During World War II, teenager Else Marie Pade (1924–2016) composed a series of seemingly innocent songs that were, however, written against a grim backdrop. During the war, Pade was deeply involved in the resistance against the German occupation, and in 1944, she was arrested by the Gestapo, subjected to harsh interrogations, and imprisoned in Aarhus Arrest.
It was there that she made a pivotal decision: "One night, when everything inside me was chaos, I screamed in fear and helplessness in my solitary cell—but no one came. I promised myself then that if I survived this, I would dedicate the rest of my life to music. In that moment, I felt an unusual calm. Light, warmth, and love surrounded me. I was no longer alone. That became the turning point in my life."
'One night, when chaos reigned inside me, I screamed loudly in fear and despair in my solitary cell – but no one came. Then I promised myself that if I survived this, I would devote myself to music for the rest of my life. Then I felt a strange calmness. Light, warmth, and love surrounded me. I found myself no longer alone. This became the turning point in my life.'
During the night in her cell, she began to compose, lacking paper, she scratched the notes into the cell wall with a suspender buckle. The first composition from the cell was the song Du og jeg og stjernerne ('You and I and the Stars'. After some time, she was transferred to the Frøslev Camp, where she continued to write songs.
The duo Dybfølt and singer Kira Martini have reinterpreted nine of Else Marie Pade's songs. Drawing from Pade's original sheet music, the musicians incorporated their own backgrounds in classical music, folk, and jazz. The result is a touching and charming meeting across time and genres. The recordings were released as a digital EP by Dacapo Records.
Now, the sheet music for the nine songs are published in a collected songbook, featuring lyrics in both Danish and English, along with sheet music and chord arrangements by Mathæus Bech.