Wood Works (2014)

This release on Denmark's Dacapo label may seem an unlikely candidate for the classical best-seller lists, but several factors have propelled it to that level. Among these are the residence of the Danish String Quartet at New York's Lincoln Center and the viral success of a video performance of some of a three-section wedding piece heard on the album. The quartet even raised funds for the release via a crowdfunding site, if not a first for the classical sphere then close to it. But the most important factor of all is that ... Read More

This release on Denmark's Dacapo label may seem an unlikely candidate for the classical best-seller lists, but several factors have propelled it to that level. Among these are the residence of the Danish String Quartet at New York's Lincoln Center and the viral success of a video performance of some of a three-section wedding piece heard on the album. The quartet even raised funds for the release via a crowdfunding site, if not a first for the classical sphere then close to it. But the most important factor of all is that nobody has ever done anything quite like this before. The members of the quartet (in all but one case) have arranged folk songs of several Scandinavian countries for string quartet. That's not a particularly common medium for folk song arrangements, but it's the extremely varied nature of the arrangements that really stands out. The term "arrangement" isn't even quite right; the 13 tracks take a step in the direction of classical compositions. The collection as a whole includes a... Read Less