Flying High Again
Two years after releasing the dramatic Dead Magic, Anna von Hausswolff returns to her first love: the pipe organ. But this time there’s a difference. Prog catches up with the Swedish experimentalist to find out more about her first instrumental album, and the enchanting landmark that inspired it.
Words: Hannah May Kilroy Images: Gianluca Grasselli
“It was liberating to make an instrumental album because it allowed a more introverted and meditative approach to the music.”
Door of hell in Sacro Bosco. Easy to see why it’s known as the Park Of The Monsters.
LUIGI GALPERTI/REDA&CO/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES
W ithin a wooded valley beneath the castle of Orsini in central Italy lies the magnificent Sacro Bosco. Translating into English as ‘Sacred Garden’ and also known as the Park Of The Monsters, it was commissioned in the 16th century by military leader and patron of the arts Pier Francesco Orsini – many speculate as a way to deal with the grief of losing his wife. The Sacro Bosco is filled with grotesque sculptures of mythological figures and buildings wrapped in vegetation – an antidote to the careful pruning and classical sculptures of traditional Italian Renaissance gardens. It was here, in this eerie and enchanting place, that Anna von Hausswolff found inspiration for her fifth solo album, All Thoughts Fly.