Faroese music is primarily vocal, accompanied by the fiddle (which arrived in the 17th century) and European dances like the

minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accomp ...

and polka. During the twentieth century choirs have played an important role in the musical history of the Faroes, and some of the best known current choirs are Tarira, Havnarkórið, Tórshavnar Manskór, Ljómur, Fuglafjarðar Gentukór, and the choirs situated in Copenhagen: Húsakórið and Mpiri.

History

Much of the imported music and instruments remained popular only in the capital and largest city,

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

. Rural peoples remained true to traditions of chain dance and ballads. The three types of dance ballads are

kvæði Kvæði (Kvaedi; ''at kvøða'': "to sing a tune or ''kvæði''"; ''kvæði'' also means ''verse'' in Icelandic, also sometimes used to mean stanza) are the old ballads of the Faroe Islands, accompanied by the Faroese dance. Kvæði can have hun ...

, tættir and vísur. Many of these dance forms were revived after

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, when a number of dance societies were formed. The ballads were largely compiled in ''

Corpus Carminum Færoensium ''Føroya kvæði: Corpus Carminum Færoensium'' (CCF) is a scholarly edition collecting traditional Faroese ballads, or ''kvæði''. The songs were collected by Svend Grundtvig and Jørgen Bloch, and published by Napoleon Djurhuus and Chris ...

'', which collected over 44,000 stanzas. Other songs include skjaldur, fantastic fairy tales sung by adults for children, and pitch-sliding, microtonal

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...

s called kingosálmar. In her magnum opus about Faroese folk singing,

Marianne Clausen Marianne Clausen (25 December 1947 – 17 September 2014) was a Danish musicologist and choir conductor. She was the daughter of composer, choir conductor and musicologist Karl Clausen (1904–1972). Her main achievement, begun in collaboration ...

comprehensively described the various genres, and presented about 3,300 music transcriptions of folk singing melodies.

Modern musicians

Modern Faroese musicians who have fused native traditions with music from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

and the Sami people of northern

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

: *

Kristian Blak Kristian Blak (born 31 March 1947), originally from Fredericia, Denmark, lives in the Faroe Islands where he is a composer, musician, and record executive. He is the founder of the Nordic musical ensemble Yggdrasil (named after the World tree ...

* Enekk * Gunnar * Annika Hoydal * Lennart Kullgren Other well known Faroese musicians include: *

Eivør Pálsdóttir Eivor, Eivør or Øyvor is a female given name in the Nordic countries. In Sweden, 4,922 people bear the name. The average age is 78. The name perhaps originated from either the Proto-Norse word ''auja'', which is thought to mean "good luck", o ...

* Teitur Lassen * Lena Anderssen *

Høgni Lisberg Høgni Lisberg (born 7 June 1982) is a Faroese musician. Band and personal history Høgni was born in 1982 and is son of Sørin Lisberg and Hallbjørg Eliassen. His father is son of Knút Lisberg, who is cousin to Jens Olivur Lisberg (1896–19 ...

Høgni Reistrup Høgni Reistrup (artistic name ''Högni Reistrup'', born 1984) is a Faroese singer, musician, writer and scientist from Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. He is the co-writer of the book ''Exit Føroyar'' (which means ''Exit Faroe Islands''); he wrote it ...

* Guðrið Hansdóttir *

Greta Svabo Bech Greta Svabo Bech (born in Tórshavn) is a Faroese singer-songwriter. She first became known for her work with Canadian producer Deadmau5, when "Raise Your Weapon" was nominated for Best Dance Record at the 2011 Grammy Awards54th Annual Grammy Aw ...

* Petur Pólson * Terji Rasmussen * Arnold Ludvig *

Evi Tausen Evi Tommysdóttir Tausen (born 1981) is a Faroese country singer. She grew up in Froðba, Faroe Islands, and Kastrup, Denmark. Both of her parents are Faroese. Musical career Evi Tausen started her musical career in 2010 when she released a si ...

* Hallur Joensen * Hanus G. Johansen * Elin Brimheim Heinesen * Heine Lützen * Ólavur Jakobsen * Kári av Reyni * Kári P. * Alex Bærendsen *

Regin Dahl Regin Dahl (5 November 1918 – 29 March 2007) was a Faroese author and composer. Biography Dahl came from a literary family; his father being the translator and provost Jákup Dahl. His own poetry has been described as more modernistic than t ...

* Davur Juul Magnussen * Simon Von Konoy * Ólavur Olsen * Eyðun Nolsøe * Guðrun Sólja Jacobsen * Kári Sverisson * Steintór Rasmussen * Anna Katrin Egilstrøð * Brandur Enni * Linda Andrews * Lyon Hansen * Jens Marni Hansen * Uni Arge * Leivur Thomsen *

Jóannes Lamhauge Jóannes Lamhauge (born 25 December 1985) has designed a range of Faroese postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the ...

Modern bands

Well known Faroese bands include (in alphabetical order) *

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* Analog Norð * Arnold Ludvig Sextet *

Boys In A Band Boys in a Band are an indie rock band from the Faroe Islands. Formed in 2006 in Gøta, the group comprises vocalist/guitarist Pætur Zachariasson, guitarist Heini, bassist Símun Sakaris, drummer The Rógvi, and Heri Schwartz on hammond organ ...

* Byrta * Clickhaze * Danny & The Veetos * Deiggj *

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

* The Dreams * Eivør * Faroe Boys * Frændur * Gestir * the Ghost * Glóð * Goodiepal *

Hamferð Hamferð is a Faroese doom metal band from Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, which formed in 2008. Biography John Egholm (guitar) founded the band in 2008; he called Remi Johannesen (drums) and they started jamming. The first show was in a band competit ...

* Hamradun * Heidrik * Heljareyga * Hjarnar *

* Kiasmos * Lama Sea *

Lena Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in ...

* * Makrel * Marius * Moirae (band) *

Mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not ...

* MonkeyRat * MC-Hár * Nalja * Oniontree * ORKA * Páll Finnur Páll * Present Past * *

Sic The Latin adverb ''sic'' (; "thus", "just as"; in full: , "thus was it written") inserted after a quoted word or passage indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any e ...

Safir Safir may refer to: *SAFIR, the Single Aperture Far-Infrared Observatory *Safir (Arthurian legend), a Saracen Knight of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend *Safir (Belgian beer), a Belgian beer now owned by InBev *Safir (cycling team), a Belgia ...

Side Effect In medicine, a side effect is an effect, whether therapeutic or adverse, that is secondary to the one intended; although the term is predominantly employed to describe adverse effects, it can also apply to beneficial, but unintended, consequence ...

* The Story Ends * Swangah *

Synarchy Synarchism generally means "joint rule" or "harmonious rule". Beyond this general definition, both ''synarchism'' and ''synarchy'' have been used to denote rule by a secret elite in Vichy France, Italy, China, and Hong Kong, while being used to de ...

* Teitur *

Týr (; Old Norse: , ) is a god in Germanic mythology, a valorous and powerful member of the and patron of warriors and mythological heroes. In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic people ...

Valravn In Danish folklore, a valravn ( Danish "raven of the slain") is a supernatural raven. Those ravens appear in traditional Danish folksongs, where they are described as originating from ravens who consume the bodies of the dead on the battlefield, a ...

Yggdrasil Yggdrasil (from Old Norse ), in Norse cosmology, is an immense and central sacred tree. Around it exists all else, including the Nine Worlds. Yggdrasil is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'' compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional ...

Modern classical composers

There are also some quite famous Faroese classical composers.

Sunleif Rasmussen Sunleif Rasmussen (born March 19, 1961 in Sandur in the Faroe Islands) is the foremost Faroese composer of classical music. Biography Rasmussen studied in Norway, then returned to Tórshavn in the Faroes as a music teacher and jazz pianist. Fro ...

is until now the only Faroese ever to have written a symphony. Other composers are

, Edvard N. Debess, Janus Rasmussen, Tróndur Bogason, Kári Bæk, Palli Hansen, Knút Olsen and Pauli í Sandágerði. Classical ensemble Aldubáran has commissioned and performed a vast amount of music from Faroese composers and performed it domestically and abroad.

Details on specific musicians and groups

Gestir

Gestir are signed to Tutl Records in the Faroe Islands. They were formed in 2002, and have been playing rock festivals in the Faroe Islands,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

and other countries. Their long-awaited debut album ''Burtur frá Toftunum'' was released in the Faroe Islands in July 2006. In the summer of 2006 Gestir played the "Atlantic Music Event" at NASA (Reykjavik, Iceland), the

G! Festival The G! Festival (commonly known as G!, in Faroese also called G! Festivalur or G! Festivalurin) is a Faroese musical festival, held annually at the seaside village Gøta on Eysturoy in mid or late July, but always before the Ólavsøka. It is one ...

(Gota, Faroe Islands) and Nord-Atlantiske Brygge (Copenhagen, Denmark). On September 30, 2006 Gestir performed a special concert at the Nordic House, Torshavn, Faroe Islands, in celebration of their album release. In December 2006 Gestir were invited to play at faroese singer/songwriter Teitur´s special Christmas show at Store Vega, Copenhagen. Gestir's most significant concerts in the summer of 2005 were the G! Festival and at Lille Vega, Copenhagen. Gestir won the bi-annual Faroese music contest Prix Føroyar in 2003. The members of Gestir are Ólavur Jákupsson (vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, synthesizers, piano), Torfinnur Jákupsson (electric & acoustic guitars, piano, lyrics), Jógvan Andreas á Brúnni (drums), Niels Jákup i Jógvanstovu (bass) and Knút Háberg Eysturstein (synthesizers, hammond, piano, rhodes).

Aldubáran

The chamber ensemble Aldubáran is the only professional ensemble of its kind in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

. Formed in 1995, it has had a huge impact on the modern classical scene in the Faroe Islands. The purpose of Aldubáran was to perform classical music and to commission Faroese music from composers and to perform this domestically and abroad. Since its formation, the ensemble has become a household name. Especially the collaboration with folk-singer Hanus G. Johansen and their release in 2000 of album Bouquet on the label

Tutl TUTL Records is a record label of the Faroe Islands that was founded in 1977 by Kristian Blak. The label is credited with giving many Faroese musicians their first break and "has played a major role in giving musicians a chance to record and pub ...

, had a broad impact, and still is a big seller. Since then Aldubáran has released four albums on Tutl. Aldubáran was in 2004 nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize. Aldubáran has toured extensively and in autumn 2006, Aldubáran produced and played the first ever Faroese opera The Madmans' Garden by composer Sunleif Rasmussen. The members of Aldubáran are: Andrea Heindriksdóttir (flute), Anna Klett (clarinet), Páll Sólstein (horn), Joost Bosdijk (bassoon), Sámal Petersen, Øssur Bæk, Jón Festirstein (violins), Angelika Hansen (viola), Andreas T Restorff (cello), Ólavur Olsen (trumpet), Johan Hentze (trumpet), Kristina Thede Johansen (saxophone), Ólavur Jakobsen (guitar), Jóhannes Andreasen (piano), and Bernharður Wilkinson (conductor).

Týr

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exampl ...

band with progressive elements, whose members hail from the Faroes. The band is known for performing traditional Faroese material both live and on recordings. They compose songs in both Faroese and English, often with Viking or Pagan subject matter. The group has released seven albums since their founding in 1998 and they perform worldwide.

Record labels

Tutl Records is the major record label of the Faroe Islands

Music festivals in the Faroe Islands

* Tórshavn Jazz Festival *

Summarfestivalurin Summarfestivalurin (the Summer Festival) is a musical festival in Klaksvík in the Faroe Islands, established in 2004. History 2004 Summarfestivalurin - The Summer Festival - was held for the first time in August 2004 in Klaksvík in the Faroe ...

References

* Cronshaw, Andrew. "A New Pulse for the Pols". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), ''World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East'', pp 58–63. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books.

External links

Musicfromthefaroeislands
- Faroe Islands Alliance for Music Export
MUSIC.fo
- Faroese music portal
Tutl
- Faroese music online
Gfestival
The official website of the annual G! Festival!
Summarfestivalur
The official website of the annual Summerfestival {{Music of Europe