SOUNDTRACK: DANISH STRING QUARTET-Tiny Desk Concert #399 (October 25, 2014).
I always enjoy hearing a string quartet that I’m unlikely to hear anywhere other than a Tiny Desk Concert. It’s fun to listen to them before reading anything about them to try to imagine where they’re coming from musically. The opening notes of the first song made me think they were a modernist quartet playing music that was repetitive and mildly atonal.
But they quickly swing it around into what turns out to be the first of many traditional Danish wedding folk songs!
While the quartet does play classical pieces as well, for this Tiny Desk Concert, they focus only on songs from their then recent album Wood Works. The blurb says “the group recently took a musical detour that landed them in the foggy inlets of the Faroe Islands (a Danish outpost halfway between Norway and Iceland) and various Nordic hamlets where folk tunes are played and passed on.”
The first piece is actually three melodies: “Traditional: Ye Honest Bridal Couple — Sønderho Bridal Trilogy Parts I & II” The piece begins somewhat atonally, but about 2 and a half minutes in the somber tones give way to a spritely melody that sounds like a great lost Irish jig. But soon enough with the addition of the other strings it sounds very romantic indeed. In what I presume is part II, around 6 minutes, the cello plays a wonderfully upbeat and catchy rhythm. The violins play staccato notes that keep the rhythm going while the viola and cello continue the melody–it’s pretty awesome. Especially as the song fades and each of the strings plays the riff in succession.
The second piece is in fact two pieces: Traditional: Sekstur from Vendsyssel — The Peat Dance.” Once again the two melodies sound kind of like Irish dances (I guess it’s time to call them Danish dances). The second half of the first part sound great as the full quartet plays a wonderful melody. But when the second part of the set comes and the super fast fiddling begins, it s hard not to dance (you can even hear someone tapping his foot as he plays). The big difference between this and Irish dance is the rather formal sounding and lovely ending melody.
The final piece is the third part of the Bridal Trilogy from the first piece: “Traditional (arr. Nikolaj Busk): Sønderho Bridal Trilogy Part III.” He says that these melodies date back many 100 years and are still used today. It begins very slowly and almost somberly. It doesn’t feel very wedding-like to me and of the three this is my least favorite.
The quartet sounds amazing. The players are Violinists Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen and Frederik Øland, violist Asbjørn Nørgaard and cellist Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin. It’s also kind of funny since three of the four have beards–not something you typically see on a string quartet. They acknowledge this on their website: “We are simply your friendly neighborhood string quartet with above average amounts of beard.”
[READ: June 20, 2016] Something New
Knisley has made a rather successful career out of writing graphic novel memoirs. She has covered food and travel. And, in a somewhat surprising twist (if you have been following her books), she just got married.
This is surprising because the man she married is the man she broke up with in one of the previous books. The story basically tells how they were on an off sorta kinda for years until they finally tied the knot.
So this book is the story of their relationship and their engagement. But beyond that it is also an interesting and helpful guide-book for those who want to get married but who may not be totally on board with all of the conventions and trapping of the wedding industry. (more…)
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