Greenlandic music

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The Greenlandic music was originally the music of the Greenland Inuit in the form of drum singing , which since the 18th century through the influence of Danish and German missionaries has been radically displaced. Missionary work, however, brought about new forms of music practice in the form of polyphonic choral singing . In the second half of the 20th century, Greenlandic music developed into a vibrant hybrid musical culture under the influence of international rock and pop music. 300 years after colonization, it - like traditional music at times - plays an important role in the process of regaining or reconstructing a Greenlandic identity.

Song and drum

The original music of the Greenland Inuit was drum singing ( inngerut , Pl. Inngerutit ), in which one or two soloists often danced at the same time to the singing and drums. As for other Inuit peoples, drum singing was of great social importance for the Greenlanders. It is derived from the ceremonial drumming of the shamans of the circumpolar peoples, which was widespread from Northern Europe to Canada.

The used therefor Schamanentrommel ( qilaat , Pl. Qilaatit ) consisted of an oval, with a polar bladder or with a polar bear or Walrossmagen related frames from driftwood or Walrossrippen. The handle was often decorated. The approximately 40 cm long mallet was not used to hit the skin, but the wooden frame. This frame drum - the only musical instrument used by the Inuit - was slightly smaller than the drums of Siberia . It was used both for entertainment and to dispel fear in the dark winter as well as for conjuring spirits and for doing magic. The suggestive effect was sometimes emphasized by the fact that the drum player changed his appearance by wearing masks - this, too, an old shamanistic tradition. However, very few documents exist on the original performance practice.

Anda Kûitse (1951–2019), drum dancer and last shaman from Kulusuk (East Greenland)

The singer's name was angakkoq (Pl. Angakkut ). His position was inherited and his role was not precisely defined, but he has far-reaching powers, especially healing, similar to the Siberian shaman. As with other hunting and fishing peoples in the north, he also had to call the respective "master of the animals" in an economic crisis. The last bastion of shamanism was East Greenland.

While drumming, the dancers - often women - dance in the square with small but complicated steps and often with their eyes closed. Often the feet stay on the ground. The rhythm often becomes faster towards the end of the dance. Today women also drum; in East Greenland they have different drums than men. Since the 1970s only profane performances of these songs and dances have taken place. B. at summer festivals - the traditional aasiviit (Sg. Aasivik ) instead.

The drum was also used in the singing controversy ( ivertut pisiat , Pl. Ivertut pisii ), in which enemies tried to resolve their conflicts without bloodshed, which would have been fatal for survival given the tiny populations in the settlements. Here, singing has an important function in the context of ritual conflict resolution in the (according to Erich Fromm ) male-aggressive but non-destructive Greenlandic society. Despite headbuttings or other acts of violence, the main aim was to make the adversary the mockery of the audience. Family disputes were also resolved in this way. Even murderers could avoid blood revenge by singing a duel. In some cases, the defeated fled to another settlement following the chant.

The entertaining aliikkutat (Sg. aliikkutaq , literally pastime , pleasure ) were sung during work, such as kayaking or sleigh rides, hunting, picking berries and collecting eggs . Piseq (literally mocking song ) is a very personal song about everyday life that "belongs" to its author, but is often passed on unchanged, whereby the author is named. These songs did not go into collective ownership; sometimes they were even sold.

Also the throat singing ( torlorsorneq , Inuktitut katajjaq ) was and is used by women in Greenland - but less frequently than with the Canadian Inuit - practiced, often competing, with the rapid breathing in and out determines the basic rhythm; it is not to be confused with the overtone singing of the Mongolian peoples.

William Thalbitzer was the first to document traditional Greenlandic music with sound recordings on a trip to East Greenland from 1905-06; he published several books about it together with the music historian Hjalmar Thuren (1873-1912).

First European influences

The first influences on Greenlandic musical culture from the south began at the end of the 16th century with visits from European whalers who traded on the west coast of the country. The European seafarers also brought dance and minstrel music from Scotland and the Netherlands . This rigidly rhythmic music formed a foundation for the dance tradition in Greenland, which is now known as kalattuut or Greenlandic polka . To play this music, violins and harmonica were imported to Greenland. Influences from American country music can also be found in Greenland.

The development of vocal music under the influence of the Christian mission

Danish and German missionaries tried to suppress the drum song in the 18th century, which they succeeded in western Greenland. He only partially survived in East Greenland and Thule , which were not evangelized until around 1900. Today one tries to revive it regionally. The singing competition was rather tolerated because of its social valve function.

But it was also the missionaries of the pietistic Herrnhut Brethren who developed a new form of music. They introduced the polyphonic psalm song in Greenlandic, for which many Greenlanders were enthusiastic. Many of these songs are of German origin. The fact that the Inuit thought the first missionaries like Johann Beck to be angakkut because of their emotional presentation style may have contributed to the acceptance .

Over time, choir and psalm singing became an important element of the national culture of Greenland, and its assimilation progressed rapidly during the immigration from Denmark and the mixing of the two parts of the population. Many places today have choirs that study psalms and choral music and perform publicly on various occasions. The polyphonic choral singing has a special "Greenlandic" timbre. There are also details in the Greenlandic psalm song that do not occur in Europe. An example of this is the syllable 'aja', which is known from drum dance.

Rasmus Berthelsen

Since the middle of the 19th century, Greenlanders have been composing and writing their own choral works in the European tradition, e.g. B. the teacher and poet Rasmus Berthelsen (1827-1901) from Sisimiut , his great-nephew Josva Kleist (1879-1931), also the poet Henrik Lund (1875-1948), the composer of both Greenlandic national anthems Jonathan Petersen (1881-1961), Abraham Abrahamsen (1900–1946), Jakob II Egede (1901–1988), Johan Kleist (Aavaat) (1927–95) and Villads Villadsen (1916–2006).

Since 1761, more than 60 books of psalms or melodies without text have been published. The Tugsiutit erinait , today Tussiaqattaarutit (since 1907) with four-part psalms by Christian Rasmussen and Johan Henrik Nebelong , is still widespread .

Danish melodies and songs have also been adopted for secular use. Most of the texts were translated into Greenlandic. Typical were polyphony, slow tempos and the singing of the choir with the audience, as is common in Denmark. The songbook Erinarsuutit has been reissued again and again with texts since 1908 and with text and notes since 1911. Almost all of the more recent Greenlandic poetry was also intended to be sung along from the start.

Well-known vocal soloists who accompany each other on the guitar are Rasmus Lyberth , Ulf Fleischer and Karl Johan "Juaaka" Lyberth .

Instrumental music, rock and pop

After the Second World War, instrumental music developed, to which the influence of American and European rock and pop music contributed significantly. The introduction of radio and LP after World War II made this music accessible to everyone and the Greenlanders were inspired to emulate the genres with their own bands. American folk music , popular in the 1950s and 1960s, was replaced by international rock music from the mid-1960s.

The colonial status officially ended in 1953 and Greenland officially became part of the Danish motherland. But this increased the pressure to assimilate z. B. through the mandatory use of the Danish language in official matters. On the other hand, a Greenlandic autonomy movement turned against it since the 1970s, which also extended to the cultural field and promoted the use of the Greenlandic language.

Local radio station in Upernavik (2007)

One of the pioneers of rock and pop music in Greenland was the band Sumé ("where?"), Founded in 1973, with singer and politician Per Berthelsen (* 1950) and Malik Høegh (* 1952), who wrote powerful political texts. The band played a major role in mobilizing for the political goal of self-government ( Hjemmestyre ). Her first album Sumut ("where?") Was bought by 20 percent of the Greenland population.

Sisimiut is home to the music label and record studio ULO , which has been distributing this music since the 1970s, but also publishes traditional music. New Greenlandic labels such as Sermit Records , Melos Records and Atlantic Music have emerged since the 1970s .

Other well-known bands were Silamiut and Inneruulat in the 1980s, Nuuk Posse , the first and best-known Greenland hip-hop group (since 1992), Mariina , a pop rock group from the 1990s, Siissisoq , a metal band (1998), Chilly Friday from Nuuk (2000), Disko Democratic Republic (DDR), which was founded in 2002 by three brothers from Diskoinsel , Zikasa and the hip-hop group Prussic . The Polar Jungle Orchestra makes experimental music . One of the most successful younger bands is Nanook ("Eisbär", 2005), which was founded by Frederik Elsner and his brother.

Most of the bands' lyrics are in Greenlandic , but increasingly also in English or Danish , as Greenlandic musicians are increasingly measuring their strengths against the international music scene and are going on tour (mostly to Scandinavia). The beginning of this development was marked by Angu Motzfeldt (* 1976), who presented himself to the market with English texts. Julie Berthelsen (* 1979), Per Berthelsen's stepdaughter, is one of the pop singers with a large Danish audience . Nina Kreutzmann Jørgensen (* 1977) also sings for the Danish audience . The rapper Josef Tarrak-Petrussen (* 1998) belongs to the young generation of musicians .

In April every year the Arctic Sound Festival takes place in Sisimiut with Inuit artists from Greenland, Canada and Alaska as well as with musicians from the Nordic States and the Baltic States.

Today in Greenland, with its almost 60,000 inhabitants, up to 15 CDs appear annually, with a maximum of 3000 to 5000 copies being sold. In the course of time, the Greenlanders' identity problem, which has still not been finally resolved, has become less explosive, which could lead to a further loss of importance for traditional music. Many text genres have been underlaid with Europeanized melodies. However, the newly created hybrid musical forms have often remained unchanged over the past few decades.

literature

  • Michael Hauser : Grønland - music. In: Den Store Danske , Gyldendal ( denstoredanske.lex.dk ).
  • Michael Hauser: Traditional and Acculturated Greenlandic Music. In: Arctic Anthropology. Volume 23, No. 1/2, 1986, pp. 359-386.
  • Michael Hauser: Traditional Greenlandic Music. Kragen, Copenhagen 1991; ULO, Nuuk 1992.
  • Michael Hauser: Folk Music Research and Folk Music Collecting in Greenland. In: Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 25: Musical Processes in Asia and Oceania. International Council for Traditional Music, Canberra 1993, pp. 136-147.
  • Birgit Lynge: New Currents in Greenlandic Music: From Traditional to Contemporary Music. In: Arctic Anthropology, Vol. 23, No. 1/2, 1986, pp. 387-399

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Oppitz : The drum: model of the shamanic cosmos. In: Erich Kasten (ed.): Shamans of Siberia: Magician, Mediator, Healer. Berlin 2009.
  2. ↑ a b c d Greenlandic Music History, Part 1. visitgreenland.com
  3. ↑ GREENLAND-NUUK. TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND DRUM DANCE / Traditional greenlandic music and dance at youtube.com
  4. ↑ Photo series by Rósa Rut Þórisdóttir at thearctic.is
  5. ↑ Trommedanser Anda Kuitse er død at knr.gl , September 22, 2019.
  6. ↑ Erich Kasten: The Saami drum as an image of the worldview and ritual practice in change. In: Mannheim history sheets. Special publication 3, 2011, p. 29 ( PDF ).
  7. ↑ Hauser 1993, p. 137 f.
  8. ↑ Hauser 1991, p. 29 ff.
  9. ↑ Erich Fromm : Anatomy of human destructiveness. Hamburg 1979, p. 122.
  10. ↑ Hauser 1991, p. 18 ff.
  11. ↑ Hauser 1991, p. 21ff.
  12. ^ A b c Étienne Bours: Greenland , in: World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Edited by Frederick Dorian, Orla Duane, and James McConnachie. Rough Guides, 1999, pp. 143ff.
  13. ↑ Hauser 1991, p. 14.
  14. ↑ Kalaattoortut, Qeqertarsuaq, August 2012 at youtube.com
  15. ↑ Bibliographic information Tugsiutit erinait at bibliotek.dk
  16. ↑ Birgit Lynge, 1986, p. 387
  17. ↑ Sume - Inuit Nunaat (1974 Full Album) at youtube.com
  18. ↑ Chilly Friday - Iggo at youtube.com
  19. ↑ Nanook - Aarnuaq (Talisman) at youtube.com
  20. ↑ Web site arcticsounds.gl
  21. ^ Brian A. Johansen: Contemporary Greenlandic music. In: Études / Inuit / Studies. Volume 25, No. 1/2, 2001, Identités inuit / Inuit identities , Université Laval , pp. 169–190.
  22. ↑ Hauser 1991, p. 136.