Website updated

I have added quite much new material to my website, please, feel free to check it out. There are excerpts there now from my latest pieces, that are all large scale works for orchestra, string orchestra or large ensembles. My list of works has also been updated and more info added to the biography.

Also, check out my facebook site as well so you can receive information about what's happening at the moment.

All the best to you,

Páll Ragnar

Skálholt 2014

Me and Tui just came back from Skálholt, South Iceland, a former episcopal see since the year 1056. Today it serves as a church and a museum where concerts often take place. What brought us there was the premiere of my latest piece, Ljóðaljóðin (Song of Songs) for soprano, baritone and mixed choir at the Sumartónleikar festival, an annual event that has lived for 40 years, where I had the honour of being the composer in residence. Performers were Tui Hirv – soprano, Hafsteinn Þórólfsson – baritone and Hljómeyki choir. Conducted by Marta Halldórsdóttir. Also on the program were some of my older pieces for choir and some instruments: Davíðssálmur 141 (Psalm 141) for organ and choir, Tímamót (Watershed) for female choir and I Pray to the Sunbeam from the Window for 12 voices and string trio.

Me and Tui stayed there for almost a week during the rehearsals and then the concert. Everything about this trip was just fantastic, the beauty of the place, the nice accommodations and last but not least wonderful people that gave everything into the performance. And what a performance it was, simply brilliant!

Here are some pictures from the trip.

Recording with ISO

Last ast two days were spent recording my piece, Nostalgia, with Una Sveinbjarnardóttir on violin and the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra. Daníel Bjarnason conducted. I composed the piece in the autumn of 2012 and it was premiered at Dark Music Days 2013 by the same orchestra, then conducted by Ilan Volkov. The recordings were done by the Icelandic National Braodcast Service.

Here are some photos from the session and then I'll add some excerpts when I have the final product.

Yfirráðandi kyrrð (Supremacy of Peace) to the International Rostrum of Composers in Prague on the 28th – 31st of May

On the 7th of April, my piece, Yfirráðandi kyrrð (Supremacy of Peace) was premiered at Estonian Music Days by Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. Conducted by Risto Joost. The orchestra's performance with, Risto Joost's sharp and focused conducting, was fantastic and a got a strong response from the audience. Right after the concert I was approached by The Estonian Public Broadcasting Service where they offered me to send the recording to the International Rostrum of Composers in Prague on the 28th – 31st of May. This is of course a great honour for me and I'm very exited to be a part of this legendary event.

Here is the annotation to the piece, where I share some of the inspiration behind the music:

Supremacy of Peace

Northeastern Estonia is an area of sharp contrasts. Man-made ash-mountains of oil shale, glowing inside, are in a strange opposition with the peaceful surrounding of farms and cows. Villages that are half-empty because the factory they were built around has long ago been closed down seem like an unpleasant dream in the wild forest. In Sillamäe, a pond of nuclear waste lies next to the seaside where children are playing.

In Kuremäe, there is a convent. There, Mother Alipia told us “Here we have a sermon seven times a day. Psalms are sung every hour, day and night. We pray every waking hour. This we have done for one hundred and twenty years. That is why everything grows so well here”.

The piece starts in a loud, almost violent way. Tensions resolve and then build up again, transforming from masses of distorted sound to microscopic, ice-like textures. After a while this ice starts to crack and fragments start moving like molecules in a substance. When the tension rises up to the level of burning over, the textures start to unravel, like petals of a blossom. This is a long and purifying process where all energies come to rest. At the end of this journey we are greeted with a psalm.

Recording with Kammerkór Suðurlands

Kammerkór Suðurlands (The South Iceland Chamber Choir) recently recorded my piece Kom, skapari, heilagi andi (Veni Creator Spiritus) for mixed choir and tubular bells for their upcoming album of Icelandic contemporary composers. The recordings were done in Sundlaugin (The swimming pool), a recording studio built by Sigur Rós in an old swimming pool close to Reykjavík.

The choir's conductor is Hilmar Örn Agnarsson. Percussion by Frank Aarnink. Engineering by Silli Geirdal. Produced by Kjartan Sveinsson.

Here are some pictures from the session:

For more information, please check out my website!

Upcoming concerts

Náttúruljóð (Nature Poems) for soprano and string quartet will be performed at Tallinn Music Week in Mustpeade maja on April 6th by Tui Hirv - soprano, Ida Teppo - violin, Laur Eensalu - viola and Theodor Sink - cello. Poem by Sjón.

Undir yfirráðum kyrrðar (Supremacy of Peace) for 12 stings will be premiered on Estonian Music Days April 7th by Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. Conducted by Risto Joost. 

Varjust varju (From Shadow to Shadow) for soprano and string orchestra will be premiered at Tartu Composers Festival on June 8th in St. John's Church by Tui Hirv and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. Conducted by Mikk Murdvee. Poem by Indrek Hirv.

Nostalgia

On Thursday 31st of January the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ilan Volkov, will premiere my new piece, Nostalgia. Solo violin by Una Sveinbjarnardóttir.

The piece is composed on the occation of Dark Music Days, a festival dedicated to contemporary music in Iceland. The concert, that will also include works by Gunnar Andreas Kristinson, Davíð Brynjar Fransson and Gerald Barry, starts at 19:30 in Harpa concert house in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Here are a few words about the composition:

My piece, Nostalgia, is among other, inspired by The Myth of Sisyphus, by Albert Camus; the films of Andrei Tarkovski, that have many references to lost time; and last but not least, my staying in a country where time has not travelled in the same tempo as I grew up in.

At the beginning of the composition there is stillness. After a while some hidden emotions start to emerge and from there starts a procedure where it is needed to look inwards and try to understand everything better, at the same time as things  are getting more complicated. This development reaches a point of culmination and then starts to unravel. What we did not know before, comes to light.

To stay updated check out my website, or my facebook site for further information.