Faroese music is primarily vocal, accompanied by the fiddle (which arrived in the 17th century) and European dances like the minuet 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.
Much of the imported music and instruments remained popular only in the capital and largest city, Tórshavn. Rural peoples remained true to traditions of chain dance and ballads. The three types of dance ballads are kvæði, tættir and vísur. Many of these dance forms were revived after World War 2, when a number of dance societies were formed. The ballads were largely compiled in Corpus Carminum Færoensium , which collected over 44,000 stanzas.
Other songs include skjaldur, fantastic fairy tales sung by adults for children, and pitch-sliding, microtonal hymns called kingosálmar. In her magnum opus about Faroese folk singing, Marianne Clausen comprehensively described the various genres, and presented about 3,300 music transcriptions of folk singing melodies.
Modern Faroese musicians who have fused native traditions with music from Scotland, Bulgaria and the Sami people of northern Scandinavia:
Other well known Faroese musicians include:
Well known Faroese bands include (in alphabetical order)
There are also some quite famous Faroese classical composers. Sunleif Rasmussen is until now the only Faroese ever to have written a symphony. Other composers are Kristian Blak, 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.
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 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 (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).
The chamber ensemble Aldubáran is the only professional ensemble of its kind in the Faroe Islands. 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, 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).
A folk metal 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.
Tutl Records is the major record label of the Faroe Islands
Tórshavn, 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 347-meter-high (1,138 ft) mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the 350-meter-high (1,150 ft) Kirkjubøreyn. They are separated by the Sandá River. The city itself has a population of 14,099 (2024), and the greater urban area has a population of 23,194, including the suburbs of Hoyvík and Argir.
MC-Hár is a rap-band from the Faroe Islands. They were the first Faroese rap-band and the first band to sing rap in Faroese. Since the first time MC-Hár went on stage in February 1991, the band has made its mark on the Faroese rock scene. From being an underground act with a small but faithful following, the band in the late nineties emerged as one of the biggest acts in the Faroe Islands.
Eivør Pálsdóttir, known mononymously as Eivør, is a Faroese singer-songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Syðrugøta, she had her first televised performance at the age of 13. Over the course of her decades-long career, her musical output has spanned a wide range of genres such as folk, art pop, jazz, folk rock, classical and electronica. She is the elder sister of singer Elinborg.
Yggdrasil is a Nordic music ensemble based in the Faroe Islands. The band was formed in 1981 by the composer and pianist Kristian Blak, who has written most of the material for the group. From the very beginning, Yggdrasil has included musicians from other countries, having varied musical backgrounds, mainly in jazz, but also in ethnic, folk, rock and classical music.
Sunleif Rasmussen is the foremost Faroese composer of classical music.
Afenginn is a post-classical, nordic folk band formed in Copenhagen in 2002.
The G! Festival 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 of the two largest music festivals on the Faroe Islands, the other being Summarfestivalurin. It was founded by Sólarn Solmunde and musician Jón Tyril, both locals. Jón is also the present chairman of the festival. The G! Festival is an innovative cultural event which has been well received. The festival brings together leading international musicians as well as local musicians. The founding goal was to change the musical landscape of the Faroes. Working to achieve this goal has earned the festival the position as the most important and influential musical event on the islands.
Ólavur Jakobsen, classical guitarist. Studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen with Ingolf Olsen and received his masters diploma exam in 1995. Further studies in Paris with French guitarist Roland Dyens. Has participated in masterclasses with e.g. Sir Julian Bream and David Russell.
Rúni Brattaberg is a bass opera singer from the Faroe Islands, who works in operas around the world. He has been building his repertoire with Wagner and other leading bass roles such as Osmin/The Abduction from the Seraglio, Timur/Turandot, Sparafucile/Rigoletto, Sarastro/The Magic Flute, Kaspar/Der Freischütz, the Doctor/Wozzeck, Rocco/Fidelio, and Basilio/The Barber of Seville in the ensembles of the Mainz, Ulm, Detmold, Bern, and Mannheim opera companies. In January 2017 he received the Faroese Cultural Prize.
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 publish."
Summarfestivalurin is a musical festival in Klaksvík in the Faroe Islands, established in 2004.
The vocal ensemble Mpiri is a Faroese choral ensemble based in Copenhagen. The members are mostly Faroese studying or working in Copenhagen. The conductor is Gorm Larsen.
Høgni Reistrup is a Faroese singer, musician, writer and scientist from Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. He is the co-writer of the book Exit Føroyar ; he wrote it together with Heri á Rógvi. The books was published in 2012 and created a major debate in the Faroe Islands and in Denmark about the problems the Faroe Islands were facing with population decline in the islands, where the biggest problems seemed to be that half of the young people who moved away to study abroad never moved back again; especially the women did not move back again. After a period of six years with negative net migration in the Faroe Islands, the country saw an increase in the population in 2014 and 2015.
Samuel Jacob Sesanus Olsen, commonly known as Jacob Olsen, was a Faroese teacher, writer and translator. He was deeply engaged in the local community and the Faroe Islands as a whole.
Hanus G. Johansen, also known as Hanus G., is a Faroese singer and composer. He was born in Klaksvík and is well known in his country as a concert and festivalperformer. Many of his songs have become evergreens and are popular even among the young people. He has composed melodies for some of Poul F. Joensen's poems, first time was in 1988, when he released his album Gaman og álvara; Poul F. (1898-1970) wrote poems about the Faroese society, about love and other themes as well. In November 2012, he released a new album with poems by Poul F. Joensen, Á fold eru 1000 gudar, he composed all the melodies. In 2006, Hanus G. released an album with poems by the Norwegian poet Jakob Sande (1906-1967), who is a well known poet in Norway. Hanus G. has performed together with the Faroese ensemble Aldubáran and with the Faroese band Frændur, but often he performs by himself with his guitar or with various musicians. Hanus G.'s music is mostly folk music, but because of its popularity it can also be defined as a kind of pop music.
Tróndur Bogason is a Faroese composer and musician. He composes classical works, but he also arranges music for pop, rock and folk artists. He is married to the Faroese singer Eivør Pálsdóttir with whom he also works; they arranged her album Room together. Bogason was educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. He has been nominated three times for the Nordic Council Music Prize and is one of the few who have received a three-year grant from Mentanargrunnur Landsins.
Marianne Clausen 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 with her father in the early 1970s, intensified during the 1990s, and concluded just weeks before her death, was the preservation of traditional Faroese folk singing, which she presented in a number of large volumes with music notation transcriptions of sound recordings. Based on more than 6,000 such recordings, collected by many different scholars, including herself, throughout the entire 20th century, she published around 3,350 music notation examples of various genres of traditional Faroese singing, together with hitherto unpublished song texts, as well as historical and musicological analyses.
Faroese Music Awards is a Faroese music prize award ceremony, which was established in 2014, after the former Faroese music prize Planet Awards was abolished when the producers Portal.fo were sold to new owners. Faroese Music Awards is a cooperation between the Faroese national broadcasting company Kringvarp Føroya, the newspaper Sosialurin, the internet portal In.fo and the Nordic House.
Elinborg Pálsdóttir, known mononymously as Elinborg, is a Faroese singer-songwriter. Born and raised in the small town of Syðrugøta, she released her first EP album in 2015. Her musical output spans several genres, such as electronic, folk, world, and country.