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The annual music and art festival Festspillene i Kristiansund is held this week, from 9-13 September.

The opening concert took place at Kirkelandet Church on Wednesday, September 9th, and included the premiere of a previously unreleased piece of music by Morten Harket and Peter Kvint called “Falling”.

The online music publication Applausen (paywall) has a report from the concert, which indicates that “Falling” was performed as an instrumental by a string quartet, together with Morten’s longtime collaborator Kjetil Bjerkestrand on piano. Bjerkestrand is originally from Kristiansund and heavily involved in the festival as its artistic director.

Here is the description from Applausen:

“The collaboration between Morten Harket and Peter Kvint resulted in the premiere of the previously unreleased piece “Falling”. The composition started in a quiet and meditative tempo, before gradually building in rhythm and intensity. The distinct pop-aesthetic foundation was transformed through the string arrangement, where frequent use of tapping gave the piece a modern, but still unmistakably classical character. One could regognize some of Harket’s musical style in the piece.”

Other performers at the opening concert included Cecilie Leganger, Jorun Marie Kvernberg, Jimu Makurumbandi and Tuva Halse.

Morten himself has previously performed at the same festival, back in September 2009, when he did a unique solo concert at Kirkelandet Church. The concert was called “Sideblikk” (“Side vision”), in which he performed a selection of Christian hymns, songs from his solo career and cover versions such as “Songbird” and “Grandma’s Hands” together with Kjetil Bjerkestrand and a string quartet.

The Swedish producer and songwriter Peter Kvint has been Morten’s main songwriting partner since before Out Of My Hands was released in 2012.

“I feel that we’re responding to the same things. He’s a good listener, and none of us feel that we’re standing in each other’s way. He’s curious about what I want to do, and so am I. I really feel that I’ve landed with this collaboration. He’s a real find. Things have never been easier, not least in the studio”, Morten said about Peter Kvint in a 2014 interview with VG.