Solid musical heritage gels ensemble
There have been four Danish String Quartets in history, but only one is currently active. The Citizen found out more about this talented ensemble, named New Generation artists by the BBC, from violinist Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen. The rest of the ensemble is Fredrik Sjölin, cello; Frederik Øland, violin; and Asbjørn Nørgaard, viola.
Q Who are the Danish String Quartet?
A The Danish String Quartet is a musical and personal friendship between three Danes and a Norwegian. We are based in Copenhagen where we took most of our quartet education. It’s a nice town with a strong chamber music scene and a good airport which is important when travelling a lot around the world.
Q When did you get together?
A We met at a summer camp for amateur musicians around 15 years ago. It’s a place where the sheer joy of music making is the main thing. Mornings and afternoons are reserved for orchestra playing — nights for chamber music. We would bring a pile of our favourite string quartets, some beers on the side and start to sight read all night. That became a strong foundation for a lifelong friendship. Later, we started taking lessons with the chamber music professor of the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Tim Fredriksen, and in 2002 we played our first public concert.
Q The quartet seems motivated to play Scandinavian composed music. Is that part of the mission statement.
A 2015 is the 150th anniversary year for Carl Nielsen. Being a Danish ensemble, it feels natural to present his rather-unknown chamber music to a foreign audience. We recorded all his string quartets in 2006-2007 and since then we have been playing his music regularly. We don’t see it as a lifelong mission to promote his music though, so next year we will take a well-deserved break from Carl Nielsen.
Q This also involves some folk music. What is the attraction of that?
A In 2013, we arranged and recorded a handful of Nordic folk tunes. We find it very interesting to show our musical roots by playing some Nordic folk tunes. The music is rather simple but sometimes beauty lies in the simplicity. The music speaks to your heart — occasionally to your legs — more than the brain and finally it can be nice for the audience to hear something new and fresh.
Q Does the folk genre take up most of the Wood Works performance?
A I always find it hard to put music in a genre box. The result of our arrangements from Wood Works lies somewhere between the classical and the folk world, being both serious, deep, spontaneous and playful. A mix of the best things from both sides. But all the tunes are traditional Nordic folk tunes, so the short answer to your question would be yes.
Q An aspect of Canadian cultural life is, it is dominated by a larger neighbour. Is that the case in Denmark? How do you combat that?
A In terms of language, music, literature and visual arts, Denmark has been deeply influenced by German and Central European culture for centuries. But things are starting to change. For a long time, Denmark and the Danish people have been looking out to the big world. Throughout the 18th and 19th century, Danish art was very influenced by the cultural powerhouses in Central Europe.
In the last half of 20th century, every little town got its own Chinese restaurant and later Mediterranean restaurants opened everywhere. We watched a lot of American movies and TV series and listened to English pop and rock. Ten years ago, things started to change. As a reaction to growing globalization, many countries started focusing much more on their own cultural heritage. That has also been the case in Denmark. Pioneers in Nordic cuisine (like the restaurant Noma), the film industry (The Killing and Borgen currently playing on TVO) and other parts of cultural life have put Denmark on the world map.
How extensively do you tour?
We tour around 100 days a year — mainly in Europe and North America but trips to China, Japan, Australia and South America are in the calendar for the coming years. We are looking very much forward coming to Ottawa.