Welcome all to a cozy afternoon together.
Danish word of the day – hygge: that feeling of a cosy and convivial atmosphere that promotes wellbeing and simply being present. Hard to translate into English, but you’re about to be immersed in the cosiness of live (and lively) folk tunes, in person, together in this comfortable and inviting space. Maybe you’ll walk away with a little more of a sense of hygge as a Danish way of life.
While the two main works we’re playing today have ties to Denmark (home to both the composer Nielsen and the eponymous Danish String Quartet), you will hear music from all over the Nordic countries.
A quick geography lesson: the Nordic countries include Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden), Finland, Iceland and other autonomous areas (Greenland, Faroe Islands and Åland).
Andante festivo, JS 34a (1922)
Jean Sibelius (Finnish, 1865 – 1957)
Originally written as a string quartet piece to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Säynätsalo sawmills, it was later adapted for string orchestra and timpani and played as Finland’s greeting to the world in a radio broadcast at New Year’s Eve during the 1939 New York World’s Fair. The orchestral setting may be the more familiar, but we are excited to share the original setting of this piece.
Last Leaf (selections)
Various, arranged by the Danish String Quartet (2017)
The Danish String Quartet properly formed at a Copenhagen Summer Festival in 2002, comprised of three Danish players and a Norwegian cellist.
Last Leaf is the second album of “traditional” / “folk” music that the quartet has presented, featuring tunes from across the years and across the Nordic world. The quartet themselves helpfully describe the various works and their origins; we have gratefully included their words at the end of these notes.
We highly encourage you to appreciate these songs as one would in the comfort of one’s town, with friends, at a pub – smile, dance, hum.
(Grab a drink, chat to people!)
Heyr, himna smiður (1973) (“Hear, smith of the heavens”)
Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson (Icelandic, 1938–2013) arranged by D Kumar
This hymn is the oldest surviving hymn text written by an Icelander in the native language. The text comes from Kolbeinn Tumason (1173 – 1208), a Viking chieftain who may have written the hymn a day before his death in battle. Sigurbjörnsson’s setting is much more modern, but only the second time the hymn has been set to music. One impromptu performance in a German train station in 2013 made this song a viral hit. The poem features three verses – our arrangement aims to provide three settings of the hymn.
String Quartet No. 1 in g minor, Op 13 (1889)
Carl August Nielsen (Danish, 1865 – 1931)
Allegro energico
Andante amoroso
Scherzo: Allegro molto
Finale: Allegro (inquieto)
The early 20th century saw many Nordic countries each with a national composer to be proud of - Sibelius in Finland, Grieg in Norway, Stenhammer in Sweden and Nielsen in Denmark.
While respecting the Viennese and German classics, each Nordic composer respected the folklore and folk tunes of their cultures. Nielsen was no different: playing string quartets during his studies at the Copenhagen conservatory led him to have a special affection for Mozart and Haydn. This classical influence finds its way into Nielsen’s first quartet (written when he was 22), alongside rustic elements inspired by his more rural upbringing in the countryside.
Originally written in 1889, Nielsen revised his first quartet before its first public performance in 1898 – including the addition of a “résumé” in the finale, bringing back themes from the first, third and fourth movements. The interplay between minor and major keys remains throughout the quartet, introduced early in the first movement’s more lyrical second motif.
Ultimately the piece was dedicated to Johan Svendsen, a Norwegian composer and conductor (whom Nielsen had played under in the Royal Danish Orchestra ever since he wrote the quartet), for Svendsen’s 60th birthday.
Sov, sov, liten gut (2007) (“Sleep, sleep, little boy)
Frank Havrøy (Norwegian) arranged by D Kumar
A traditional Norwegian lullaby (with a very strong focus on the natural surroundings), set to a comforting and calming melody by Frank Havrøy.
Baritone/tenor Havrøy joined the choral ensemble Nordic Voices in 1997. He works as a freelance singer and composer, doing projects of different styles and genres. In 2008 he started as a PhD graduate at the Norwegian Academy of Music with a project that concentrates on the classical, contemporary vocal ensemble.
The arrangement was made for this concert, from a score that Darsha used to sing with Harmoni, a choral ensemble in Sydney.
About the tunes
Folk music in its nature is passed down through an oral tradition so it may seem almost contradictory to actually write down these arrangements. What is almost impossible to notate is the particular “swing” of each tune and the ornamentations and melodic variations that are so essential in the Nordic folk music tradition. We have tried to find a balance between notating the melodies in a rather simple and open way, while still giving some direction in terms of the ornamentations, dynamics and articulations. We encourage you to not only play the music, but to play with the music and to find your own way of doing it. There’s no right or wrong!
If you want to learn more about how we play the melodies, please visit www.youtube.com/danishquartet for more detailed instructions. We hope you will enjoy the music!
Rune, Frederik, Asbjørn & Fredrik.
Shore
(Fredrik Sjölin, 2017)
Shore is a little folk-fantasy written by Fredrik, simply inspired by the vast coastline and the many hundreds of islands that form Denmark. Just as the shore is the last thing you see when leaving, it it is also the first thing you experience when returning. Opening the album, the idea was to create a musical resemblance of the landfall.
Polska from Dorotea
(Swedish traditional)
A famous polska, attributed to Swedish fiddler, teacher and cantor Johan August Andersson (1866-1902), who lived in the village Dorotea in Lapland. Andersson had quite a tragic life, losing his wife and daughter in child-birth, which resulted in a local scandal when he entered the church mid-service to publicly curse God. He was subsequently fired from his teaching position, but was allowed to stay as a cantor, because he was such a good fiddler. Later his mental derangement worsened until he was primarily known in Dorotea as “Crazy Andersson” spending his last years alone in a small house in the middle of the village.
This tune has a natural sense of gravity and swing, and an almost la follia-like progression. And although the polska dance usually tends to be a tad slower, we like it when played with “sturm und drang”!
Tjønneblomen
(Gjermund Haugen, Norway)
The tune Tjønneblomen (meaning something close to The Water Lily in Norwegian) is a waltz composed by the renowned fiddler Gjermund Haugen, born in 1914 in the county of Telemark. At first glance it might seem very traditional, but it has an unusual five-part structure, revealing that it is a contribution to the modern concert stage, rather than just a traditional dance tune. The melancholic melody has proven viable amongst fiddlers today, although people still discuss whether Gjermund wrote it as a tribute to his homestead, or to the girl that he loved but never got..
Æ Rømeser
(Danish traditional)
Sønderho is a tiny village on the southern tip of the Danish island Fanø. It is a legendary location for Nordic folk music aficionados. In Sønderho they have a unique type of dance, a “sønderhoning”, which is entirely unique to the island. It is a dance that somewhat resembles a polska, but the music is played in a different meter than the dance, creating a very hypnotic feeling of coordinated un-synchronization.
A Rømeser is one of the traditional sønderhonings from the 18th century, the title simply meaning The one from Romø: Rømø is the first island south of Fanø and is perhaps the origin of this particular sønderhoning.
Shine You No More
(Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, 2017)
The inspiration for this tune came after listening to a song by English renaissance composer John Dowland called Flow My Tears. John Dowland was composer at the Danish court under King Christian IV and in this song from 1596, he uses a very nice chord progression which became the foundation for the C part of Shine You No More.
Dromte Mig En Drom
(Danish traditional)
The oldest known secular song in the Nordic countries.
Drømte Mig En Drøm is notated on the last leaf of parchment in the Codex Runicus, a codex from the beginning of the 13th century, written in runes. It contains the so-called Scanian Law - the oldest known provincial text in Scandinavia - and it chronicles the early Danish monarchs. The meaning of Dromte Mig En Drom has been debated, but most scholars agree that it is a song about justice and fair play.
Stædelil
(Danish traditional)
A traditional Danish medieval ballad telling the tale of the young knight named Stædelil. The story is one of magic and love.
Like many other folk songs, Stædelil exists in many versions in different countries. In Denmark there is a version of the song, where Stædelil goes by the name “Ridder Stig” (Knight Stig). Curiously, this song was arranged for soprano, four-part chorus and piano by none other than Beethoven in the 1810’s as an early predecessor to our project of playing folk music as a classical string quartet.
Naja’s Waltz
(Fredrik Sjölin, 2017)
Naja loves the sentiment of the typical Swedish polskas, often in minor. And when she asked Fredrik to write one, he ran eagerly to his desk, ready to fulfill the task!
He wasn’t very good at it though, and the tune that came out was rather an asymmetrical waltz with a little Norwegian touch. Nevertheless, Naja loved it!
Unst Boat Song
(Shetlandic traditional)
The island of Unst, situated in the very north of the Shetland Islands, has for hundreds of years conserved this simple and rather captivating little melody. If you ever wanted to hear real Viking music, this is probably very close! No one knows exactly when this song came to life or who wrote it, but the language of the three surviving verses, partly in Norse and partly an extinguished dialect, suggests that it is very old.
Although the lyrics leave some room for interpretation, it most certainly concerns the strong winds at sea, the difficulties handling the boat, and the prayer for coming home safely.
Hur Var Du I Aftes Så Sildig
(Danish traditional)
Another tune from Rasmus Storm’s collection but this one is slightly more mysterious than the straightforward Minuet no. 6o. Firstly, the melody has an elaborate title, something that wasn’t too common back then.
Additionally the melody has an unusual bar structure of 3+5 rather than of 4+4, making it unsuitable for all known Danish dances in the 18th century.
The Dromer
(Scottish/Danish traditional)
One of the most important collections of Danish tunes was assembled by the Bast Brothers from 1763 - 1782. The two brothers, Christian Frederik and Paul Danchel, grew up on the island of Lolland in the second half of the 18th century. Both of them studied theology in Copenhagen, making their way through their collegiate years by playing music at parties and social occasions. The Dromer is technically an English dance. In the final decades the 18th century, dances from the British Isles were very much in fashion in Denmark and naturally the Bast Brothers had several English dances in their repertoire. The peculiar title of this tune is probably a misspelling of The Drummer, which is a fairly well-known Scottish reel that is identical to the melody notated by the Bast Brothers. The Drummer started to appear in British tune collections around 1700 and it later morphed into the famous Scottish song The Piper o’ Dundee, which was used to “stir up the chiefs and their clans” during the Jacobite rising.
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Intermezzo
(Fredrik Sjölin, 2017)
A little musical break written by Fredrik, that comes and goes faster than a daydream…