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HALVA is the international ensemble with which Nicolaas Cottenie investigates the links between traditional Yiddish music and the surrounding cultures. They combine the traditional sensibility of Eastern European music with fresh ideas, and he always finds new ways to sound exciting and inviting, but also still familiar.

The result is lively, energetic music that pushes the boundaries of sound and genre. It is music that speaks to the mind and the heart.
On their new album Halva is looking for that place over the rainbow where Jewish, Bulgarian, Romanian, Greek Middle Eastern and even Euopean classical music meet. Nicolaas Cottenie's original, surprising and expressive compositions, played with great virtuosity and passion, add up to a multifaceted and gripping album.

Moments of ecstatic energy contrast with subtle manipulations of sonic timbre in moments of introversion and reflection, delicately inviting the listener to float and dream away. The traditional sound of violins (Nicolaas Cottenie & Alina Bauer), clarinet (Anja Günther) and flutes & kaval (Marine Goldwaser) evoke the poetic beauty of the pre-modern world, harking back to a time when the only repetitive sounds to be heard were those of the trance-inducing rhythms of traveling orchestras who played through the night for dancers.

Tracks:
1. Breakfast in Kiev   06:20
2. Frelex   03:34
Prelistening:
3. Hora din Kaval   04:19
4. Dinner in Sofia   02:40
5. Saba Syrto   07:16
Prelistening:
6. Romanian Shepherd's Tune 02:14
7. Coffee in Beirut 02:44
Prelistening:
8. Geamparale 06:00
9. Khosidl für das neue Leben 03:57
Prelistening:
10. Greek Lydian Hora 03:40
11. Hora Pentru Lora 08:45

Total Time: 51:29

All tracks composed by Nicolaas Cottenie, and published by ORIENTE Musik.

Produced by Nicolaas Cottenie, Robbe Kieckens und Sebastion Omerson.
Egineered, recorded & mixed by Sebastion Omerson @ Number Nine Studios, Gent.
Mastered by Uwe Teichert @ Elektropolis, Brussels.

Cover by Renaldo Candreva

Released June 18, 2021