2018-12-13 Thu

Music plays an important part in Greenland's culture and history. Greenland Post, therefore, has issued a set of three stamps a whole series to Greenlandic music. Issued on 23rd January 2017, this set is the first part of the whole series.

First stamp of the series is 1 Danish krone stamp depicting Drum singing is the original form of music among the Inuit, and it is thousands of years old. Drum singing still exists today all the way from Siberia, Alaska and Canada to the Thule area and East Greenland. The drum singing was also the unifying activity during parties, where all people would sing the songs together.

The stamp of 24.50 Danish krone feature a new form of music - choral singing. When the missionaries came to Greenland in the 18th century, drum singing was prohibited. The missionaries considered drum singing to be shamanic and ungodly. On the other hand, the missionaries offered the Inuit a new form of music - choral singing. And gradually, as people were Christianized and began attending church, the joy of singing in chorus spread. And that joy is still there today.

In addition to the missionaries, other people also began to arrive in Greenland. And they brought another new form of music to the Inuit. The 27 Danish krone denominated stamp shows the adaption of new music. The accordion brought by the oil-rich whale blubbers is depicted on this stamp. The photo, on which this stamp is based, was taken in 1980, and it shows the popular musician Louis Andreassen of Nanortalik. He recorded the album "Qavaat", which consisted of settlement music from South Greenland. The bubbles in the picture symbolise the immiaq - home brew - placed by his side.

This is just the first set. Stay tuned for the next and final chapter.

Image Courtesy: https://www.stampworld.com