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Octette (1987) 13 minutes.
First performance: Reykjavík Jan 3, 1988, Caput Ensemble, Gudmundur Óli Gunnarsson.
Instrumentation: Flute, clarinet in Bb, alto sax, french horn, perc, piano, viola and cello.
Octette was composed in the summer of 1987 for Caput Ensemble. The ensemble is treated in two different ways. Firstly, there are four duos: flute and clarinet, french horn and alto saxophone, viola and cello, and piano and percussion, each duo being very homogenous, thus each creating only one stratum or "voice". Secondly, the ensemble is dealt with as one instrument exploiting a variety of timbral possibilities. Each of the 6 sections of the work emphasizes either of these treatments. Seeking to maintain objectivity in the compositional process, the initial ideas of density changes and direction of development were carried out using the Fibonaccci numbers and the golden section as a vehicle. Pitches, harmonic rhythm, register changes, qualitative and quantitative durations, instrumentation and dynamic are all derived from these numbers. Replacing polyphony are layers of development in differnent parameters, each with its own time scale and destination.
Spiral (1992) for ensemble. 19 minutes.
First performance: Skálholt 1992, Caput Ensemble, Gudmundur Óli Gunnarsson.
Instrumentation: 2.1.1.0-0.0.1.0-perc:vib/glsp-hrpsch-2vln.vla.2vc.db.
The title refers to the harmonic structure of the piece, which is related to the chaconne. A chord progression is repeated going in circles but at the same time moving away from its original point of departure. SPIRAL consists of seven parts; three main sections, two interludes, prolog and epilog. The piece was composed in 1991-92 and is dedicated to the Caput Ensemle.
Score (pdf) (1st movement)
Annual Ring (1993) for ensemble. 18 minutes.
First performance: Akureyri 1994, North Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, Gudmundur Óli Gunnarsson.
Instrumentation: 1.1.1.1-1.1.1.0-perc(1)-pft-2vln.vla.vc.db.
Árhringur was a commission from The North Iceland Symphony orchestra in Akureyri. The work was rearranged for chamber ensemble in 1994. It is a cyclical work which utilizes the same chordal progression in ever changing light. Its four movements can be viewed as mirroring the seasons; almost dance-like summer, autumn with decending lines, tremoring winter and spring which gradually brightens up. Movements II and III are connected by a cello-solo.
Songs of Gudrun (1996/2004) Three songs and two interludes from Gudruns 4th Song. 20 minutes.
Fiirst performance: Reykjavík 2004, Caput Enssemble, Ingibjörg Gudjónsdóttir, soprano, Caput Ensemble, Joel Sachs.
Instrumentation: Soprano, 1.1.1.1-0.1.1.0-perc(2)-hrp-2vln.vla.2vc.db. Songs of Gudrun consist of: Prologue, Sigurd's Journey, Gudrun's Grief, The Trap and Exodus.
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Stemma (1997) for ensemble. 9 minutes.
First performance: Reykjavík 1999, Caput Ensemble, Gudmundur Óli Gunnarsson.
Instrumentation: 1.1.1.1-1.1.1.0-perc(1)-pft(cel)-2vln.vla.vc.db.
Stemma is based on an Icelandic folksong. It is a relatively fast and chromatic song with rhythmic complexity. Very untypical indeed, since a lot of Icelandic folkmusic is slow and melancolic. Fragments from the song are repeated and strecthed both horizontally and vertically to the extent that they become unrecognizable.
Score (pdf) (beginning)
Concerto for Violin and Chamber Orchestra (1997) 23 minutes.
First performance: Reykjavík 1998, Sigrún Edvaldsdóttir violin, Caput Ensemble,
Gudmundur Óli Gunnarsson.
Instrumentation: 1.1.1.1-1.1.1.0-perc(1)-synth(Kurzweil)-2vln.vla.vc.db.
The Concerto for Violin and Chamber Orchestra was composed during 1997 for the icelandic violinist Sigrún Edvaldsdóttir and the Caput Ensemble. The concerto has two pairs of movements, with a short cadenza after the first. In movement one and three the violin and the ensemble are seemingly in different worlds, but both parts are moving in same expanding harmonic circles. Parts two and four have rhytmical energy as the most important element and there the soloist is a leader in a more homogenous web of music. The violin can be seen as a traveller, the ensemble a landscape.
Score (pdf) (1st movement)
Big Numbers (1999) for soprano and chamber ensemble. 22 minutes.
First performance: Reykjavík 2000, Marta Gudrún Halldórsdóttir soprano, Caput Ensemble, Gudmundur Óli Gunnarsson.
Instrumentation: 1.1.1.0-0.1.1.0-perc(1)-pft-2vln.vla.vc.db.
Big Numbers is based on a poem by the polish poetess Wislawa Szymborska in translation of Thora Jónsdóttir. The form of the piece follows that of the poem, rounded off with prologue and epilogue.
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Fabella (2000) for ensemble. 14 minutes.
First performance: Reykjavík 2000, Caput Ensemble, Gudmundur Óli Gunnarsson.
Instrumentation: 1.0.1.0-0.1.1.0-timp-pft-harm-5vln.vc.db
Saga develops from duo of piano and harmonium (actually a quote to a hymn by the composers grandfather) to thick and sonorous harmonic fields as well as dancelike rhytmical figures. And finally back to ritualistic and requiemlike stillness. Saga received the first prize in a competition held in 2000 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Icelandic State Radio.
String (2003/2004) for ensemble of ten players. 22 minutes.
First performance: Reykjavík 2004, Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra, Paul Zukofsky.
Instrumentation: 1.1.0.0.-0.1.1.0-perc-pft-vln.vla.vc.db.
String (Sería) was commissioned by Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra. Sería is a string of six duos alternating with six movements scored for ensemble of 10 players. I first composed the six duos, all from the same cell so to speak, and the idea was to let the not so similar instruments of each duo guide or dictate the direction which to take the music. After this I recycled all duos and made a tutti-variation on each. The variations are delayed by one; part IV is a variation on part I and so on. The necessary exeption is the first tutti (part II) which is a reworking of the last duo (part IX). The two last tuttis were slightly revised in 2004.
Catena (2003/2011) for ensemble of ten players. 15 minutes.
First performance: Not performed yet.
Instrumentation: 1.1.0.0.-0.1.1.0-perc-pft-vln.vla.vc.db.
Catena contains the tutti sections from the piece String from 2003.
Landscape with Time (2005) for choir and ensemble of eight players. Text by Sigfús Bjartmarsson. 7 minutes.
First performance: Reykjavík 2006, Vox academica, Hákon Leifsson.
Instrumentation: flute (picc), oboe, clarinet (bass-clarinet), harp, percussion, violin, viola and mixed choir.
Par (2006) for chamber ensemble.
23 minutes.
First performance: Ísafjörður 2006, Ísafold, Daníel Bjarnason.
Instrumentation: 1(picc).1.2.1-2.1.1.0-2perc.pno.hrp.2.1.1.1.
Par was commissioned by Isafold Chamber Orchestra for their summer concerts of 2006. The piece has two movements titled Place and Journey.
Score (pdf) (beginning)
Moldarljós (2010) for chamber ensemble.
Commissioned by Gunnlaugur Sigfússon.
First performance: Reykjavík 2011, Caput
ensemble, Guðni Franzson.
Instrumentation: 1(picc).1.1.0-0.1.1.0-2perc.harpsichord.hammondorgan-3.0.2.0
Moldarljós is conceived to bring together the art of Eggert Pétursson and
the music of Haukur Tómasson to create new works that refer to each other.
The artist and the composer approached this task by meeting regularly over
the period of some fourteen months; Haukur observing Eggert at his easel,
Eggert listening to Haukur’s music while painting. In that way the work evolved –
or rather the works, for Eggert ended up producing four paintings while Haukur’s
composition consists of four parts, each referring to one painting. The composition
and the paintings are thus structurally linked in more ways than one. Each plant
or species in the paintings is paired with an instrument so that one can follow
the development of the musical composition through the paintings – and vice versa.
Haukur received the Icelandic Music Award 2011 for Moldarljós.
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