“Songs are thoughts; every breath is a song - when humans seek to rise above themselves, and communicate with a power that is greater than themselves, they no longer speak, they SING!” - Orpingalik, Netsilik-Folket, Grønland.

In 2013, Michala Petri and the Danish National Vocal Ensemble released a recording (their first artistic collaboration) - the ECHO Klassik award winning, critically acclaimed CD 'The Nightingale'. For their next project, they were joined by conductor and composer Michael Bojesen in a beautiful and exciting project – the fulfilment of a long-standing dream for all of the artists: 'I Dreamt a Dream' – songs of the Danish heartland.

Danish folk music mirrors the soul of the Danish people – it has its own unique characteristics and it's often easy to determine which region of Denmark a folk music song stems from, simply based on linguistic expressions, intonation and dialects. During the national romantic movement of the 1800s, there were many classical composers who incorporated local folk music of Denmark in their compositions, to give their music a more distinct national character; and each tune, no matter how humble its origin, expresses the joy of singing. These songs make the Danish people feel united, and tell us where we belong.

For this CD, a program of some of the most popular Danish folk songs has been selected, and Michael Bojesen arranged them anew for recorder and choir. Even if you do not know the Danish language you will feel the atmosphere of the Danish homeland, its indescribable beauty, its unspoiled nature, the colour of the wind and the restless sea that surrounds H C Andersen’s home.

“Since the birth of the flute, two instruments - voice and flute have been united. This combination is as natural as the sun rising; the airy recorder and the soaring song of human voices matching each other in eternal harmony” - Danish Music Magazine 'Klassisk', March 2012.

Track Listing:
1: Drømte mig en drøm i nat (Folkevise)
2: Det var en lørdag aften (Folkemelodi/Folkevise)
3: Duerne flyver (Bent Fabricius-Bjerre/Klaus Rifbjerg)
4: Hvem kan sejle foruden vind (Trad. Svensk/C V Meincke)
5: I skovens dybe, stille ro (Folkemelodi/Fritz Andersen)
6: Den blå anemone (Egil Harder/Kaj Munk)
7: Natten er så stille (CEF Weyse/J L Heiberg)
8: Den fine, lyse nat (Bjørn Hjelmborg/Hans Hartvig Seedorf)
9: Midsommerteltet (Aage Nielsen/Johannes V Jensen)
10: Danmark, nu blunder den lyse nat (Oluf Ring/Thøger Larsen)
11: Sænk kun dit hoved, du blomst (Carl Nielsen/Johannes Jørgensen)
12: Svantes lykkelige dag (Benny Andersen/Benny Andersen)
13: Noget om lykke (Mogens Jermiin Nissen/Halfdan Rasmussen)
14: Aftensti (Mogens Jermiin Nissen/Vilhelm From Bartrumsen)
15: Solen er så rød, mor (Carl Nielsen/Harald Bergstedt)
16: Septembers himmel er så blå (Otto Mortensen/Alex Garff)
17: Nu er jord og himmel stille (C M Bellmann/Marinus Børup)
18: Et hav, der vugger sig til ro nu (Matti Borg/Juliane Preisler)
19: Stille, hjerte, sol går ned (Thomas Laub/Jeppe Aakjær)
20: Spurven sidder stum bag kvist (Thorvald Aagaard/Jeppe Aakjær)
21: Men det bli’r atter stille (Poul Hamburger/Halfdan Rasmussen)
22: Om lidt bli’r her stille (Kim Larsen/Leif Sylvester)

Total time: 66:35