Kom vinur Schola Cantorum & Hörður Áskelsson

• María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir (b. 1980):
• 1Sigfúsdóttir: Kom vinur05:40
• 2Sigfúsdóttir: Maríuljóð03:55
• Total Runtime09:35

Info for Kom vinur

Sono Luminus releases Kom vinur [SLE-70019], a world-premiere recording of two choral works by Grammy® nominated Icelandic composer María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir on texts by nonagenarian feminist poet Vilborg Dagbjartsdóttir.

Recorded in Reykjavik’s Hallgrímskirkja in September 2020, the disc features the church’s renowned chamber choir, Schola Cantorum, led by conductor Hörður Áskelsson, and was produced by Kjartan Sveinsson, composer and former keyboardist of the band Sigur Rós.

Though it dates from 2017, in the context of a worldwide pandemic the title track of Kom vinur (Come friend) might easily be construed as a reflection on the distressed state of the world, with a text that alternates between defiance and acceptance of a pervasive darkness. The haunting and ethereal work was originally composed for Iceland’s Skálholt Summer Concerts, while Sigfúsdóttir was composer in residence.

The text, like that of its companion piece Maríuljóð, composed a year later, is by Icelandic poet Vilborg Dagbjartsdóttir, known as a modernist and champion of feminist causes whose themes often explore the status of women and social inequality. Maríuljóð, with a gently undulating rhythm and economy of musical materials, provides some respite from the darkness: speaking from the point of view of a child asking its mother about the Virgin Mary, it uses wordplay to engage with ancient traces of Mary in Icelandic language and culture.

Sigfúsdóttir calls the poems “the absolute core of the pieces; when composing them, I felt like excavating existing music from the text, unravelling hidden sounds from the words.”

Schola Cantorum
Hörður Áskelsson, conductor

María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir
(b. 1980) is a composer and a violinist.

She graduated as a violinist from the Reykjavik College of Music in 2000 and with a Bachelor’s degree in composition from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2007.

Maria is a member of the band amiina from 1999. amiina has released and recorded several albums and performed their music around the world as well as collaborated with various artists.

With amiina, Maria was a touring member and collaborator of Sigur Rós from 2000-2008.

Maria has composed music for orchestras, various sized ensembles, choir, choreography and films.

Maria's compositions have been recorded and released internationally. Clockworking, Sleeping Pendulum, Aequora, Spirals, Loom and Oceans all have been released on the US label Sono Luminus.

In 2012 her piece, Sleeping Pendulum, for baroque violin and electronics received a price at the IRC (International Rostrum of Composers).

Her piece, Loom, was on the top 25 list of best classical music tracks of 2018 in The New York Times. The album Concurrence, which includes Maria's piece Oceans, performed by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra was on the top 25 list of best classical music albums of 2019 in The New York Times.

As well as composing her own music, Maria has recorded and collaborated with a range of artists and bands including Los Angeles Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Joan Jonas, Spiritualized, Nordic Affect, London Sinfonietta, Francesco Scavetta, Brice Dessner, Mike Ott, Yann Tiersen and Ragnar Kjartansson. Her compositions have been performed in Iceland, USA, Australia and Europe.

Recent work includes music for the performance piece Moving off Land by Joan Jonas, Aequora and Oceans, commissioned by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Clockworking for Orchestra, commissioned by Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra as well as various works for smaller ensembles and choirs.

This album contains no booklet.