an early spokesman for Iceland's indcpendence fiom Denmark. Although J6n
Leifs' .... and Denmark. In February 1996 the ...... Nir greinir ei hafog haudur nein,.
STEREO BIS.CD-T(|5O
trtpl
Total playing time: 55',ll
JON Leifs (18ee-1e68) tr
Hafis
centre) Nrusic h,ro,mation (Drift Ice), op. 63 (1965) (rrctand
17' 49
fyrir blanda6ank6r & hlj6msveit/ lbr mixcd chorusand orchestra Text: Einar Benediktssort Hiirdur Askelsson Schola ('antorum. ehorus-ma\rcr:
E E
&ntrc) tnlomatililt Tveir Stingvar (Two Songs), C)p.14a t*n,a Nusic fyrir scingrddd& hlj6msveit/ for mezzo-sopranoand orchestra Texts:J6hannJ6nsson Maninn lidur (Moon Song) (1930) Vcigguvisa(Lullaby) (192911936)
4',25 1'46 2'32
Ingveldur Yr J6nsd6ttir. mezzo-soprano E
10'55 t,,romsri-.*", (The Lay of Gudrun), op. 22 (194)) tlcctandMusit Gudrfrnarkvida tenor.bassand orchestra f'yrir mczzo-s6pran,ten6r.bassa& hlj6msvcit / for mezzo-soprano, Text:Jiun Eddic poen'y, compiled b,t J 6n Le if's Gunnar Gudbjiirnsson, tenor: Ingveldur i'r J6nsd6ttir, mezzo-soprano; L o f t u r E r l i n s s s o n .h r . '
tr
N6tt (Night), Op.-59(196a) lcetaildMusbtnfor,ilatioil(:entre) tyrir tenor,baritonog litla hlj6msveit1 for tenor,baritoneand small orchestra Text: borsteinn Erlingsson G u n n a r G u t ) b j i i r n s s o nt.e r r ,:, 6r l a f u r K j a r t a n S i g u r d a r s o nh. a r i t o n .
tr
Fine I, op.s-s (19(t3) u*n,av,\i(rilroriltdtion(entrc) Kve6ja til Jardlifsinsf-vrirhljcimsveit/ Farewellto Earthlv Lif'e fbr orchcstra
2
12'04
3'30
tr
(Lullaby), Op. 1,{aNo. 2 (1929) u*u,a v,'ic rillomation centrc) Viigguvisa fyrir sclngrcidd & hlj6msveit/ for mezzo-sopranoand orchestra Text: J6hann J6nsson Ingveldur Yr J6nsd6ttir. mezzo-soprano
islands) Iceland Symphony Orchestra (Sinfdniuhlj6msveit Anne Mansoll. conducror
IngveldurYrJtinsd6ttir,mezzo-soprano
GunnarGudbjiirnsson,tenor
P h o l o :T h o r v a l d u r D V
Olafur Kjartan Sigurdarson, baritone
Loftur Erlingsson. bass
z',32
spateof recentperformancesand recordingsof J6n Leifs' music has, until now, been largely confined to his orchestral,chamber,and solo instrumentalworks. J6n Leifs was I also a prolific composer of vocal music, however, including numerousworks for solo voices,as well as choralworks (both a cappellaand with symphonyorchestra).JclnLeifs was an avid readerof poetry. and the texts he chose to set cover a wide range of periods and styles. Most prominent among his vocal works are settingsof Old Icelandicpoetry, including both the Poetic Edda and the Icclandic sagas(which also inspired his orchestral Saga Symphony,Op.26); in fact, the rugged concisenessof thesepoems formed the basis for J6n Leifs' own style, which eschewedtraditionalmodels in favour ofa terse,austeremusical language.Ofyounger poets,he was especiallyfond ofthe early romantic poet J6nasHallgrimsson(1809-1847),a scientistand an early spokesmanfor Iceland's indcpendencefiom Denmark. Although J6n Leifs' esthetics seemfar removedfrom thoseof romanticism,the subjectmatter of J6nasHallgrimsson'spoetry w a s c l o s e t o J 6 n L e i f s ' o w n i d e a s . T h e s e n s i t i v ed e p i c t i o n so f I c e l a n d i c n a t u r e i n J 6 n a s Hallgrimsson'sworks, his idealizationof a heroic past, as well as his fiequent use of ancient Eddic metres,made his poetry the perfectvehicle for J6n Leifs' music. An altogetherless likely choice was Einar Benediktsson(186,1-i9210), a late-romanticpoet, lawyer and businessman.His poetry,characterizedby extendedpoetic lines and unusualrhyme schemes,often tends towards the verboseand grandiloquent.Yet Jon Leifs set severalof Einar Benediktsson'spoems,nearly all ofwhich fall into two groups:patriotic texts (such as his Ode to the Icelandic F/ag, used in J6n Leifs' Iceland Overture), and majestic depictions of the terrifying Nordic landscape(Dettfossand Haf{i). J6n Leifs began work onHafis in May 1965 and the work was complete in early August. Like many of his other works, Ha/is was not performe
