Touch Radio – ‘Utvær’
21 January 2008
Find the piece Utvær at Touch Radio.
https://touchradio.org.uk
Utvær is composed from recordings made at the west most inhabited island in Norway. One person lives at Utvær all year round.
You cannot travel any further west in Norway and still be on solid ground.
The County Governor of Sogn & Fjordane has decided to define Utvær as a nature reserve. This decision applies to the Utvær island group and surrounding sea. An exception is made for the island of Utvær itself and the sea immediately around it. The Norwegian Riksantikvar (preservation of Norwegian heritage) has made a proposal to preserve the lighthouse itself.
In the Middle Ages there was a chapel to the south of the existing settlement. It is somewhat uncertain when the chapel was built. The first written references to if appear in the work of Bjørgynar Kalveskinn from 1320. The chapel had an income from gifts and fishing tithes. In the 17th century the chapel owned 15 cows and 27 sheep that were rented out. Later on in the 17th century the chapel of Utvær was robbed by Scottish pirates.
The lighthouse burned down in February 1945 during an allied air attack. The lighthouse was reconstructed from 1948 - 1952. The lighthouse itself took on a different form from previously and the "balcony" on the top was one storey lower.
The recordings were made in relation to the project Sleppet during the centinary of Edvard Grieg in 2007.
Photos by Jørgen Larsson:
