Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.04.2015, Page 10

16 • Lögberg-Heimskringla April 15 2015
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Recently a group of travel writers travelled to Iceland and some of us
were invited to farms close to
Reykjavík. The one I enjoyed
most was a dairy farm that
had been in the family for six
generations. As luck would
have it, the farmers of Bakki
at Kjalarnes had six girls. They
are all away from home now,
so there is no one to carry on
the family farm. Birgir’s wife,
Ásthildur is hopeful that one of
their grandsons will take over
when they are ready to retire.
Their farm is big and busy,
with 340 hectares, 350 cows,
six horses – and 40 of the cows
need to be milked. When we
were there, two of the cows
were in the barn because they
were ready to have their calves.
Watching this couple move
around the farm, it was evident
that they were busy people used
to hard work.
Ásthildur whispered to
me that Birgir had a beautiful
voice and had been singing in
a choir since he was eight. He
belongs to a 65-member choir
and if I wanted to see him on
YouTube to check out Karlakór
Kjalnesinga. When I got home
I did just that and was amazed
to see the members dressed in
tuxedos and the singing was
excellent. Now I was on a
mission, so I watched all five
videos. But there were other
Icelandic choirs as well and it
was apparent that Icelandic men
just love to sing.
It seems that male voice
choirs hold a special place in
Icelandic culture. To them,
singing is a vital part of
everyday life. It is their national
identity; it is about being with
other men; and about dealing
with life’s ups and downs in a
very positive way.
In Canada, we have a hard
time recruiting young boys to
choirs because they consider
singing to be a feminine thing.
In Iceland, the situation is
completely the opposite. There,
women’s choirs are overlooked
by both men and women, but
male choirs are found in every
town.
Robert Faulkner, of
the University of Western
Australia, migrated to Iceland
in 1986. He had intended to
come for two years, but stayed
for 20 as a music educator and
a researcher. He interviewed
more than 50 members of the
male choir in Hreimur, in rural
Iceland, and wrote a book on
the subject.
He writes, “You might have
expected these men to get the
greatest pleasure from singing
rousing soldiers’ choruses, but
what the men love singing most
is the exact opposite of that.”
They love beautiful, gentle
music in four-part harmony. The
men interviewed argued that
women’s choirs don’t possess
the expressive quality that male
voices do. When Faulkner first
heard this he thought it was
some kind of male arrogance,
but strangely enough, many
Icelandic women agreed. The
women went on to say that they
wouldn’t bother listening to a
women’s choir, but they love to
listen to men singing.
What could be the reason
for these differences? Iceland
gained independence from
Denmark in 1944 and only has
a population of 320,000. It is
isolated by the sea and was out
of touch with cultural changes
that took place in other parts
of the continent. Comparing
the transformation that took
place from the 13th to 19th
centuries in continental Europe
to that to Iceland, it is obvious
that Iceland missed out on a
few hundred years of music
development.
Pétur Guðjónsson brought
choir singing to Iceland in the
19th century. He had sung in a
choir in Denmark as a student.
It caught on in Iceland and
male voices have not stopped
singing about Iceland’s beauty
– its mountain, glaciers, hot
streams and summer nights lit
by the midnight sun.
Faulkner goes on to say,
“The men talked a lot about the
independence that comes from
having a bit of space to try out
your voice.” Singing from the
top of a hill helps men unwind
after a long day at work, just as
we might sing in the shower or in
our cars when no one can hear us.
They sing away their anxieties
and it helps them regulate their
personal lives. When there was
no mental health board available
to these men, singing eased their
pain and helped comfort others
who needed help. As one of the
men said, “Singing with your
workmates gives you better
health and more commitment to
your job.”
This is backed up by recent
studies done in Finland and
Norway, which reveal that
music activates emotional,
motor, and creative areas of the
brain. Two county hospitals in
Norway found that staff choirs
improved the sense of well-
being among employees.
Many surprises await visitors
to Iceland, especially for those
who venture past Reykjavík.
Dramatic landscapes, dynamic
forces of ice, wind, water,
and fire play a central role in
shaping the Icelandic identity.
And for many Icelandic men,
life without singing would be no
life at all.
Doreen Kerby
Saskatoon, SK
PHOTO COURTESY OF DOREEN KERBY
Karlakór Kjalnesinga
Icelandic men love to sing
Andriana
Chuchman
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