The award winning poetic cycle by icelandic poet Gerður Kristný, set to music by Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir; a contemporary version of an ancient tale, seen in the light of abduction and abuse, is here told by an ensemble of female voices, strings and visuals in a work of elemental earthiness.
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Blóðhófnir

60%
  • Upptökur
  • Mix & Master
  • Hönnun umslags
  • Prentun
  • Framleiðsla á CD

Further Information

The record will be released in the spring but here you have a chance to have it in your hands months before its official release and at the same time support all the work behind this project.
The music and poem is well suited for deep winter-listening, so don't miss out on this opportunity.

The composition is based on the magnificent poetic cycle Blóðhófnir by Gerður Kristný, which received the Icelandic literary awards in 2010. It was a great honour and challenge to be allowed to set music such a strong and rich work on an important subject of power, abduction and abuse. The poem, also full of love of nature and family, is at once intimate, visual, powerful and harrowing, and we have all done our best in honouring that in our work of art.

The music was commissioned by Umbra, with lead singer Lilja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir, and written mostly in the winter and spring of 2016, with added material in 2018 and '19. An ensemble of women who all sing an play period instruments was a perfect entity for this work in my opinion. For a full bodied string section, guest musicians Þórdís Gerður Jónsdóttir and myself join the ensemble on cello and viola in this work. The coalescence of folk and historic practice with modern elements and vocalizations of all performers came naturally to reflect the universality of the poem and its continuing historical relevance, amplifying the voice of Gerður Gymisdóttir and women everywhere.

About Blóðhófnir / Bloodhoof
The poetic cycle is a reevaluation of an Old Norse mythic poem from the Edda, in which the giantess, Gerður Gymisdóttir, is abducted from her homeland Jötunheimar, or the Land of Giants, to be forced to marry the god Freyr in the Land of Gods. The original poem, Skírnismál, has, since Viking times, been commonly understood as a love story, framed around the journey of the servant, who rides his horse, Bloodhoof, to the Land of Giants to seize Gerður for Freyr, using threats of violence to her family, eternal pain, and finally rune magic to succeed in his mission and abduct her. This contemporary retelling is told by the giantess herself. This shift to first-person narrative redefines what has been traditionally perceived as a love story into one of abduction and violence. In Gerður Kristný's own words, “Gerður Gymisdóttir's story is a clear case of human trafficking.”

In her poetic work, Gerður Kristný gives a voice to the giantess, and we are introduced to her world and her love for her land and her family, follow her horrible fate of being abducted to another land into the hands of a violent man, seen as a God.
The poetic cycle has received critical acclaim, with its strong relevance today. The work was also nominated to the Nordic Council literary awards in 2012.

With music and visuals we're expressing the experience behind the words in the poetry. The music supports the words and creates a space for the experience to sink in. Tinna Kristjánsdóttir created an exceptional work of video art, which is an integral part of the work. In her own words 'My visuals are immediate and intimate. They are meant to slightly illuminate Gerður Gymisdóttir’s experience and be a supporting element'.

The poem has such quality, that everyone involved in the project has worked on it with exceptional care and love, which is given forward with this release.
The composition has received notable attention; it was chosen from nearly 1100 compositions to be performed at MATA festival in New York. This revised version of Blóðhófnir, had its world premier in New York in May 2019 with a wonderful group of 9 women and Sara Couden as the lead vocalist.

Performers are:
Lilja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir: Lead vocals
Alexandra Kjeld: Double bass and vocals
Arngerður Árnadóttir: Celtic harp, harmonium and vocals
Guðbjörg Hlín Guðmundsdóttir: Baroque violin and vocals
Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir: Baroque viola and vocals
Þórdís Gerður Jónsdóttir: Baroque cello and vocals

Guðni Franzson conducted some of the tracks

Tinna Kristjánsdóttir created all visuals and designed the wallet and booklet.
Jóhanna Svala Rafnsdóttir did the graphic design for the wallet and booklet.

The composition was recorded and engineered by Sturla Mio Þórisson in the amazing Masterkey Studios in 2018 and 2019. Having such a beautiful and inspiring studio to work in was invaluable and Mio added much value to the exceptional care he gave to the work, the whole process and final mix.

Who are we?
Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir is a performer/composer, improvisor and interdisciplinary artist. Her compositions include solo instrumental, chamber- and orchestral work, baroque ballads, songs and soundscapes. She is an explorative improvisor of sound and movement, utilizing gesture and touch as means of sonic expression. She has premiered work by her contemporaries and lent her voice and viola to numerous records. Kristin has worked on the fringes of new, experimental and contemporary music in Reykjavík and Los Angeles, collaborated with songwriters, actors, dancers and filmmakers as a composer and a performer. She has been a member of many bands and ensembles and released one solo record with VDSQ Records, which she recorded and produced.

UMBRA is an alternative music ensemble with eclectic tastes, exploring both ancient and contemporary music through improvisation and original arrangements. The artistic vision of the players is to blur the boundaries of tradition and to appeal to a wide audience by breathing new life into ancient music. The ensemble's repertoire features sacred and secular medieval tunes and traditional songs from Iceland and continental Europe, performed to the ensemble's original arrangements. Umbra has also commissioned and performed contemporary music by some of Iceland's most prominent composers. Their second album, “Solstitium” won Record of the Year at the 2018 Icelandic Music Awards.
www.umbra-ensemble.com

Þórdís Gerður Jónsdóttir is an exceptional cello player, equally at home in classical, jazz and improvised & experimental music. She has performed as a guest player and arranger on three of Umbra's albums. She leads her own band and is a founding member of the music group Cauda Collective

Tinna Kristjánsdóttir is an actress, vocalist, interdisciplinary performer and artist. Her work includes Samuel Beckett's Not I/Footfalls/Rockaby, performed at an abandoned fish factory in Reykjavík, fronting various bands, performing with musicians Óbó (Ólafur Björn Ólafsson), Lay Low and Kristín Móra, working with The Scandinavian American Theater company, acting in films, doing visuals and texts for performances and advertisements. Tinna studied with Terry Knickerbocker at the William Esper Studio in New York, and jazz/classical vocals at FÍH music Academy in Iceland.

Gerður Kristný (b. 1970) is among the leading contemporary writers of Iceland. For the past two decades she has produced a vast oeuvre, ranging from journalistic works on various subjects to ten volumes of poetry, for which she is best known internationally. For her modern poetical rewriting of Norse myths, the poetic cycle Bloodhoof, she received the Icelandic Literature Awards and was nominated for the prestigious Nordic Council Awards. Bloodhoof has been translated into various languages, published in English by Arc Publications in 2013 in the translation of Rory McTurk.

Sturla Mio Þórisson has a keen ear for details and a true passion for the art of recording. Mio classifies his production style as one of “supportive collaboration with the artist, never to outshine the songwriter, always aiming to provide encouragement and the warmth that is integral to each body of work . I strive to nurture the sound and atmosphere of a song as a whole while keeping tabs on all the little details that make up the really delicious headphone candy.” Mio’s studio portfolio is extensive and varied. To date, he has worked with Damien Rice, Marketa Irglova, Owen Pallet, Svavar Knútur, Moddi, Therese Ævne, Duo Harpverk, Tina Dico, Mia Maestro, Shahzad Ismaily, Tomoyo Harada, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Sam Amidon, Nico Muhly, and many other inspiring artists.
www.masterkey.is

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In Progress

This project has been successfully funded and is now executing.

€10,024

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