Further Information

Translation of what Elin Brimheim Heinesen says in the video above:
"Hey, I need your help! I am dreaming of recording the song "Sóleyan" (The Buttercup) by my father, Jens Pauli Heinesen, and me with a symphony orchestra - just like the song "Eitt dýpi av dýrari tíð" (A Chasm og Precious Time). Please help me make this dream come true."

Honoring Jens Pauli's memory on his 90th birthday
"It would just be great if a symphonic recording of Sóleyan could be done and released preferably well in advance, but at the latest at my father’s 90th birthday in 2022, and in that way be able to honor his memory. Therefore, I sincerely hope that many people will help support this project so that the dream can come true,” says Elin Brimheim Heinesen.

Here, Elin Brimheim Heinesen sings and plays an acoustic live version of the song Sóleyan:

About the poem Sóleyan:
Sóleyan is a song that Elin Brimheim Heinesen has composed to the very beautiful and thought-provoking, but yet unknown poem also titled Sóleyan, by her late father Jens Pauli Heinesen. The word "Sóleyan", which means “the buttercup”, is an older lineage of the word "sóljan" more commonly used today.

Elin Brimheim Heinesen explains the background for the poem:
"My father wrote the poem in the 1960's when the Cold War was at its peak. I think everyone at that time had a sense of something ominous that could hit them anytime out of nowhere. But, still, people just had to live life, as if the threat did not exist. This probably caused a sort of fatalism among people.

"But, typical of my dad, he also always had an eye for nature, which just exists without the slightest regard for what we humans do. After all, the days, the nights, the seasons just keep coming and going, and the buttercup blossoms incessantly. In the great context, man is so infinitely small compared to much greater powers at play, which can shatter the whole world in the blink of an eye.

"Quite relevant to think about, now that humanity is facing the threat of the Corona pandemic and an ensuing global financial crisis."

The poem
Here is the poem - first the original poem in Faroese and then a translation to English :

SÓLEYAN

Kvøldar á sundi, nátt er í nánd.
Sólin at havgeiri dregur.
Nátarnir flúgva at sovandi strond.
Minnini hava so kalda hond,
ið kínir tær, tá ið tú svevur.

Streymar á sundi, streymar í mær
broddur av drepandi iva,
sum melur í klingur, bønar um svar.
Men dunið út úr gjáunum lær
at okkum, ið elska, ið liva.

Tey spæla bert við okkum, lívsins kor,
tær sælu, lygnandi løtur,
nú lombini leika í grønari skor,
og heimar smildrast við eittans orð,
og sóleyan lýsir um fløtur.
Sóleyan lýsir um fløtur.

Orð:Jens Pauli Heinesen
Lag: Elin Brimheim Heinesen

THE BUTTERCUP

Dusk on the sound, the night is near.
The sun draws near the edge of the sea.
The fulmars fly towards the sleeping coast.
The memories have such cold hand,
that caresses you while you sleep.

Streams on the sound, flowing in me
a sting of deadly doubt,
swirls round and round, begging for answers.
But the rumble from the gorges laughs
at us who love, who live.

They only play with us, the conditions of life,
these blissful, calm moments,
where the lambs play on green hillsides,
and worlds are shattered by a single word,
and the buttercup illuminates the plains.
The buttercup illuminates the plains.

Lyrics: Jens Pauli Heinesen
Melody: Elin Brimheim Heinesen

About the music
Unfortunately, Jens Pauli did not hear his daughter's music made for the poem. He died in 2011. Elin composed the piece in 2012 in connection with a big memorial ceremony in the Nordic House for her father, the day he would have turned 80. At that time, she made an arrangement for choir. The choir Tarira with Sunleif Rasmussen in the lead performed and sang the song for the first time at this event.

Elin Brimheim Heinesen says about the song:
"When I made the song Sóleyan I heard a symphony orchestra in my inner ear. Ever since, I have been dreaming of publishing the song in a symphonic version, just as it I did with the song Eitt dýpi av dýrari tíð (A Chasm of Precious Time), which I also composed to a poem by my father. That song was released in 2002, when my father turned 70, in a symphonic version with orchestra, a male choir and me as a soloist singer."

It is no exaggeration to say that the song Eitt dýpi av dýrari tíð got a very good reception. In a poll conducted by the Faroe Islands national radio, Kringvarp Føroya, in 2018, Eitt dýpi av dýrari tíð came in as the fourth most popular song of all Faroese songs published in the last 50 years.

Is it really possible that the father and daughter duo could pull a similar success off once again with the song Sóleyan? Elin doubts it, but goes on to say:

"It would just be great if a symphonic recording of Sóleyan could be done and released preferably well in advance, but at the latest at my father’s 90th birthday in 2022, and in that way be able to honor his memory. Therefore, I sincerely hope that many people will help support this project so that the dream can come true”.

About financing the project:
In 2002 it cost just over 50,000 DKK to arrange Eitt dýpi av dýrari tíð for orchestra and choir and to record it. The Sóleyan project will in today's prices cost much more than that.

But Elin is not able to fund such a large project all by herself. She therefore encourages you and others to participate in the crowd funding to help her make her dream come true.

Please select one of the support options to the right.

You are welcome to send or share the link to this site with others:
https://www.hopfigging.fo/project/view/57
... so that they also have the opportunity to help support this project.

Every contribution – big or small – makes a difference and is very welcome.

Thank you so much for your support!

Here are some people, who support the project, and recommend others to do the same:

Høgni Rasmussen, communication adviser and owner of the communication bureau Høgra:
"I support the recording of Sóleyan, because I like the song very much, both the melody and the lyrics. Very good singing. Very good tune. Elin and her father are a special and unique combination. Eerie lyrics, beautiful with some sinister passages. I could very well imagine this song played by a symphony orchestra and I expect it to turn out so well that it could well become national heritage - just like Eitt dýpi av dýrari tíð is."

Matthew Workman, journalist and host of The Faroe Islands Podcast:
"You don't need to understand a word of Faroese to be deeply moved by this song. The words and the melody combine to convey an emotion that transcends language. A beautiful, beautiful song."

Selection of Facebook comments about Sóleyan:
Maiken Steinberg:
"So immensely well sung, and the poem is a delight to read. You are a gift, Elin."

Kristina Háfoss:
"Beautiful words and a beatiful song - thank you, Elin."

Ann Persdóttir Mikkelsen:
"I heard your dad in spirit. He had a way with words. I need to learn that song. Exceptionally beautiful, not to mention the melody. Thank you, Elin."

Lív Næs:
"Unbelievably beautiful. Poem and melody! Thank you for this nightly greeting, Elin."

Jógvan Edvard Lindenskov:
"Elin, thanks. I believe I have read and own most of the works, your dad has written. I often spoke to him, also in his latest years, when he lived by Hoyvíkstjørn. I know his novels better than his poetry, though. This was beautiful, both poem and melody."

Kim Frandsen:
"Thank you very much for your father's poetic words and your beautiful song. I interviewed you a few years ago in Torshavn (also about your father) - and that was a contributing factor to my book publishing: The Faroe Saga - a different Nordic story. Thank you, Elin."

Lív Dam:
"Great poem and you are so good at bringing the right mood to your tune, Elin."

Listen to Eitt dýpi av dýrari tíð (A Chasm of Precious Time) with lyrics by Jens Pauli Heinesen and music by Elin Brimheim Heinesen - here in the symphonic version: