Keel Road Danish String Quartet

• Turlough O'Carolan (1670 - 1738): Mabel Kelly (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet):
• 1 O'Carolan: Mabel Kelly (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet) 04:16
• Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen (b. 1983): Pericondine / Fair Isle Jig (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet):
• 2 Traditional, Sørensen: Pericondine / Fair Isle Jig (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet) 02:57
• Ale Carr (b. 1989): Stormpolskan (Arr. for String Quartet, Piano and Cittern by the Danish String Quartet):
• 3 Carr: Stormpolskan (Arr. for String Quartet, Piano and Cittern by the Danish String Quartet) 04:27
• Traditional: En Skomager Har Jeg Været:
• 4 Traditional: En Skomager Har Jeg Været 00:43
• Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen: Once a Shoemaker:
• 5 Sørensen: Once a Shoemaker 04:20
• Traditional: Lovely Joan (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet):
• 6 Traditional: Lovely Joan (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet) 03:08
• Turlough O'Carolan: Carolan's Quarrel with the Landlady (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet):
• 7 O'Carolan: Carolan's Quarrel with the Landlady (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet) 02:18
• Traditional: Regin Smiður (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet):
• 8 Traditional: Regin Smiður (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet) 03:38
• Turlough O'Carolan: Captain O’Kane (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet):
• 9 O'Carolan: Captain O’Kane (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet) 03:15
• Fredrik Sjølin (b. 1982): Kjølhalling:
• 10 Sjølin: Kjølhalling 03:21
• Turlough O'Carolan: Planxty Kelly (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet):
• 11 O'Carolan: Planxty Kelly (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet) 02:06
• Traditional: As I Walked Out (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet):
• 12 Traditional: As I Walked Out (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet) 04:30
• Fredrik Sjølin, Traditional, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen: Marie Louise / The Chat / Gale Warning (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet):
• 13 Sjølin, Traditional, Sørensen: Marie Louise / The Chat / Gale Warning (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet) 07:19
• Traditional: Når Mitt Øye, Trett Av Møje (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet):
• 14 Traditional: Når Mitt Øye, Trett Av Møje (Arr. for String Quartet by the Danish String Quartet) 05:05
• Total Runtime 51:23

Info for Keel Road

The Danish String Quartet’s new album is a “retracing of musical pathways across the North Sea, a journey through the sounds of traditional music from Northern Europe, taking us from Denmark and Norway to the Faroe Islands, and to Ireland and England.”

It follows on from Last Leaf, the Danish String Quartet’s much-loved 2017 release, which was Classical Album of the Year at NPR and a best of the year selection at publications from the New York Times to Gramophone. Keel Road underlines the group’s statement that “folk tunes are not just a part of our repertoire, but an important element of our identity as musicians.” Subtly integrated into the flow of the recording, alongside the traditional material, are original compositions by Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen and Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, eloquently expressive in a folk idiom. Other highlights include the DSQ’s beguiling arrangements of four compositions by Turlough O’Carolan, legendary harper from Ireland’s County Meath. In total, the journey illuminates musical affinities as well as distinctions, for while folk music “represents local traditions and local stories, it is also the music of everywhere and everyone.”

Keel Road was recorded at Copenhagen’s Village Recording Studio in November 2022, and mixed at Munich’s Bavaria Musikstudios in March 2024.

“Folk tunes are not just a part of our repertoire, but an important element of our identity as musicians” (The Danish String Quartet)

Danish String Quartet

Danish String Quartet
As a string quartet, we find ourselves at the core of the classical music world. On a daily basis we delve deeply into works by great masters such as Beethoven and Mozart, but we also play the occasional folk gig. Over the years we have been fortunate to study in many different places in masterclasses with renowned teachers and have had opportunities to perform in major concert halls across the world. Sometimes a friendly reviewer has written nice things about us too. We have participated in competitions and made some recordings as well. If you want to know more about all this stuff, check out the ‘press‘ page on our site, where you can download a PDF with all the text you could hope for.

Here’s a simpler story of the quartet: We are three Danes and one Norwegian cellist, making this a truly Scandinavian endeavor. We are often joking about ourselves being modern Vikings – perhaps a touch more harmless than our ancestors – we are not pillaging cities or razing the English coastline! We are simply your friendly neighborhood string quartet with above average amounts of beard.The three of us met very early in our lives in the Danish countryside at an amazing summer camp for enthusiastic amateur musicians. Not yet teenagers, we were the youngest players, so we hung out all the time playing football and chamber music together. During the regular school year we would get together often to play music and just have fun. We became best friends. In 2001, professor Tim Frederiksen of The Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen got in touch with us and started coaching us on a regular basis. All of the sudden, at the ages of 15 and 16, we were a serious string quartet. It all happened so fast that none of us seemed to notice the transition.

Time passed and we grew up. We were enrolled at The Royal Academy of Music and our life as music students had begun. Funnily enough, none of us have any memory of our lives without the string quartet. In 2008 Norwegian cellist Fredrik joined in, generously adding to the amount of beard and general Vikingness of the group. We found him hidden away in a castle outside Stockholm. During his free time, Fredrik can be found fixing or sailing his sailboat somewhere in Scandinavia.The rest of us spend time with different hobbies – old cars, cooking, gaming, reading, playing, talking, and drinking. Yes, playing string quartets is our job, and yes it is hard work, but we mostly do it for pleasure, like we always did.There is so much amazing music to delve into, and our hope is to continue our travels through life and music together as a quartet. We want to be able to share our music with as many people as possible. And of course, the ultimate goal is to beat Valentin Berlinsky’s (Borodin String quartet) world record of “most years in the same chamber music group”. We will reach that goal around 2060 and on that day we will host a giant feast – you shall all be invited!

Booklet for Keel Road