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Composer's Note
Aejlies, which means ‘Holy’, was originally composed as part of a commissioned work for a Sámi church festival in Norway in 2013. The theme for the festival was ‘Holy Ground! Holy Word’, referring to the understanding among our Sámi ancestors, as well as other indigenous groups, that the land we are living on – Mother Earth – is Holy and should be treated with respect and honour. The theme is also inspired by the biblical words “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground!” (Exodus 3:5), which resonates with how indigenous traditions relate to nature.


Only one word is sung in this work, which takes inspiration from the Sámi yoik tradition where one often only uses very few words in combination with so called yoik syllables. These syllables have no linguistic meaning, but are an important part of this ancient vocal tradition, allowing the human voice to describe something without the limitations words and language sometimes have. A special yoik effect is sometimes used at the ending of phrases whereby the tension of the diaphragm is suddenly released to create an audible breath effect at the end of the final note. I have used the accent sign above a rest to indicate this. It is almost like a ‘ah’ sound, but more subtle. It is of course optional to recreate the traditional way of doing this, but nice to try to get a very defined ending of the notes where this is indicated. The following can be used as a guide to pronunciation:


å – as in ‘all’
a – as in ‘far’
j – as in ‘yes’
o – as in ‘moon’


Frode Fjellheim - 2017

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