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V谩gar: The postman鈥檚 trail

Sound Walk Faroe Islands Sound Walk
Episode 2 of 3

Horatio Clare continues his Faroese journey on the western side of the archipelago, with a trip onto the water and a precipitous walk over a mountain.

Horatio Clare starts his second Faroese journey on the island of V谩gar on the western side of the archipelago. From the small town of Sorv谩gur, he heads out onto the waters of the neighbouring fjord in the company of the local under-14s rowing team, currently the Faroese junior champions. Today, rowing is the islands鈥� national sport, but the traditional six- and eight-oar wooden boats have contributed to the livelihood of the Faroe Islanders for centuries, as a means of transportation out to the fishing grounds and between settlements.

On still waters under clear skies, they head down the fjord towards the old village of B酶ur.

From B酶ur the next morning, with the weather conditions on the turn, Horatio follows an old path which until recent times was the only way to access the next village along the fjord, G谩sadalur (鈥淕oose Valley鈥�). Difficult to get to by sea, it was one of the most isolated villages in the Faroes before the opening of a road tunnel in 2006.

The path Horatio walks is known as the old postman鈥檚 trail, but it was also used to transport supplies to the village鈥檚 inhabitants, and coffins to be buried. The route offers spectacular views west across the fjord to the island of Mykines, one of the oldest parts of the Faroe Islands formed around 60 million years ago, known for its rich birdlife: gannets, fulmars, puffins and kittiwakes.

Climbing steep green slopes along the edges of vertigo-inducing cliffs, Horatio passes a blessed stream and a coffin resting point, and considers the many different settlers who have braved the elements to reach these islands, from the arrival of Irish monks led by the adventurer St Brendan in the 6th century to Norse Vikings in the 9th century, and the periods of Norwegian and Danish rule that followed. And he reflects on the Faroese Saga, which was written in Iceland in the 13th century and tells a legendised story of the Faroe Islanders鈥� conversion to Christianity.

Briefly passing a feature in the land believed by legend to be the site of a giant鈥檚 footprint, Horatio reaches the highest point between the villages, close to the mountain鈥檚 440m peak, with the notorious Faroese wind racing over the pass. Descending a steep zig-zagging stony path down the other side of the mountain, he reaches the village of G谩sadalur, and the dramatic waterfall of M煤lafossur tumbling over the cliffs into the Atlantic ocean.

Featured music includes more from a recording made specially for the series in Torshavn with the Faroese violinist Angelika Hansen and pianist-composer Kristian Blak, alongside music from countries most closely associated with the islands since the early settlers arrived, including Scotland, Norway and Denmark.

The series is produced by Andy King, with sound recording by Andy Fell.

59 minutes

Last on

Boxing Day 2022 16:00
大象传媒 Radio 3

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Clip

Music Played

  • Daniel Slatkin

    In Fields

    Orchestra: Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Leonard Slatkin.
    • Leonard Slatkin Conducts Slatkin - The Raven, Endgames, Kinah & In Fields.
    • Naxos.

  • Kristian Blak

    String Quartet No. 2 Images: II. Vetrarmorgun (Winter Morning)

    Ensemble: Neoquartet.
    • String Quartets.
    • TUTL.
    • 4.

  • Sally Beamish

    Seavaigers: II. Lament

    Performer: James Crabb. Performer: Genevieve Lacey. Music Arranger: James Crabb.
    • Heard This And Thought Of You.
    • ABC CLASSICS.

  • Alexander Chapman Campbell

    Ten Sketches of Light, No.8: Light on the Fields

    Performer: Alexander Chapman Campbell.
    • Ten Sketches of Light (for solo piano).
    • Music and Media.

  • Angelika Hansen

    脕濒惫补诲补濒耻谤

    Performer: Angelika Hansen. Performer: Kristian Blak.

  • Liom

    Through The Sky

    Performer: Liom.
    • Moving On.
    • 1.

  • 脫lafur Arnalds

    This Place is a Shelter

    Performer: 脫lafur Arnalds.
    • Living Room Songs.
    • Erased Tapes.
    • 7.

  • Gavin Bryars

    Biped, part IV

    Performer: Sophie Harris. Performer: Takehisa Kosugi. Performer: James Woodrow.
    • Biped.
    • GB RECORDS.

  • John Luther Adams

    Strange Birds Passing

    Ensemble: New England Conservatory Contemporary Ensemble. Director: John Heiss.
    • Songbirdsongs.
    • Mode Records.

  • Sunleif Rasmussen

    Symphony No. 1 'Oceanic Days': Mvt II

    Orchestra: Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Hannu Lintu.
    • Symphony No. 1 & Saxophone Concerto.
    • Dacapo Records.

  • Benedicte Maurseth

    Jesus gior meg stille (Jesus bring me peace)

    Performer: Benedicte Maurseth.
    • ECM.

  • Kristian Blak

    Drrrunnn, for clarinets and birds; Part IV

    Performer: Anna Klett. Featured Artist: birds recorded on Mykines.
    • Light and Darkness.
    • TUTL.
    • 7.

  • Kristian Blak

    Fuglamal: Eystur, Part III

    Performer: Kristian Blak. Featured Artist: puffins recorded on Mykines.
    • Fuglamal.
    • TUTL.

  • Liom

    Steep Mountain

    Performer: Liom.
    • Compassberg.

  • Peteris Vasks

    T膩l膩 Gaisma (Distant Light)

    Orchestra: O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Hugo Ticciati.
    • White Light: The Space Between.
    • SIGNUM CLASSICS.

  • John Luther Adams

    Lines Made by Walking: III. Down the Mountain

    Ensemble: JACK Quartet.
    • Lines Made by Walking.
    • Cold Blue Music.

  • Arve Henriksen

    尝氓驳别苍

    Composer: Ellen Sejersted B酶dtker. Composer: Hans-Kristian Kjos Sorensen. Performer: Ellen Sejersted B酶dtker. Performer: Arve Henriksen.
    • Villveng.
    • ESB Records.

  • 脫lafur Arnalds

    Near Light

    Performer: Mari Samuelsen. Performer: H氓kon Samuelsen. Ensemble: TrondheimSolistene.
    • Nordic Noir.
    • Mercury KX.

  • Claire M Singer

    The Landing

    Performer: Claire M Singer.
    • Tell it to the Bees (Original Soundtrack).
    • Universal.

  • Trad. Irish

    Brian Boru's March

    Performer: Poul Bjerager Christiansen. Performer: Rune Tonsgaard S酶rensen.
    • Fiddling Faroes.
    • Tutl.
    • 11.

Broadcast

  • Boxing Day 2022 16:00
    大象传媒 Radio 3

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