Adam Clemens

About Sóleyan

The Faroese author Jens Pauli Heinesen wrote the beautiful poem „Sóleyan” (The Buttercup) in the 60‘s. One year after Jens Pauli’s death in 2011, his daughter Elin Brimheim Heinesen put his poem to music.

In 2020, Elinlaunched a crowd funding project to fund orchestration and recording of the song „Sóleyan“ with a symphony orchestra. She managed to get full funding. And thus, this big part of the creative process could be launched.

The Italian composer Enzo de Rosa orchestrated the music for symphony orchestra. The music was recorded in Smecky Studios in Prague with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Adam Clemens, supervised by executive producer Laura Lungu.

All vocals were recorded in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. Composer Elin Brimheim Heinesen sings the main vocal and the 60-man choir Tórshavnar Manskór sings the backing vocals. Elin Brimheim Heinesen translated her father’s poem „Sóleyan“ into English. Finnur Hansen sound engineered the choir recordings and mixed the choir and the orchestra, while Bárður Háberg from Baroli Music sound engineered and mixed the main vocal. The mixed track was mastered by Camilo de Silva F. from Colombia.

Elin Brimheim Heinesen explains the background for the poem: – My father, Jens Pauli Heinesen, 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 has been facing the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic and an ensuing global financial crisis.

Tracklist:

1. Sóleyan Lýsir Um Fløtur (Faroese Version)
2. Buttercups Light Up The Meadows (English Version)

Released on the following formats:
Digitally on all major platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.). You can check it out by using this link: : https://bfan.link/soleyan