Danish Songs, Solo Guitar
My 86 year old mother lives alone in an apartment in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside of Washington DC and just around the corner from my brother. I call her from my home in San Francisco every week or so and ask about what she is doing. Many times she has told me that she is reading, singing, and/or listening to Danish songs. They are “just so lovely,” she tells me. And they are.
My mother and her siblings, and all Danish children before and since then, have grown up singing these songs at school and at social gatherings. Some of the songs date back to the Middle Ages, more modern ones have become integrated in the repertoire over time. Much of the lyrics describe the Danish nature – the countryside, the trees, the beaches, the birds, the sunrise and the night time. “Dronning Dagmar” describes the death of a beloved queen. “Man Binder Os På Mund og Hånd” was a protest song written during the German occupation of the Second World War. “Jeg Er Havren” is a song told from the point of view of an oat stalk: “I am the oat, I wear bells – more than twenty on each stalk. I am sown while happy larks are singing on green hills . . . if you listen closely you will hear the lark singing inside of my stalk.”
The melodies are as interesting and beautiful as the lyrics. As an instrumental musician myself I have often bemoaned increasing loss of melodies from our society as drum loops and “hooks” have seemingly taken over popular music. These Danish melodies serve as a refreshing antidote. So much beauty, so much mood, so much music – mostly all within one octave and 8 bars. Whenever I am stressed, whenever I miss Denmark (much of the time) I pick up my guitar and play these songs and feel my blood pressure drop instantly.
In the Fall 2009 I was thinking about giving my mother a present. What to give her? Of course! Her songs, played by me. I picked out some of my favorites, worked out arrangements for them, recorded them onto my laptop computer and presented her with a CD. Sure enough, she just loved them. And when my brother Andy came to visit her a few weeks later, he loved them too. “You should record these in a real studio,” they told me. And so this project was born.
“Danish Songs” Karen Segal, Solo Guitar is due to be released on 1/1/11 (how’s that for a cool due date?!) Recording started at OTR studios in March 2010 when I recorded 20 songs in 2 days (phew! – not recommended). I quickly became consumed with other band related projects and Danish Songs was put on hold. This gave me plenty of time to listen to the recordings, which convinced me to spend an extra 4 hours adjusting a couple of songs. Some very interesting correspondence with Jennifer Brinch, a woman I met at the Århus Jazz Festival, also convinced me to do a little more “exploration” than I had on my previous recordings, as well as to include two of my own Danish-related original compositions.
Who will listen to these songs? Danes? Americans? My jazz listeners? World music listeners? Folk music listeners? Guitar buffs? Who knows? These are not jazz songs as such and I do not play them with a jazz feel. They are Danish folk songs. My mother wants to be able to sing along with them. They are played with love for my mother, for Denmark, with longing and care. They are slow and dreamy. They are for anyone who enjoys beautiful melodies played soft and dreamy on solo guitar.
Hear “Den Danske Sang” – available now as free download if you are on my mailing list
http://www.reverbnation.com/karensegal#!/artist/artist_songs/415363
You will find unmastered Danish songs if you scroll down to the very bottom of the song list.
Tags: Danish songs, guitar, Karen Segal
