Composer: Turlough O’Carolan
Performer: Danish String Quartet, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, Frederik Øland, Asbjørn Nørgaard, Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, Nikolaj Busk, Ale Carr
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: ECM
Catalogue: 4875884
Release: 2024
Size: 912 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Mabel Kelly
02. Pericondine / Fair Isle Jig
03. Stormpolskan
04. En Skomager Har Jeg Været
05. Once a Shoemaker
06. Lovely Joan
07. Carolan’s Quarrel with the Landlady
08. Regin Smiður
09. Captain O’Kane
10. Kjølhalling
11. Planxty Kelly
12. As I Walked Out
13. Marie Louise / The Chat / Gale Warning
14. Når Mitt Øye, Trett Av Møje
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 fow of the recording, alongside the traditional material, are original compositions by Rune Tonsgaard Sorensen and Fredrik Schoyen Sjolin, 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 afnities 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.