Fem Får Fire Geder (Five Sheep Four Goats): Danish Folk Tune - Flute or Whistle Duet

"Fem Får Fire Geder" which translates as "Five Sheep Four Goats" is a Traditional Danish Folk Tune. It is one of a large collection of fiddle melodies gathered between 1763 and 1782 by the Bast Brothers (Christian Frederik Bast and Povel Danchel Bast). The original manuscript is now held in the Danish Royal Library and available online. It has captured the imagination of several artists and various performances and recordings can be found online (e.g. Youtube), and including a version arranged and performed by the Danish String Quartet.

We have a number of different versions on mfiles. The one on this page is for a duet of instruments in C, such as violins or fiddles as per the original manuscript. Here we play the arrangement using 2 flutes or whistles, and these are accompanied by guitar and percussion in the video. One of the main instruments plays the original melody as notated in the Bast manuscript, and the other instrument plays a simple line which is part harmony and part counter melody. Since the whole score fits on one page, both instruments can play from the score. You can download the sheet music and audio files using the links in the left-hand menu. The other versions on mfiles are the Original Version for solo violin or fiddle and two alternative piano versions Piano Canon and Piano Harmony.