The Devil’s Violin Company are a four-piece ensemble who, with their new production A Love Like Salt, aim to channel elements of the storytelling tradition through modern musical performance including violin, cello and accordion. From their own description:

“Unlocking forgotten folk tales that inspired some of English literature’s greatest works – Shakespeare’s King Lear and Chaucer’s Franklin’s Tale and Wife of Bath’s Tale – The Devil’s Violin takes them on a new voyage of discovery.

“Aided by the dramatic, driving rhythms of a skilled and inventive strings and accordion trio, Daniel Morden – one of the UK’s most compelling and applauded storytellers – lures the audience onto a rollercoaster ride in this haunting, hypnotic fusion of music and word.

“Love is put to the test in three tales as the audience is transported to King Arthur’s Camelot, the Breton shores and the ancient Britain of King Lear. Meet a knight on a year-long quest to discover what women really want and enter a world where Cinderella meets Cordelia and ‘Miss Mossy Coat’ emerges from ‘The Land of Ladles’ to thrill a prince.”

A Love Like Salt was commissioned by the Bodleian Library and University of Oxford’s English Faculty, and as such its two-month national tour premieres on Friday 20 April at the Bodleian Library. There’s a video trailer and much more information available at The Devil’s Violin website.