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Don't know if we've talked about any music of the Faroe Islands while looking at Orkney, Outer Hebrides & Shetland Isle tunes...
The Faroe Islands (17 out of 18 are inhabited) - VERY strong musical heritage (Composition in the Faroe Islands). They are uniquely situated equidistant from Iceland, Norway & the UK! Their language is easily understood by Icelanders & the islands were originally settled by Norse-Gaels, or Vestmenn.
@AndrewH -
You may be interested, or know of this:
The first known instrumental composition is a short piece for organ, composed by Jógvan Waagstein (1879-1949) in 1932. The pioneer of Faroese instrumental composition is however the internationally acclaimed writer William Heinesen (1900-1991), who during the 1950’s wrote a cantata as well as two pieces for solo viola and piano respectively. These pieces are still performed on a regular basis and have been an inspiration for following generations of Faroese composers.
I happened to be going over the 3 tunes I learned (a few years back) from Spælimenninir - "Konvulsionslåt", "Marianna's Hambo" (post#63, Anyone Interested in a "Scandinavian Fiddle Genre"? Thread) & "Vals efter Per Röst" (post#14, The Vals - how complicated can it be? Thread). I had recorded Marianna's Hambo (back in Share), but been wanting to work on it more & re-record it... think I recorded Vals efter Per Röst, too - maybe for the Waltz Party.
Anyway, Spælimenninir members have been together for 45 YEARS! Based in the Faroe Islands, they draw from native & surrounding traditional music, with Kristian Blak & Ívar Bærentsen being recognized Faroese Composers. I didn't remember going thru all of Spælimenninir's albums, so while listening to some (today) I found they did an educational performance for The American Folklife Center (Library of Congress) last year! Perfect opportunity to get to know more about the Faroe Islands & Spælimenninir's music!
A 'reinlander' is the same as a 'schottische' - "a kind of slower polka" (Wikipedia).
Here's another one I love from Spælimenninir - "Jannes Reinlender"! Listen for the unique modulation from Minor to Major & back to minor!
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I haven't been able to find sheet music or recordings of any of Heinesen's music for viola and piano in their original form. One of the pieces, his "10 Variations on a Faroese Melody", has been recorded but only in an arrangement for solo guitar.
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@AndrewH -
Of course... guess that's what you'd call REALLY obscure. 😁
Then, all we can do is ask... so I did, but only in a comment for Olavur's recording (might be better to ask in his website, if you're interested). Figure at least he's seen it - and we now have a name for the piece (more than I had a little while ago)!
...I just got info on sheet music I asked about THREE YEARS ago - worth asking.
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ALL excited!
Got a reply back from Olavur!
Rats, pretty much shut myself off from facebook & messenger quite some time ago... not sure if I've made it impossible for him to send me a copy, or not. 🥴
Guess we'll see!
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@AndrewH -
Here's the PDF for 'William Heinesen's Viola (Bratsch) Solo' - the ten variations!
I haven't had time to load it into my Notion app, yet... maybe won't get to it until after Christmas (got my hands full).
Olavur said it is in the public domain, but I have no idea where - here's what he sent me:
Vaagn-op-faksimili-kopi.pdf (1 MB)
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Thank you for asking about it!
Unfortunately it doesn't look like anything I can even attempt to learn. The triple-stops in Variation 9 are unplayable for me without downsizing to a much smaller (probably sub-15") viola.
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Actually, now that I think about it... I think a single change makes it playable with my hands, though still tricky. Just need to move the G in the first triple stop of Variation 9 down an octave to the open G string. That changes the voicing, but it preserves the chord and I think I could make it convincing.
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@AndrewH -
Thanks for looking at it!
I was hoping you wouldn't have trouble with it.
Never crossed my mind that Heinesen would make it so hard/impossible to play, because of the info I found (quoted up in the OP).
These pieces are still performed on a regular basis and have been an inspiration for following generations of Faroese composers.
...just too bad I don't see any evidence of this 'regular basis' anywhere!
Had hoped for a better quality score, one that I could just scan & hear what it sounds like. Didn't want to take the time to enter it into my notation software note-by-note, right now - and it's possible I won't even want to play it once I hear it!
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It's challenging, but I think every violist in my orchestra except me would be able to play it as written, with enough practice. I just happen to have the smallest hands of any adult I know, so I have to be careful about my choice of solo repertoire. (Orchestral music is less of a concern because we typically divide the section instead of playing double or triple stops.) For me, it's playable except for the third measure of Variation 9, where I would have to change the first triple-stop.
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