Hér má hlusta á viðtal við mig og upptöku frá Norrænum Músíkdögum þar sem Náttúruljóð voru flutt af strengjakvartett Kammersveitar Reykjavíkur og Tui Hirv.
Einnig má heyra þarna verk Mirjam Tally, Winter Island, frá sömu tónleikum ásamt öðru verki af nýju plötunni hennar, Eclipse.
Here is an intereview with me and a recording of Náttúruljóð (Nature Poems) from Nordic Music Days festival in Reykjavík. Performers are Reykjavík Chamber ensemble string quartet and soprano Tui Hirv.
In the recording you can also listen to Mirjam Tally's pieces, Winter Island, from the same concert performed also by the same quartet. Also there is a piece from her new album, Eclipse.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Icelandic Day in Tallinn
Twenty years ago, Iceland was the first country to recognise Estonia's independence from the Soviet union. As a gesture of gratitude there was a special day here in Tallinn on August 21st devoted to Icelandic culture where Icelandic musicians, writers, photographers, chefs and designers came to show their art to the Estonian nation.
It was really nice to see Tallinn become like my local 101 Reykjavík for a day, as different as these cities are! Plenty of familiar faces around and such a pleasure it was to walk between different events in the old town.
Me and Tui organised a concert under our label Konveier for the festival with Icelandic chamber music in the Swedish St. Michael's church in the old town of Tallinn, performed by Estonian musicians. One of them, Atli Ingólfsson, also came specially to Tallinn to attend the concert, which definitely made the event even more special.
Program:
Páll Ragnar Pálsson - Skip hangandi úr lofti í kirkju (Ship Hanging from the Ceiling of a Church) for piano trio
Atli Heimir Sveinsson - Plutôt Blache Qu'azurée I and II (Rather White than Sky Blue I and II) for clarinet trio
Atli Ingólfsson - Forbidden Mantra for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano
Encore:
Arvo Pärt - Spiegel im Spiegel
Conductor: Taavi Kull
Performers: Karolina Normak - violin, Laur Eensalu - viola, Margus Uus - cello, Marion Aruvee - flute, Marten Altrov - clarinet, Liisa Hirsh - piano.
Below are pictures taken earlier the same day during a rehearsal.
It was really nice to see Tallinn become like my local 101 Reykjavík for a day, as different as these cities are! Plenty of familiar faces around and such a pleasure it was to walk between different events in the old town.
Me and Tui organised a concert under our label Konveier for the festival with Icelandic chamber music in the Swedish St. Michael's church in the old town of Tallinn, performed by Estonian musicians. One of them, Atli Ingólfsson, also came specially to Tallinn to attend the concert, which definitely made the event even more special.
Program:
Páll Ragnar Pálsson - Skip hangandi úr lofti í kirkju (Ship Hanging from the Ceiling of a Church) for piano trio
Atli Heimir Sveinsson - Plutôt Blache Qu'azurée I and II (Rather White than Sky Blue I and II) for clarinet trio
Atli Ingólfsson - Forbidden Mantra for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano
Encore:
Arvo Pärt - Spiegel im Spiegel
Conductor: Taavi Kull
Performers: Karolina Normak - violin, Laur Eensalu - viola, Margus Uus - cello, Marion Aruvee - flute, Marten Altrov - clarinet, Liisa Hirsh - piano.
Below are pictures taken earlier the same day during a rehearsal.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tartu New Composers Festival 2011
This June I went to Tartu, a university town in the middle of Estonia, to participate in Tartu New Composers Festival in Jaani Kiri where Balancing on Babeltower for baritone saxophone and prepared piano, was premiered by Kaadri-Ann Sumera on piano and Ursula Chillaud on saxophone.
This Easter I went to an all night Vigil at my local Orthodox church in Nõmme. It was a special experience for me, very different from what I am used to in Iceland’s Lutheran church. People had dressed up in the appropriate clothes, women with shawl over the heads, the scent of incense and prayer candles filled the room. The choir sang music I had only heard in Rachmaninov’s piece written from the same material. I found the whole experience to be very strong and have a deep effect on me.
Lately I’ve found myself thinking about the story about the Babel Tower and what we can learn from it. I think life might be full of Babel Towers; those are there either to distract us or to guide us, all depending on how we grasp things.
It is in our nature to develop, both us as individuals, and in a larger context, mankind. In the process we can, and repeatedly do, get self-centered and then lose sight of the whole context, become too aware of our abilities and ourselves. The balance between our spiritual self, and intellectual self gets lost. These are the Babel Towers I am talking about.
At a certain point in the sermon the congregation all gathered outside the church and walked around it while the church bells were ringing. I noticed that the song the bells were playing had a tritone, something I had never before encountered in church music. Walking home after the sermon we could hear the bells down the street. I decided to use the motive in the final part of the piece. It seemed somehow appropriate.
Commissioned by Tartu New Music Ensemble for the 10. Festival of Estonian Composers in Tartu, June 2011.
Below you can read the annotation to the piece.
This Easter I went to an all night Vigil at my local Orthodox church in Nõmme. It was a special experience for me, very different from what I am used to in Iceland’s Lutheran church. People had dressed up in the appropriate clothes, women with shawl over the heads, the scent of incense and prayer candles filled the room. The choir sang music I had only heard in Rachmaninov’s piece written from the same material. I found the whole experience to be very strong and have a deep effect on me.
Lately I’ve found myself thinking about the story about the Babel Tower and what we can learn from it. I think life might be full of Babel Towers; those are there either to distract us or to guide us, all depending on how we grasp things.
It is in our nature to develop, both us as individuals, and in a larger context, mankind. In the process we can, and repeatedly do, get self-centered and then lose sight of the whole context, become too aware of our abilities and ourselves. The balance between our spiritual self, and intellectual self gets lost. These are the Babel Towers I am talking about.
At a certain point in the sermon the congregation all gathered outside the church and walked around it while the church bells were ringing. I noticed that the song the bells were playing had a tritone, something I had never before encountered in church music. Walking home after the sermon we could hear the bells down the street. I decided to use the motive in the final part of the piece. It seemed somehow appropriate.
Commissioned by Tartu New Music Ensemble for the 10. Festival of Estonian Composers in Tartu, June 2011.
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