---------------------------
Concerto for
Contrabass and Chamber Orchestra
is dedicated
to Hávarður Tryggvason and written for him and
the CAPUT-Ensemble. It has 12 movements. The first movements
are independant with pauses after each one of them. The
second half of the Concerto has short or no pauses between
movements. - First performance: Reykajvik May 5th 2010.
Performers: Hávarður Tryggvason (Contrabass solo)
and CAPUT-Ensemble conducted by the composer.
Concerto
for Contrabass and Chamber Orchestra - Score
(Pdf-file)
------------------------------------
The Drift of
Melancholy
was composed
in 2006 at the request of Joel Sachs for The New
Juilliard Ensemble with financial assistance from The
Margret Bjorgolfsdottir Memorial Fund in Iceland. When I
started to think about what to compose an old dream came to
mind. I had for many years wanted to set poetry by Mary Jo
Salter to music but an opportunity had never presented
itself. Now I decided that since I would be writing for a
group of young people in America this would be an ideal
opportunity to let my dream come true. Mary Jo and her
family lived in Iceland for a while in the late eighties and
I soon got to know her poetry and have loved it ever since.
The elegant structures, the poetic insights, the sound of
the words as they connect with each other, the sentiments
expressed: it all makes Mary Jo's poetry ideal for music.
The three poems I chose for my piece have very different
subject matters and very different characters but to me they
are connected in a similar manner as spring connects to
summer and summer to autumn. The Drift of Melancholy is
dedicated to Joel Sachs and The New Juilliard Ensemble. -
S.S.B.
First performance: The New Juilliard Ensemble (conductor:
Joel Sachs, soprano: Charlotte Dobbs) Alice Tully Hall, New
York, April 20, 2007.
The Drift of Melancholy - Score
(Pdf-file)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Movement
for brass
ensemble and percussion was composed in 1978 in Amsterdam.
It is dedicated to Hákon Snorri van Gelder. The piece
is in one movement and the duration is 9 minutes. It was
first performed in Oslo under the direction of Per Lyng and
soon afterwards it was played at an UNM-festival in
Stockholm. The conductor was Leif Segerstam.
----------------------------------------------------
Hymn
for string
orchestra was composed in 1982 for Nýja
Strengjasveitin (The New String Orchestra) and first
performed in Reykjavik under the direction of the composer.
The piece consists of 11 very short movements which are all
in the Mixolydian mode and are played very slowly. The
composer has made several versions of this work with
different groups of instruments. The most important are:
1) for student orchestra: violins (I and II) and cellos (I
og II)
2) for 2 violas, cello and double bass
3) for 2 clarinets, violin and cello
4) for piano
5) for 4 cellos (or 4-part cello group)
The version for
student orchestra is shorter than the others, 6 movements
instead of 11.
----------------------------------------------------
In a Magnetic
Field
for flute,
clarinet (in Bb), violin, viola, cello, marimba and piano,
was composed in 1996. It was commissioned by NOMUS and
written for Avanti!, BIT 20, Caput Ensemble, Composers
Ensemble, Sonanza and Storströms Kammerensemble in
conjunction with the Nordic Music Season in the UK
1995-1997.
The piece is in
one movement but consists of a few separate sections. There
is a melodic section, a rhytmic section, a slow section, a
joyful section, a polytextural section etc. but the goal was
to connect all the different elements and sections together
and let them all contribute to a continuous and organic
whole.
The first
performance was given by Caput-ensemble conducted by
Gumundur Óli Gunnarsson, on February 11th 1997 in
Reykjavik.
----------------------------------------------------------
Snorri
Thorfinnsson's Lullaby
is for cello
group (or 3 cellos). From The Saga of the
Greenlanders we learn about Gudridur Thorbjarnardottir
and Thorfinnur karlsefni. Their son, Snorri Thorfinnsson,
was born in America (or "Vinland"). Almost a 1000 years
later, in November 2000, cello students of the Suzuki
Music School of Reykjavík went to Boston where
they played "Snorri Thorfinnsson's Lullaby" among other
pieces.
Snorri
Thorfinnsson's Lullaby - Score
(PDF-file)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Fegurð
veraldar mun hverfa
("The Glory of the World Will Vanish")
for soprano,
clarinet (in Bb), 2 violas, cello, double bass and
percussion (1) was composed in 1999. It was commissioned by
Collegium Musicum, musical association in Skalholt.
Funds were provided by the Composers' Fund of the Icelandic
National Broadcasting Service. The piece was first performed
at Skalholt Cathedral on July 24th 1999 under the direction
of the composer. The soloist was Hallveig Runarsdottir
(soprano) and instrumentalists were: Oskar Ingolfsson
(clarinet), Steef van Oosterhout (percussion), Thorunn Osk
Marinosdottir (viola), Herdis Jonsdottir (viola), Nora
Kornblueh (cello) and Havardur Tryggvason (double
bass).
The poem was
written by Hallgrimur Petursson (1614-16749).
(Percussion
instruments: marimba, vibraphone and crotales).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Caput Concerto No.
1
for flute, oboe,
clarinet (in Bb), bassoon, horn in F, trumpet in C,
trombone, percussion (1)*, piano and strings (2-1-1-1), was
composed in 2000 commissioned by CAPUT and
Reykjavík European City of Culture in the Year
2000. It was first performed in Reykjavik on Nov 11th by
Caput-ensemble conducted by Gudmundur Oli Gunnarsson.
The piece consists
of one movement and the duration is 20 minutes. It was
revised in 2002 and the new version was performed by CAPUT
conducted by Gudmundur Oli Gunnarsson on December 1st 2002
in Berlin at the Nordic Music Days ("Magma").
*Percussion instruments: wind gong (L), 3 Peking gongs
(H,M,L), very, very small suspended cymbal, vibraphone,
marimba, sizzle cymbal, darabuka, bass drum (with foot
pedal), brake drum, large untuned cowbell, 2 tuned
gongs.
Caput
Concerto No. 1 - The score (pdf)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Caput Concerto No.
2
for flute, oboe,
clarinet (in Bb), bassoon, trumpet in C, trombone, piano and
strings
(2-1-1-1) and three percussion soloists*. The piece was
composed for and dedicated to the three permanent members of
the percussion group Benda: Eggert Palsson, Petur
Gretarsson, and Steef van Oosterhout. It consists of 4
movements:
1. Prelude
2. Meditation
3. Vikivaki
4. Epilogue.
Two of these movements (nos. 1 and 4) are
also part of another work which is called Three
Movements from Benda Concerto.
Prelude is for percussion (3) alone, Epilogue
is for percussion (3) and piano, but Meditation and
Vikivaki are for chamber ensemble and percussion (3).
Vikivaki is based on an Icelandic folk
song.
The duration of
Caput Concerto no. 2 is c.22 minutes.
*Percussion
instruments - 3 Players
Perc. 1:
Talking Drum,
-Vibraphone 1 (without motor), - Crotales 1 (written: f ',
gb
' , f " , gb"
), -
2 African Tom-toms (H, L)*, - Pair of Finger Cymbals
(suspended), - 2 Suspended Cymbals.
Perc. 2:
Bodhrán, -
Vibraphone 2, - Crotales 2 (written: c# ' , d' , c# " , d" ,
eb"
), - 2 Low Dobachi, - Wood Block, - 2 pairs of Bongos (1st
set: high pitch, 2nd set: low pitch)*, - Large suspended
Chinese Hand Cymbal - (shared with Perc.3).
Perc.
3:
Darabouka, -
Marimba, - A pair of large Chinese Hand Cymbals (with very
big dome), one cymbal is shared with Perc.2, - Junior
Conga*, - Conga*, - 2 Boobams (ML, L)*.
* The drums suggested for the 3rd movement, Vikivaki,
can be replaced by other drums, e.g. homemade drums. The
choice of instruments is left to the discretion of the
soloists.
Caput
Concerto No. 2 - The score
(pdf).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Piano Concerto
No.2
was commissioned by the Composers' Fund of the Icelandic
National Broadcasting Service and written in 2005 for the
Caput Ensemble and the piano virtuoso Vikingur Heidar
Olafsson. The work consists of 3 movements and the duration
is 25 min. It was inspired by the artistry of Vikingur
Heidar Olafsson and is dedicated to him. He and the
Caput-ensemble gave the first performance of the work on
October 13th 2006 in Reykjavik (Nordic Music Days). The
conductor was David Curtis.
Instrumentation is
as follows: 1-1-1-1, 1-1-1-0, Percussion (2 players)*, Harp,
Solo Piano, 2 Violins, Viola, Cello and Double
Bass.
*Percussion
instruments:
* Perc.
1:
Glockenspiel,
Marimba, Suspended Cymbal, Bongos, 2 Timbales (h,l), Temple
Blocks.
*Perc.
2:
5 Tom-toms (h, mh,
m, ml, l), Woodblock, Machine Castanets, Vibraphone.
Piano Concerto No.2 is dedicated to Víkingur
Heiðar Ólafsson.
Piano
Concerto No.2 - Score
(pdf).
Piano
Concerto No.2 on Youtube
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Lilja
In the summer
of 2004 a seminar for young cellists took place in
Gambrils, a small town in the vicinity of Barcelona.
A few Icelandic cello students took part in the seminar
together with local students. One of the teachers of the
seminar was Richard Talkowsky who asked me to arrange an
Icelandic folk song, Lilja, for the group, which I
did. The arrangement was premiered at the end of the
seminar. It can be performed by 4 cellos or cello
ensemble.
Lilja
- score (pdf)
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The
Girl in the Tower
for chamber
orchestra* and narrator was commissioned by The North
Iceland Symphony Orchestra and composed in 2004.
The narrator reads a story, The Girl in the Tower, by
Jónas Hallgrímsson, and the musicians
dramatise it. The first performance was given in Akureyri on
April 17th 2005 by The North Iceland Symphony Orchestra
under the baton of Guðmundur Óli Gunnarsson
with Skúli Gautason as narrator. In the autumn of
2005 the orchestra, conducted by Guðmundur Óli
Gunnarsson, performed the piece 28 times for school children
in the north of Iceland with the composer as narrator.
*Instrumentation: 1-1-1-1, 1-1-1-0, piano, percussion (1),
string quartet.
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