Jón Nordal: Choralis

Featuring

Johannes Gustavsson
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Jón Nordal

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Compositional Technique

Nordal's Adagio for flute, harp, piano and string orchestra uses all twelve pitches of the chromatic scale without adhering to the restrictions of twelve-tone technique, creating a highly chromatic yet personal soundworld.

Composer's Artistic Vision

For Jón Nordal, composing was an intimate act, where craftsmanship never substituted for spiritual necessity, leading him to be uncompromising in his artistic choices.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Nordal's creative process is likened to 'pillow lava,' where pressure from resistance (taste, relevance, the 'right path') causes breakthroughs, forming the work in 'small gushes'.

Composition History

Epitafion, a piece for small orchestra without brass, was written by Nordal not as a commission, but out of a personal need to honor the memory of his close friend, cellist Einar Vigfússon.

Composition History

Choralis was commissioned by Mstislav Rostropovich for the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington in 1982, and unusually incorporates the Icelandic folk tune 'Liljulag'.

Composer Biography

Jón Nordal's creative career, spanning sixteen years, was marked by self-restraint, doubt, and creative pauses, despite his solid musical education.

Composition History

Jón Nordal attended the Darmstadt summer courses in 1957, following new music with fascination and perplexity, which led to a decade of creative silence.