The Engegård Quartet, comprising violinists Arvid Engegård and Laura Custodio Sabas, violist Juliet Jopling and cellist Jan Clemens Carlsen present its own arrangement of traditional joiks found by Sigmund Lillebjerka (1931-2015) in the library in Tromsø, North Norway. Lillebjerka then initially arranged the work for two Hardanger fiddles.

’This music takes you straight to the vast plains of Finnmark, where the joik is one of the oldest song traditions in Europe,’ says the ensemble. ’If you listen carefully, you may hear the wolves accompanying the joik.’

This is one of a five-part series of folk music videos the group recorded and filmed in Svolvær, Lofoten, Norway in July 2023. The sound is by Sean Lewis, while the video is by Aurora Borealis Multimedia AS.

The Engegård Quartet will embark on a European tour from 14 March before heading to the UK in April. More information can be found here.

Best of Technique

In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.

Masterclass

The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.

Calendars

American collector David L. Fulton amassed one of the 20th century’s finest collections of stringed instruments. This year’s calendar pays tribute to some of these priceless treasures, including Yehudi Menuhin’s celebrated ‘Lord Wilton’ Guarneri, the Carlo Bergonzi once played by Fritz Kreisler, and four instruments by Antonio Stradivari.