very different instruments, and are also quite different personalities in many ways, they have a fundamental musical rapport and understanding and also have many other things in common. They both originate from musical families; born and raised in Telemark, a region of Norway rich in folk-music, they have always had an open mind and taken keen interest in various contemporary and popular musical styles and idioms. They left Norway to study, and their mentors were the best possible role models: In Munich Iver came under the guidance of organist Franz Lehrndorfer and legendary choir­master, conductor, and organist Karl Richter, whereas Sigmund had the great fortune to study in England with his boyhood idol, the equally legendary Tommy Reilly, one of the great pioneers of serious harmonica-playing.

"In the right hands the harmonica can be an instrument of great beauty and sophistication. Sigmund Groven, like Tommy Reilly and Larry Adler before him, makes full use of the wide range and tonal expressions that the harmonica is capable of. His musicianship is superb, and he now unquestionably reigns supreme as one of the finest exponents of the harmonica in the world." - Sir George Martin