Wood Works – Easter Sunday / Polsk after Rasmus Storm

Wood Works Nordic folk tunes arranged by The Danish String Quartet

Easter Sunday / Polsk after Rasmus Storm Score

1. Ye Honest Bridal Couple (Faroe Islands) / Sønderho Bridal Trilogy – Part I (Fanø, Denmark) 2. Six Tour from Vendsyssel: The Topped Hen (Vendsyssel, Denmark) / The Peat Dance (Roskilde, Denmark) 3. Vigstamoin (Gudbrand Valley, Norway) 4. Waltz after Lasse in Lyby (Lyby, Sweden) 5. Ribers No. 8 (“Sterrands Rand”) (Svendborg, Denmark) 6. Sønderho Bridal Trilogy – Part II (Fanø, Denmark) 7. Five Sheep, Four Goats (Lolland, Denmark) 8. O Fredrik, O Fredrik (Trondheim, Norway) 9. Ack Värmeland, du Sköna (Värmland, Sweden) 10. Easter Sunday (Roskilde, Denmark) / Polsk after Rasmus Storm (Håstrup, Denmark) 11. Jässpodspolska (Dalarna, Sweden) 12. Old Reinlender from Sønndala (Sønndala, Norway) 13. Sønderho Bridal Trilogy – Part III (Fanø, Denmark) 14. Bosse Nordin’s Schottis (The High Coast, Sweden)

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Wood Works Nordic folk tunes arranged by The Danish String Quartet We are first and foremost a classical string quartet, we spend most of our time playing music by masters such as Beethoven and Bartok. Alongside this repertoire though, we’ve been digging into the roots of our local music tradition – Nordic folk music. For us traditional Nordic folk music is unique. It may reflect a different, simpler time, but we find this music incredibly relevant and meaningful to play. For several years, we experimented with bringing this music to the concert stage as a classical string quartet.

In September 2013 we decided to spend a week in the Danish countryside arranging and recording a handful of our favourite tunes. The setup was simple: we had no recording label, no long term plan, and we just barely managed to cover the costs via a crowdfunding campaign. Following the completion of recording, we sent it to Dacapo Records, and they liked what they heard. Wood Works became a reality!

It is hard for us to believe that this project would go so far. We have performed the music from Wood Works in venues all over the world, from traditional folk music festivals and alternative clubs to the most distinguished classical venues and concert halls imaginable. We have performed it on television and radio programs in several countries, Starbucks is presently rotating the album in their coffee shops and there’s talk about using the music on the soundtrack of a Nordic-themed computer game.

Over time, we’ve received numerous requests to publish our arrangements. It took us a while to gather all the scraps of paper together, but we are now proud to present the sheet music for the arrangements of Wood Works – including an extra bonus tune.

Feel free to dig in! We hope you will enjoy these wonderful tunes as much as we do.

Frederik Øland, Asbjørn Nørgaard, Fredrik Sjölin and Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen

10. Easter Sunday / Polsk after Rasmus Storm Påskedag / Polsk efter Rasmus Storm Poul Bjerager / Danish traditional Arr.: The Danish String Quartet The polska is a partner dance in 3/4 time. It is a family of music and dance forms that probably originated in Poland and became immensely popular in the Nordic countries in the 18th century. In this set we pair Roskilde fiddler Poul Bjerager’s polsk Påskedag, written in 1989, with an old polsk that we found in a collection of tunes written in the 1760s by the Danish fiddler, sailor and island dweller Rasmus Jørgensen Storm. If you watch a traditional fiddler playing a polsk, you will notice that the strong beats are the 1st and the 3rd beat of every bar – never the 2nd. This is very important to keep in mind to get the right swing of a polsk.

Performance Notes Folk music in its nature is passed down through an oral tradition so it can seem almost contradictory to actually write down these arrangements. We learned these tunes ourselves by listening to and playing with fiddlers who are masters of this traditional music. What is almost impossible to write down 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 directions in terms of the ornamentations, dynamics and articulations. We strongly encourage you to listen to our album Wood Works as well as other recordings of traditional Nordic folk music in general. This is music that is better learned with the ears than the eyes.

We would also like to emphasize that the only ‘traditional’ element of Wood Works is the actual melodies. Most of these melodies were originally meant for dancing, and they would traditionally be performed in much simpler versions than the arrangements we have made for Wood Works. Imagine two violins playing the melody in unison over and over again, until the dance finished. The function of traditional Nordic folk music was the dance. Our take has been slightly different as we have made these arrangements with the concert stage in mind. This has changed the function of the music, and it has naturally shaped our approach as well. We have taken a lot of freedom in changing the tempos and structure, and have added harmonies, transitions, and voicings to fully utilize the sound of a string quartet.

We would also like to mention that when you listen to Wood Works you will notice some minor discrepancies compared to the sheet music in your hands. Since recording the album we have played these arrangements quite a bit, and here and there we have found room for small improvements. Next to each arrangement in this book we have provided some historical background and occasional stylistic hints for achieving optimal performance practice for each tune.

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www.danishquartet.com

www.edition-s.dk Graphic design: Denise Burt | Photos: Caroline Bittencourt Thanks to: Poul Bjerager, Johannes Rusten, Nikolaj Busk, Anders Chr. N. Christensen, Bjarni Næss Sørensen, Peter Uhrbrand, Harald Haugaard, Jon Faukstad, Rudiger Meyer, Eva Ohrt, Henrik Rørdam, Jan Ranners, Claire Bryant and everyone who has inspired and helped us along the way.

The Danish String Quartet is a classical string quartet with a passion for Nordic folk music. They’ve brought their unique arrangements of Scandinavian folk tunes to the concert stage and recorded them on a highly successful CD. Now, due to popular demand, sheet music of these meticulously crafted arrangments is being made available for the first time in a carefully prepared edition. We hope you enjoy it.