Further Information

A Spring Poem in Winter

The songcycle A Spring Poem in Winter has been a work in progress for quite a few years. In 2006 when I was living in Stockholm an unknown melody to the words of a poem of my grandmother, named a spring poem in winter, flew into my head and i had to write it down and arrange it for a choir I was conducting at the time.
A friend of mine - a cellist, Ólöf Sigursveinsdóttir, encouraged me to write more songs to the poems of my grandmother and asked me to arrange them for a small chamber group which she formed together with a soprano singer, Margrét Hrafnsdóttir.

In 2010 Ólöf and Margrét performed the songcycle for the first time officially, which at the time consisted of 7 songs.

The songs continue to develop and by time it is clear they have to be arranged for a larger group of instruments.

First to join the group is the accordion (Ave KaraSillaaots), then the clarinet (Grímur Helgason) and in the end the bassoon (Snorri Heimisson), yet another cello (Gunnhildur Halla Guðmundsdóttir), a contrabass (Richard Korn) and a tenor singer (Gissur Páll Gissurarson).

The music of the cycle is a fusion of classical music and folk music. A clear pop influence as well as the Swedish songtradition can also be heard in the music.

But most of all this music is inspired from the poems of my grandmother. Her poems inhabit a strong sense of music and melody. In my experience the poems sent me melodies while reading them rather than me composing the melodies.

I have worked the arrangements of the songcycle together with my partner, Hörður Bragason. A greater teamwork is hard to imagine and I am forever grateful for Hörður's contribution to the music.

The recording of the songcycle started in studio Syrland in January 2014 and ended in August 2015.

Hörður Bragason is a producer of the cd and Páll Sveinn Guðmundsson, Sveinn Kjartansson and Kristinn Sigurpáll Sturluson were sound engineers.

Margrét Blöndal and Arnar Freyr Guðmundsson are graphic designers of the album.

My grandmother, Jakobína Sigurðardóttir (1918-1994) was an acknowledged author but her poetry did not receive as much of an attention as her novels did. Perhaps the explanation lies in the fact that she only published one book of poetry during her life, Kvæði (1983). In my opinion her poems were worth a lot more than generally acknowledged. They have a timeless and deep meaning and need to be sung and heard. Therefore it is of great importance tome to release this cd, the poems have a message to bring.

This project has taken many years to come as far as being almost released on a cd. I am very grateful for all possible contributions to the project and hope you want to be a part of releasing A Spring Poem in Winter on a cd.

Musicians:

Margrét Hrafnsdóttir, soprano

Gissur Páll Gissurarson, tenor

Grímur Helgason, clarinet

Ave Kara Sillaots, accordion

Snorri Heimisson, bassoon

Ólöf Sigursveinsdóttir, violincello

Gunnhildur Halla Guðmundsdóttir, violincello

Richard Korn, contrabass.

Photos of Ingibjörg and Jakobína 1978 and Jakobína 1983 were taken by Guðlaugur Jón Bjarnason.