Music on the Faroe Islands – Trap The Faroe Islands

In 2007, Danish Nephew visited the G! Festival. ÓLAVUR FREDERIKSEN

The musical life of the Faroe Islands relates both to historical roots and to the styles and genres of the outside world. Until the beginning of the 1900s, the genres were ballad and hymn singing, and the traditional chain dance was in retreat by the end of the 19th century due to the islands’ increasing connections with foreign countries. The church rituals were characterised by hymn singing without an organ, also known as Kingosang, where the congregation would sing without a harmonic and rhythmic foundation. The Havnar Kirkja cathedral in Tórshavn had its first organ in 1831, and the introduction of the instrument in the other towns and villages meant that folk church singing was gradually replaced by ordinary church singing during the 20th century.

Today, traditional music is expressed in several genres. One hears direct reuse of historical material in the folk metal band Týr’s version of the ballad Ormurin Langi from 2002 and in the doom metal band Hamferð in their version of the hymn Harra guð títt dýra navn og æra from 2010. The traditional material is also reworked by several contemporary classical composers, by the internationally renowned soloist Eivør and by folk bands, such as Harkaliðið and Enekk.

The choral and musical society, Thorshavns Sang- og Musikforening, was founded in 1889 by the music teacher and enthusiast Georg Casper Hansen, called Bager Hansen, from Bornholm. From the beginning, the society included chamber music, brass music and choral singing, and the theatre hall in Tórshavnar Klubbi became the association’s regular haunt. Out of this grew the brass band Tjaldur, which was founded in 1901, and which later changed its name to the Havnar Hornorkestur. The orchestra has retained functions in connection with the annual procession at ólavsøka and at Christmas in Havnar Kirkja, where brass music is always heard on 25 December. The GHM wind band was established in 1922 in memory of Bager Hansen. Brass and wind music subsequently became a regular cultural event in several of the large villages and towns.

Choral singing

Choal singing can be said to be the Faroese’s favourite musical pastime. In 1925, organist, composer and teacher Jógvan Waagstein took over the leadership of Thorshavns Sangog Musikforening, which in 1933 changed its name to Havnar Sangfelag. And several of the larger villages also excelled in choral singing. Toftakórið, which was founded in 1935 by the charismatic teacher and song composer Hans Jákup Højgaard, whose recordings still fill part of the programme schedule in Kringvarp Føroya, is thus a significant exponent of traditional Faroese choral music. The choral singing of the Brethren congregations was also heard early in the century at Sangkórið í Betesda, Klaksvík (1926) and Sangkórið í Ebenezer, Tórshavn (1936). Since 1967, Kórsamband Føroya has organised choir festivals, which are held every year on several of the islands. The driving force was choirmaster and music teacher Ólavur Hátún. At the festivals, music by older Faroese composers, such as Højgaard, Waagstein, Petur Alberg, as well as modern music by Pauli í Sandágerði, Kári Bæk, Leif Hansen, Bjarni Restorff, Tróndur Bogason and Sunleif Rasmussen is performed. Tarira, Tórshavnar Kamarkór, Tórshavnar Mannskór and Kór Gøtu Kirkju are significant current choirs. The major choir event is held during ólavsøka, where a choir of about 250 singers sing in front of the Løgting at the opening of the parliamentary year.

Symphonic music

The symphony orchestra, Føroya Symfoniorkestur, was founded in 1983, the same year as the Nordic House was inaugurated. Under the direction of Bernharður Wilkinson, the orchestra performs classical works, recent modern Faroese music and collaborates with rhythmic musicians. The orchestra was behind the first performance of Sunleif Rasmussen’s first symphony, Oceanic Days, which won the Nordic Council Music Prize in 2002. Aldubáran is an ensemble that was founded in 1995 by newly qualified classical musicians and aims to play new Faroese compositional music. The ensemble has 14 members. In 2006, they organised the performance of the Faroe Islands’ first original opera Í Óðamansgarði with a libretto by Dánjal Hoydal based on William Heinesen’s short story Den gale mands have (The Madman’s Garden) and with music by Sunleif Rasmussen. Classical music also has its own festival, Summartónar, which has focused on new music and the concert venue since 1992. This is the place to experience music in traditional concert rooms, buildings, churches and in natural concert halls in the form of caves and other open-air locations.

Jazz

Jazz came to Tórshavn in the early 1920s. The jazz ensemble Goggan is legendary in this regard; Sjónleikarhúsið in Tórshavn, which was completed in 1926, was the group’s regular venue until the mid-1970s. The big band, Tórshavnar Stórband, was founded by saxophonist and music teacher Brandur Øssursson in 1972. The band changed its name to Tórshavnar Bigband in 1994 and plays both modern and traditional big band music together with foreign and Faroese musicians and conductors.

Havnar Jazzfelag was founded in 1976 by the immigrant Kristian Blak. The Perlan venue in central Tórshavn became home to the club and to progressive music in Tórshavn. In continuation of this, the Tórshavnar Jazz, Fólka og Blues Festival (Tórshavn’s Jazz, Folk & Blues Festival) was organised in 1984 and has been called Vetrarjazz since 2009. The music publishing house Tutl was founded in 1979 under the auspices of the jazz club and today, Tutl releases a wide range of musical genres. Two municipal venues have opened in Tórshavn: the new Perla in 2014 and Reinsaríið in 2017. Together with the bar and venue Blábarr, they provide the framework for rhythmic music in the town. Here you can hear Plúmm, Yggdrasil, Gø and other recent Faroese jazz artists and progressive musicians.

Pop and rock music

Pop music started to gain ground in the mid-1950s with groups such as Tey av Kamarinum, Simme and Ljómlið writing their own material. The Faroe Boys, with the charismatic Robert McBirnie as frontman, was the Faroe Islands’ first supergroup with success in Iceland and in the Faroe Islands, until they disbanded in 1967. The 1970s were characterised by progressive currents within rhythmic music, where groups such as Straight Ahead and Hjarnar from Klaksvík was the centre with the prolific rock musician Jørgen Dahl as the driving force and composer.

In the same decade, folk music also made a breakthrough with the group Harkaliðið, the troubadour Kári P., who wrote socially and politically critical songs, and Hanus G. Johansen, who composes melodies for Poul F. Joensen’s poems. In the 1980s, the folk-rock groups Frændur, Terji and Føstufressar dominated the sound scene with melodic songs that have become very popular. At the same time, the well-produced and synthbased music gained prominence with the group Les îles Féroé and producer Óli Poulsen.

Festivals

G! Festival in Gøtu, which emerged from the music community GRÓT, is a festival and platform for new progressive rhythmic music. Most progressive Faroese names have performed at the festival, for example the group Orka with Jens L. Thomsen, which plays exclusively with electronics and alternative instruments, and Byrta with the songwriter Guðrið Hansdóttir and Jens Rasmussen, as well as internationally recognised soloists and groups, such as Lena Andersen, Eivør, Teitur and Hogni. The summer festival, Summerfestivalurin, in Klaksvík with about 10,000 visitors is the country’s biggest musical event. The festival is held in August and has since 2004 been intended for the popular and nostalgic, and it has been a platform for big foreign and Faroese names. Foreign and Faroese country music can also be heard at the country festival, Countryfestivalurin, in Sørvág, including Faroese artists such as Hallur Joensen and Kristina Bærentsen. In Tórshavn, summer is marked by two festivals around ólavsøka: Voxbotn and Tórsfest, which each year provide the stage for popular Faroese and foreign names.

Three composers and songwriters with an international outlook

Sunleif Rasmussen was born in Sandur and composes works for classical ensembles from solo works to symphonies. He graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Music in 1995 and has since won a number of awards, including the Sonning Talent Prize for young artists in 1991, the Danish Art Foundation’s three-year work grant in 1997 and the Nordic Council Music Prize in 2002; the latter for the symphony Oceanic Days. His style ranges far and wide within the new compositional music both in terms of technique and meaning. In his works, he allows the Faroese nature and singing tradition to appear as musical mirror images, for example in the form of the whistling of the wind played by a woodwind player, a cacophony of birds reproduced by string players or intonations with unmistakable references to hymn and ballad melodies.

Sunleif Rasmussen was a co-founder of The Association of Faroese Composers – Felagið Faroese Tónaskøld – and has, among other things, been a teacher at the teacher’s educational programme in Tórshavn from 2004 and a teaching lecturer from 2010. In 2019, he was a cofounder of the creative education in music and literature in Tórshavn.

Eivør Pálsdóttir received the Nordic Council Music Prize in November 2021. MARTIN SYLVEST/RITZAU SCANPIX

Eivør Pálsdóttir was born and raised in Syðrugøta and began her singing career as a young teenager in the rock band Clickhaze. In the 2000s, she worked with Faroese and Nordic musicians. Her first album was the jazz and folk-influenced Eivør Pálsdóttir (2000), and two years later she worked with the international group, which released the self-titled album Yggdrasil (2002). In 2003 she released Krákan, and in connection with the anniversary of The Danish Radio Big Band, Trøllabundin (2005) was released. With Larva (2010) and Room (2012), electronica became a significant part of her musical universe. In addition to the series of albums, Eivør has written music for several films.

In Eivør’s music, tradition is manifested in the vocals being the absolute centre of the music. In the concert situation, original music and paraphrase of traditional melodies are emphasised by hand drums, dance and movement as well as the distinctive soprano voice. In her compositions she makes use of old melodies, and linguistically she moves between English, Faroese, Norwegian, Danish and Icelandic. Several of her albums have been released in different languages.

Eivør received the Nordic Council Music Prize in 2021.

Teitur Lassen was born and raised in Tórshavn. A singer-songwriter, he broke through with his debut album Poetry and Aeroplanes in 2003, and the breakthrough led to a lengthy and busy tour of the USA and Canada. In 2006, he received two Danish Grammys for the album Under the stars and won the title Denmark’s best singer.

On the album Káta hornið from 2007, Teitur sings in Faroese; the address The Happy Corner, to which the title refers, is in many respects central and significant for music life in Tórshavn. This was where the town’s most important café, Kondittaríið, and music shops were located. The Singer from 2008, whose universe is based on scenes from the artist’s own life, further contributed to Teitur’s international recognition both among audiences and critics, and the same applies to Story music and I want to be kind from 2013 and 2018, respectively. Teitur has also collaborated with various international artists, and he has written music for films and TV series as well as works for classical ensembles and choirs.