Further Information

Violinist, innovator and founder of the Skálholt Quartet, Jaap Schröder (31/12/1925 – 1/1/2020) was one of the pioneers of historically informed performance (HIP) in the mid-20th century. His career spanned over 70 years.

Jaap Schröder first came to Iceland in 1993. He led the Bach Ensemble at the Skálholt Summer Concerts for over a decade, giving solo and chamber concerts as well as lectures and courses in baroque interpretation and performance techniques. He founded the Skálholt Quartet after several years of work at Skálholt. He was an expert in 17th, 18th and 19th century violin literature and a pioneer working with original instruments.

During the years that Jaap Schröder was active in the Icelandic music scene, from 1993 to 2015, he initiated recordings of various interesting repertoires that were on the program of the Skálholt Summer Concerts. In fact, the repertoires often appeared in connection with ideas for works that he thought were worth recording and making available to a wider audience. Smekkleysa released five discs with these repertoires between 1998 and 2009, and the Musica Omnia label in Boston two, but about half of the studio recordings that were made have not yet been made available.

This year marks 20 years since the Skálholt Quartet recorded Boccherini's last two quartets and members of the Bach Ensemble and soloists performed Boccherini's Stabat mater. It was 200 years from the composer's death, while the Skálholt Summer Concert celebrated its 30th anniversary.

Performers with Jaap Schröder on the discs are Marta G. Halldórsdóttir soprano, Hlín Pétursdóttir Behrens soprano, Eyjólfur Eyjólfsson tenor, members of the Bach Ensemble in Skálholt and the Skálholt Quartet.

Smekkleysa label released a considerable number of recordings of repertoire performed at Skálholt Summer Concerts. On the one hand, there were recordings based on the Icelandic musical heritage, both performed directly from original manuscripts as well as music based on them that was composed or arranged for different musical groups. On the other hand, there were recordings that included music from the Baroque and Classical periods performed on original instruments. Jaap Schröder was often in the leading role. This will be the sixth title to be released in this series.

A selection of the older discs is offered here as a reward for participating in the funding, either one older disc or a pack of four, plus copies of the new release.

The older albums in question are The Violin in the 17th Century (Jaap Schröder), Vivaldi Concertos and Sonatas (Skálholt Bach Ensemble), English Theatre Music in the 17th Century (Skálholt Bach Ensemble) and Joseph Haydn Seven Words of Christ on the Cross (Skálholt Quartet).

The first CD released by Smekkleysa featuring Jaap Schröder, his recording with Helga Ingólfsdóttir of J. S. Bach's sonatas for violin and harpsichord, has long been sold out. Two copies were found in Jaap's family's possession in the Netherlands. Two lucky supporters can get their hands on it by choosing a rare package.

During his long career, Jaap Schröder recorded a large number of albums with various musicians who were at the forefront of the HIP movement of his time. These include several first complete editions of significant collections of works with period instruments, such as, for example, as concertmaster, all of Mozart's symphonies with the Academy of Ancient Music in London and all of Boccherini's cello concertos with Anner Bijlsma and Concerto Amsterdam. In 2006, on the 900th anniversary of the Skálholt Diocese, Jaap Schröder donated a substantial part of his book and sheet music collection to Skálholtsstaður. The collection included copies of most of the vinyl records, and the collection is kept at the music department of the Iceland University of the Arts.

With a donation, you can get up to two hours of quality time browsing through books and listening to selected works from the collection accompanied by Professor Sigurður Halldórsson and 'cellist of the Skálholt Quartet.

The image below shows a handwritten list of albums released with Jaap Schröder's playing from 1954 to 2011 and upcoming albums during that time. Only five titles are missing from the list, which were recorded after 2011.

Here is a link to a recording from the Skálholt Quartet's concert at the Haydn at Esterházy Festival in Fertöd, Hungary in the fall of 2004. It features the Menuet from Boccherini's String Quartet Op. 32 No. 6. The quartet performed two concerts at this festival, which was held in the Esterházy family castle where Joseph Haydn worked for most of his career.