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This anniversary tribute collection to polar hero Roald Amundsen may well be one of the most original and unusual recorded musical portrayals of an Antarctic theme.  Jonas M. Qvale is the founder and a member of Norwegian group Hornorkesteret, formed in 1999 as an experimental art project, which has played in concert halls, museums, in the woods, on mountaintops and contributed to films and theatre.  He told us that “I run a band called Hornorkesteret, The Norwegian Polar Orchestra, and we play soundscapes and experimental music on stringed reindeer antlers, stones, drums flutes, logs, ice, coffee percolators and other things.  Our main musical concern is the forces of nature, and in particular how they are expressed in the Polar Regions.  We have also been very inspired by polar exploration and the period from 1860-1920, when the last “white areas” on the globe were charted and “conquered”.  We also find inspiration in the animals of the Polar Regions and their struggle to survive.
By amplifying the reindeer antlers with contact microphones, we are able to get a range of unusual sounds - from the underwater calls of Arctic and Antarctic animals like walrus, seals, various whales and penguins to creaking ship hulls, ice floes, ice shelves breaking off and howling winds.
We have just released an MP3 single commemorating the 80 years since polar hero Roald Amundsen disappeared in the Arctic with the seaplane Latham 47.  The title track, Elegi for Roald Amundsen features the vocals of another great Norwegian polar hero, Fridtjof Nansen, taken from his speech at Amundsen’s funeral.  Two other tracks related to Amundsen are included on this release, Mot Sydpolen (Towards the South Pole), an imagined soundtrack to the trek towards the Pole in 1911, and Mandolin Under et Vindu (Mandolin Under a Window), which looks at Amundsen’s youth and his early determination to make a name for himself in the Polar regions.  Finally, a live version of the title track is included, recorded at the memorial monument at Amundsen’s birthplace in Borge, Norway at a memorial ceremony on the 18th of June 2008, complete with birdsong and rustling leaves.”
Towards the South Pole is a wonder of feral squawks, bleats and percussion, underlain by a menacing bass and as marching music might be more than adequate to encourage anyone to trek to the Pole and back.  www.hornorkesteret.no; www.myspace.com/hornorkesteret