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
