INKPOT#96 CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS: LEIFS Iceland Overture. Iceland Cantata. Elegy. Fine 1 & II. Iceland SO/Sakari (Chandos)
Iceland Overture, op.91
Iceland Cantata, op.13
for orchestra and mixed choir
Elegy, op.53
for string orchestra. (In memoriam 30.9.1961)
Fine I, op.55
for vibraphone and orchestra.
Fine II, op.56
Chorus of the Icelandic Opera
Graduale Chorus of Langholts Church(1)
Iceland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Petri Sakari
Includes vocal texts in Icelandic with English, German and French translations.
CHANDOS New Direction CHAN 9433
[53:59] full-price
by e Inkpot Sibelius Nutcasetm
Besides collaborating with BIS on its ongoing project to record all of Jón Leifs’ music, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra also made an earlier disc with Chandos under their New Direction series, which explores contemporary music.
Sakari’s reading of the Iceland Overture, in comparison with En Shao’s for BIS (same orchestra), is slower and more deliberate, not as flowing-with-momentum as the latter’s. On BIS, the result and the sound are more natural, but Chandos displays the brass of the orchestra in much brighter voice.
Sakari does capture the interesting rhythms of this work. The motet choir on BIS uses a more chanting, more driving mode of singing, but the Icelandic Opera Chorus sings with more sense of drama, as befits their background. Speaking of background, the BIS sound, though natural, allocates the choir to the back of their church acoustic (oh oh); the Icelandic Opera Chorus on Chandos is much clearer.
Jón Leifs wrote the Iceland Cantata for the 1000th anniversary of the formation of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing, which was celebrated
The slow fourth movement is funereal in mood,
A wistful mediation on Iceland’s history occupies the fifth movement, speaking of Iceland “in trials strong and bold” – the sensation of time passing, as depicted in the first line, “See, day by day, the years and ages slip by” are atmospherically portrayed in this melancholic music.
Next comes a heroic call to arms in Leifs’ thumping, rattling style, a rousing call to the “Sons of Iceland, sons of fire and ice”,
In an unexpected turn of mood, the finale is predominantly quiet, even grim in anticipation, dark but confident. The ending is quiet and peaceful as the choir bids the guidance of light for every Icelander “longing for harbour – and homeward bound.”
Sofinn er ffill
fagr haga,
ms undir mosa,
mr bru,
lauf limi,
ljs lofti,
hjrtr heii
en hafi fiskar.Sefr selr sj,
svanr bru,
mr hlmi,
manngi au svfir.
Sofa manna brn
mjku rmi,
ba og kvea,
en babbi au svfir.
Sof n s sl og sigrgefin.
Sofu, eg unni r.
Sofinn er ffill
fagr haga,
ms undir mosa
mr bru.
Now sleeps the dandelion
In the field,
The mouse in its mossy bed,
The mew on the billow,
The leaf on the twig,
The light in the sky,
The heart on the hearth,
The herring in the deep.The seal on the skerry,
The swan on the moat,
The newt in the pond,
With no one to lull them.
The babies sleep
In their beds of down,
And Daddy sings them
Softly to sleep.
Sleep, my love, in the Lord’s keeping.
Sleep, my daughter dear.
Now sleeps the dandelion
In the field,
The mouse in its mossy bed,
The mew on the billow.
You can buy or order this CD in Singapore from HMV or Borders (Wheelock Place).
Nothing like a nice cantata of ice cream, mulls e Inkpot Sibelius Nutcase.
6xx: .1999 Inkpot Sibelius Nutcase
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Related posts:
INKPOT#90 CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS: LEIFS Iceland Overture. Requiem. Loftr-Suite. Rminiscence du Nord. Hekla. Elegy. Iceland Symphony Orchestra/En Shao (BIS)
INKPOT#98 CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS: LEIFS Hafis. Two Songs. The Lay of Gudrun. Nott. Fine I. Lullaby. Iceland Symphony Orchestra/Manson(BIS)
INKPOT#98 CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS: LEIFS Geysir. Trilogia piccola. . Iceland Symphony Orchestra/En Shao (BIS)
INKPOT#88 CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEWS: LEIFS Saga Symphony. Iceland Symphony Orchestra/Vänskä (BIS)
