Leifs: Organ Concerto / Dettifoss / Variazioni Pastorale / Fine Ii
4/30/2000, 16 Tracks, 56:04
Featuring
En Shao
Björn Steinar Sólbergsson
Reynir Sigurðsson
Loftur Erlingsson
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Hallgrimskirkja Motet Choir
Jón Leifs
Did you know?
1/7
Composer Biography
Jón Leifs initially hoped to make a career as a conductor and pianist, having studied with famous piano pedagogue Robert Teichmüller and taken conducting lessons.
Composition History
Jón Leifs conceived the work Dettifoss, Op. 57, as a dialogue between a poet and the waterfall, with the poet approaching from afar and then departing, to create a musical description that builds to a climax.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Jón Leifs's compositional career began in earnest after he realized that Icelandic folk music characteristics could form the foundation of his work, leading to a nationalistic style.
Critical Reception
Jón Leifs's career in Germany came to a halt in the late 1930s due to the Jewish origins of his wife, pianist Annie Riethof, and his music was met with outrage at a 1941 Berlin performance.
Composition History
The Organ Concerto, Op. 7, was inspired by Icelandic organist Páll Ísólfsson, who was studying in Leipzig with Leifs and whose repertoire included passacaglias by Bach and Reger.
Compositional Technique
Jón Leifs incorporated parallel fifths from the Icelandic tvísöngur (a two-part vocal genre) and frequent metric changes from the rímur (a monophonic secular vocal genre) into Western art music.
Compositional Technique
The Organ Concerto, Op. 7, despite its traditional passacaglia form, is one of Jón Leifs's most modern-sounding works, featuring dissonant clusters of diminished-seventh harmonies and a tonally adventurous theme.
