Ég handskrifa öll verkin mín. Blýantur, reglustika, strokleður, yddari og nótnapappír eru verkfærin og sköpunargleðin sér um rest. Þetta hæga ferli er í rauninni kjarni vinnu minnar. Í lok tónsmíðar eru verkin sett upp í tölvunótnaskrift og þannig sendi ég þau síðan frá mér. Handskrifaða eintakið að verkunum mínum kemur aldrei fyrir sjónir áhorfenda og aðeins einstaka flytjenda. Mér hefur alltaf fundist þetta svolítið sérstakt, að svona mikilvægur hluti vinnu minnar sé ósýnilegur hlustendum. Þess vegna finnst mér ánægjulegt að opna dyrnar að þessu ferli og deila með ykkur upprunalegu handriti Quake, hér í samstarfi við Smekkleysu.
Quake fyrir selló og hljómsveit var sameiginleg pöntun Elbfílharmóníunnar í Hamborg og LA Phil fyrir Sæunni Þorsteinsdóttur, sellóleikara.
Fyrir raddskrá og parta vísa ég til Tónverkamiðstöðvar

Páll Ragnar

Quake

I handwrite all my works. Pencil, ruler, eraser, sharpener, and notepaper are my tools and the creative bliss takes care of the rest. It‘s a slow procedure that is the core of my work. At the end of a composition, my works are given the computer notation treatment and that is how they leave the house. This has always seemed a bit odd to me, that such an important part of my work is invisible to the audience. That is why I‘m thrilled to be sharing with you the original manuscript of Quake.
Quake for cello and orchestra was a co-commission from the Hamburg Elbfilharmonie and LA Phil for Sæunn Þorsteinsdóttir, cellist.
For performance material please contact Iceland Music Infomation Centre.

Páll Ragnar

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Exploring the DNA of my artistic development, I‘d say there are two major factors that have influenced me. One of them is to have been born in Iceland, growing up in a protected environment that leaves one with the feeling (or illusion) that one is free to do anything he wants. Then again moving to Estonia to study composition made me re-evaluate my perceptions on life and art so far. The brisk salty breeze of the ocean got replaced by scent of burning wood rising from the chimneys of old houses near the forest and the playful indie scene of Reykjavík by sophisticated academic concert life in ancient churches and guildhalls of Tallinn. It was the environment where I found my musical language, plunged into East-European art and history, travelled and made friends, connected deeply with the spiritual approach Estonians have to music and their somewhat ancient character. One of those old souls I got to know is my wife Tui who sings on this album. Our singer-composer collaboration started right away and has tied together our professional and personal lives in an especially fulfilling way.

The compositions on this album illustrate the shift of us moving back to Iceland and continuing life there with a new perspective. The oldest piece on the album was composed in 2011 when we lived the slow-paced life of young parents in the countryside-like outskirts of Tallinn whereas the latest piece was composed in Iceland and premiered in Berlin 2018. The texts chosen for the compositions demonstrate my influences during the time quite appropriately. Stalker, Tarkovsky‘s famous screenplay from where I borrowed the monologue, was shot in Tallinn and cleverly displays references to Estonia‘s troubled history. Wheel Crosses under Moss contains excerpts of folk hymns from Vormsi, an island off the West coast of Estonia once inhabitated by Swedes, until the whole community was evaquated in fear of the Soviet Army. Other texts are by Icelandic artist and poetess Ásdís Sif Gunnarsdóttir, whom I have collaborated with on numerous occasions. In the album‘s title-piece poem, Atonement, Ásdís Sif sensitively describes a feeling of re-connecting with herself and finding inner peace. The word itself – atonement – indicates my approach to composition in music and life.

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Conductor – Daníel BjarnasonOrchestra – Iceland Symphony OrchestraViolin – Una Sveinbjarnardóttir

2 Supremacy Of Peace For String Orchestra (Conductor – Risto JoostOrchestra – Tallinn Chamber Orchestra)

Náttúruljóð / Nature Poems For Soprano And String Quartet

Soprano Vocals – Tui HirvViola – Guðrún Hrund HarðardóttirViolin – Pálína Árnadóttir, Una SveinbjarnardóttirVioloncello – Hrafnkell Orri Egilsson

3 (I)
4 (II)
5 (III)
6 (IV)
7 (V)
8 (VI)
9 Spiegeltunnel For String Orchestra (Conductor – Viktor Orri ÁrnasonEnsemble – Skark)

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Can you hear a country in its music? I posed that question only a few years ago, while contemplating the five recent orchestral works by leading young Icelandic composers that comprised Recurrence, the previous volume of this invaluable, illuminating Sono Luminus series. Pondering those pieces with a visit to Iceland still vivid in my mind’s eye, I likened aspects of the music at hand to elements of land and sky, climate and atmosphere—an approach not without merit, but surely not the sole dimension worth contemplating.

Tracklist

BD-1 Metacosmos
BD-2 Piano Concerto No. 2
BD-3 Oceans
BD-4 Quake
CD-1 Metacosmos
CD-2 Piano Concerto No. 2
CD-3 Oceans
CD-4 Quake

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