25 Year Celebration
 Photo Album: Church Celebration |
On Whit Sunday (called Pentecost in America), the Fuglafjørður church celebrated the 25th anniversary of its new church. Faroese people enjoy such celebrations, and this one was quite special. There were two days of special celebration, Whit Sunday and the Second Whit Sunday, which was actually a Monday.
The Sunday service included music by a visiting Danish choir, the Fuglafjørður brass band (called a horn orchestra), trumpet solos by Johan Hentze, and the sermon by the Faroese Bishop from the Lutheran State Church. After the service, dinner was provided for everyone in the downstairs hall, and it took two seatings to feed the crowd.
On Monday there was another morning service. The highlight of the weekend for me was the cantata concert in the afternoon. The church had commissioned the Danish composer, John Høybye, to compose and conduct a cantata for the 25th anniversary celebration. The text was based on Psalm 84, and it included the text of a classic hymn by the Danish pastor Grundtvig and a new adaptation of the psalm by Frits Johannesen and Alexandur Kristiansen, two men from Fuglafjørður.
Three choirs joined together for the performance, the Dacapo choir from Denmark, the Chamber Choir from Tórshavn, and the Fuglafjørður choir, accompanied by a small orchestra with piano and organ. The church was filled for the concert. The music was beautiful, and very challenging to sing, but it was the words in this strange Faroese language that were most challenging for the choir from Denmark and for one choir member from America. Even John Høybye was pleased with the concert. Once during rehearsal, he stopped conducting, and said “This trumpet is bringing tears to my eyes.” The two brothers who played the trumpet are both extremely talented musicians and have won numerous awards in Denmark.
Knowing how much the Faroese enjoy celebrations, I wasn’t surprised to learn that the celebration continued after the concert. There was dessert for all of the audience, but dinner was served to the choirs, who had been at the church for most of the day. This was followed by a party at a small hall in Fuglafjørður, where there was more music, dancing, and drinks. The Danish choir especially wanted to dance the Faroese chain dance, so we sang and danced two different ballads.
Since neither John Høybye nor the Danish choir knew any Faroese, and since all Faroese people learn Danish in school, all of the rehearsals during the last week were in Danish. I was the only one who didn’t know Danish. That was when I realized that I really have learned quite a bit of Faroese. Even if I don’t understand everything, at least I sort of know what is going on. However, in Danish, I don’t know at all what is going on.