Keel Road

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 flow of the recording, alongside the traditional material, are original compositions by Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen and Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin, 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 affinities 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.