AKELA - Danish songs retold

Address

Musikkens Plads 1,
9000 Aalborg

AKELA - Danish songs retold

Description

Beautiful Danish songs played by a string quartet – no words, just the beautiful melodies that many know and love. Among them Den blå anemone, Solen er så rød, mor and Danmark nu blunder? The four members of AKELA have often missed the opportunity to listen to the Danish songs in a classical, instrumental format. Without words, but with all the closeness and depth the songs hold. That is why the composer Phillip Faber has created unique arrangements of 12 songs for AKELA, in which the quartet's musical depth brings renewed intensity, presence and richness of sound to the familiar material. The aim is to cast new light on the Danish song treasury by interpreting well-known songs through the living expression and nuanced tonal language of the string quartet. Although as a classical string quartet they often work with large and complex works, AKELA feel that some of the most moving things are found in the simple Danish melodies – such as Carl Nielsen's songs, where text and melody meet in a special, pure union. AKELA feel that a concert is at its strongest when the programme contains both the simple and the complex, something that touches the audience entirely intuitively and something that perhaps requires more time. At every concert a selection of the Danish songs is therefore combined with a larger classical quartet work that mirrors them. At Musikkens Hus the audience can look forward to hearing Bartók's folk-music-inspired String Quartet No. 2 alongside songs with distinctly folk-musical melodies. About AKELA AKELA was formed in 2019 at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Since then the quartet has explored the string quartet repertoire with curiosity and presence at festivals, masterclasses, competitions and concerts in China, Canada and across Europe. AKELA studies in the soloist class at DKDM with Tim Frederiksen and Den Danske Strygekvartet; previously they studied together at the Musikhochschule Lübeck with Heime Müller. The four members are lifelong friends and share a deep musical and personal bond. AKELA performs in a wide range of contexts – from school and care-home concerts to concerts in the country's large concert halls. Among other things they have played and developed children's concerts for Kulturmødet Mors and Levende Musik i Skolen. Since 2023 they have been part of MERITA, a European initiative that reinterprets classical concert experiences. The quartet received the Leonie Sonning Talent Prize in 2024 and the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Talent Prize in 2023.