Iceland.

Country in the North Atlantic. The history of Icelandic music has many gaps, since the country has always been sparsely populated. In the absence of cities of any size until recently, and without an aristocratic ruling class, Icelandic society has evolved in patterns different from those of other European nations. Iceland was first settled in the 9th century; it came under Norwegian rule in the 13th century and later under Danish, until 1944, when the country became a republic.

Icelanders possess an abundance of cultural information about their past from aural and literary traditions more than 1000 years old. Traditional music in Iceland exemplifies both insularity and cosmopolitanism, originally as part of Nordic interaction; later in connection with the political domination of Norway and Denmark; and, since independance, by assuming an increasingly international voice.

1. Pan-Nordic roots.

2. Traditional vocal musics.

3. Indigenous instruments.

4. Christian traditions.

5. European art music.

6. 20th-century trends.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PANDORA HOPKINS (1–3, 6), THORKELL SIGURBJÖRNSSON (4, 5)

Iceland

1. Pan-Nordic roots.

Early written sources document both instrumental and vocal traditions, although there is no evidence of instrumental accompaniment for vocal performance. Icelandic manuscripts dating from the end of the 11th century to the 15th contain written versions of legal, historical and mythological material that had been transmitted orally from previous eras; some concern events occurring during the time of settlement ( c870–c930 ce) and before colonization.

Two poetic genres emerge from written sources, categorized as eddaic and skaldic verse according to style, subject matter and function. Most eddaic verse comes from a single 13th-century manuscript known as the Poetic Edda, which includes lays about Norse gods (the Aesir) and verses concerning the exploits of Germanic heroes such as Sigurd (equivalent to Siegfried of the Nibelungenlied). Another important source for eddaic verse is the Snorra-Edda, which uses similar themes as models; it was a textbook intended to promote a dwindling tradition by explaining the complicated principles behind the highly stylized system of skaldic versification. This manuscript is a major source for skaldic verse, examples of which are found scattered throughout the sagas, prose narratives written in the vernacular (c1200–c1400). No extant manuscript contains skaldic verse alone; consequently, knowledge must be gleaned from fragmentary sources. Ancient literary manuscripts establish the historical importance of instrumental and vocal traditions in the pan-Nordic world, for instance the warrior-king Harold Sigurðarson (Harðraði) confirms the essential role of harp-playing and riming (‘chanting’) in Nordic culture by including them in his boastful description of gentlemanly accomplishments.

Scholars do not agree on the extent to which one can rely on these early materials for historical veracity; Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241), the earliest compiler of Icelandic epic materials, considered the matter in the opening pages of his monumental history of Norse kings (Heimskringla). Sturluson's introduction explains the inclusion of kvaeði (old chants) and söguljoð (epic songs) along with written sources for historical documentation: ‘Now, while we cannot be sure just how close these are to the actual truth, we do know that the elder scholars had no doubt of their veracity’ (1777).

Iceland

2. Traditional vocal musics.

(i) Pre-1400: courtly and domestic verse, incantations.

Three different functions for vocal music emerge from ancient sources: formal and esoteric skaldic recitation, narrative verses chanted or sung informally and incantations used for supernatural purposes. The last two, found principally in eddaic manuscripts, were composed in simpler metres and contain mythological and heroic subject matter. The manuscripts do not include musical notation; however, a new awareness of the sociological value of these documents has drawn attention to the manner in which ancient verse was performed. Most eddaic verse, drawn from Norse mythological or legendary sources, was meant either to function magically as part of a ritual context or to transmit traditional lore informally for entertainment or didactic purposes; in both cases, the complicated metres and esoteric metaphors of skaldic verse were avoided. Eddaic verse, which contains numerous references to the singing of galdur (incantations), sometimes provides insights into the shamanic practices of the time.

There is little doubt that skaldic verse was chanted in a manner somewhere between speech and song (Einarsson, 1986), although some scholars caution that we cannot determine how this sounded (Turville-Petre, 1976). It is possible that the traditional mode of chanting rímur (see §3 below) may provide a key, since the informal, domestic rímur seems to have carried on some of the characteristics of elite skaldic style (e.g. subject matter and complex versification). Rímur is always described with the verb kvaeði, the term frequently used to denote skaldic recitation in ancient Icelandic literary documents. Indeed, judging from Sturluson's versification manual, an integral association between words and music is assumed in the definition of mál (‘speech’); mál included söngur (‘song’), galdur (‘incantation’) and kvaeðandi (‘recitation’) as well as tala (‘talk’ or ‘tale’) and saga (‘story’ or ‘history’) (Faulkes, 1987).

The emphasis in skaldic tradition was on celebrating rather than describing important events and personages as well as on the technical craftsmanship with which this was accomplished. Nevertheless, Sturluson considered these chanted poems to be historical documents since they were performed in the presence of chiefs and courtiers who could tell fact from fiction and would consider fabricated praise to be mockery (1775). The original Norwegian settlers of Iceland brought with them the elaborate art of the Norwegian hirðskáld (court poet), and after the initial migration, Icelandic skalds continued to monopolize this position. Their celebrity status is reflected in the more than 250 names of individual skalds that have come down to us.

(ii) Post-1400: rímur, lausavisur, song-dances, tvísöngur.

The rímur tradition first appeared late in the 14th century; from its inception until well into the 20th century it was the most popular form of artistic communication in Iceland. The term rímur (‘rhymes’; sing. ríma) refers to long narrative poems consisting of sequential verses chanted to repetitions of a short, usually pre-existent melody. Rímnakveðskapur, the composing of rímur, employs an intricate versification technique that involves esoteric features such as palindrome rhyme. Rímur stories include legendary historical tales drawn from the sagas, central European romances and tales of magic.

On farms rímur used to be performed at informal evening gatherings called kvöldvaka (‘evening-awakening’) during which members of the extended family would gather in the evening to listen to lengthy recitations by the kvaðmaður (‘chant-master’) who might be a family member, visitor or even an itinerant rímur chanter. This tradition continues today in special rímur clubs. Rímur are the dominant genre of indigenous Icelandic music.

Traditional performances of an entire rímur cycle (rímnaflokkur) might last an entire evening. Devices have developed to distinguish different sections from each other and gradually increase tension during lengthy recitation periods. Characteristic are shifts to new metres at the beginning of each ríma and the lengthening of the final note of each strophe, often articulated by a sudden rise in pitch. These elongated final tones are emphasized by an idiosyncratic ornament. Audience members often participate in these final tones at the end of each stanza. Two further musical traits of traditional rímur recitation are loudness and slowness of tempo. Another aspect of rímur performance is the peculiar vocal timbre that is used. While some modern performers tend to sing rather than chant texts, traditional performers use a thick, ponderous, guttural tone quality half-way between speech and song. The Danish composer Svend Nielsen, fascinated by the idiosyncratic qualities of this vocal timbre, conducted research with the use of sound engineering equipment at the universities of Uppsala and Copenhagen that compared rímur chanting with the singing of hymns and with speech (Nielsen, 1982).

Lausavisur are improvised quatrains that are spoken or chanted and, like rímur, they normally feature elaborate versification. Whether new or derived, they may function as part of a metrical competition in which two people take turns challenging each other. A sléttubönd is a lausavísur the words of which also have meaning when read in reverse for some other unusual order. Lausavisur often contain coded messages; for example, if sung backwards or in other unusual sequences they may communicate contradictory sentiments.

According to contemporary references, Icelanders used to share the general medieval European practice of song-dancing. At one time rímur were danced, and this historical association is expressed in the metrical structure of the genre. Icelandic balladry is considered to be metrically related to the danced rímur and other dances dating from as early as the 13th century. Little is known, however, about individual ballads until the 17th century. Another type of song-dance was the vikivakalag, deriving its name from its refrain, vikivaka kvaeði of strophic form it was sung responsorially by the dancers.

Tvísöngur (‘twin singing’) is a kind of improvised organum that has existed in Iceland since the Middle Ages; in its simplest form, it consists of two vocal parts sung in parallel 5ths or 4ths to a pre-existent melody functioning as cantus firmus from either a sacred or secular source (including rímur). More complex styles include a responsorial element, doubling of both parts at the octave, and passing notes. Tvísöngur is often taught in contemporary classrooms; it constitutes a performing practice, that is more an improvised variation of the melody than a form. The genre is of special interest to European musicologists who study the development of organum notated by church scribes in medieval manuscripts; it addresses the issue of whether the sacred manuscripts also reflect a more widespread, improvisatory practice that was applied to secular, as well as sacred, melodies.

The rímur tradition has been well documented in manuscripts containing musical notation and also through written descriptions of performances. Bjarni þorsteinsson gathered material from both written and aural sources for his monumental collection containing rímur and tvísöngur; published in the early 20th century, some of his transcriptions were provided by the traditional musicians.

Iceland

3. Indigenous instruments.

(i) Pre-1400.

Medieval musical instruments have not been preserved in Iceland. For organological evidence, we are limited to literary sources. Despite the lack of precise descriptive information, the importance of musical instruments is clear. Furthermore, literary evidence from both the sagas and the eddas affirms the predominance of chordophones.

The most frequent reference in ancient sources is to the harpa, knowledge of which was considered of importance in the élite pan-Nordic world. Playing the harpa was, along with riming, one of the recognized skills expected of properly educated young men. Icelandic references to the harpa testify to its cultural centrality. There has been considerable confusion about the precise meaning of harpa, which seems to have been used as both a generic term for string instruments and a specific type of instrument; witness its inclusion among the names of string instruments such as fiðla, gígja and simfón in a number of sources, including Heimskringla, Ynglinga Saga and Didrik Saga.

In its generic sense, harpa seems to have referred to the Nordic components of a category of bowed string instruments found in the ancient northern and north-central areas of Europe, some of which are still extant (Hopkins, 1986, pp.129–36). This genre had distinctive characteristics well-designed for thick-textured music, permitting more than one string to sound constantly. They were lute-, lyre- or zither-shaped; they do not have fingerboards (usually thought necessary for stopping strings); they do not have incurvations on the side of the body (considered a requirement for bowing); they often do not have a separate bridge (the string-holders serve a double function); they are often both bowed and plucked. The once-mysterious relief carving on the façade of the Nidaros Cathedral in Norway (c1325–50) is now posited to depict a bowed-lyre player in action (Andersson, 1970). The simfón (sinphón, symphónie or fón), with its wheel-activated strings and mechanical stopping jacks, was a type found in different versions and under various names in continental Europe from the early Middle Ages to the present.

The most extensive evidence concerning medieval Icelandic string instruments is in the so-called Second Grammatical Treatise of the late 13th century, a work whose author possessed specialized knowledge in musical organology and phonology. The cultural significance of this work lies in its originality, especially in its use of indigenous Icelandic modes of thought. Of particular significance is the fact that two musical instruments are utilized in the treatise in order to explain linguistic structure, a sure indication of cultural centrality. The instruments singled out for metaphorical usage are the harpa and the simphónie. The work's most recent editor and translator, Fabrizio Raschella (1982), points to the significance of the simphónie by stressing its interdependence with Icelandic culture.

(ii) Post-1400.

More recently, two Icelandic instruments sharing the principal characteristics described above emerged as prominent; both fiðla and langspil were bowed zithers. The oldest, the fiðla, has rarely been played after the early 19th century; it may well have been closely related to the instrument of the same name mentioned in the ancient sources, but this cannot be confirmed. The fiðla had a hollow, elongated, trapezoidal body and two to four strings that were stopped with a palm-upward technique. Two fiðlas may be found today at the Thjóðmannasafn Íslands (National Museum of Iceland). One is a 19th-century four-string instrument from southern Iceland and the other is a two-string instrument reconstructed from memory in 1905 (Jóhannsdóttir, 1972).

The langspil survived into the 20th century. The left-hand stopping technique used on this box zither is the more usual palm-downwards variety; the absence of a bridge propels the two to four strings to constant actuation and creates the thick-textured sound characteristic of the northern genre. Charles Burney had reported in the 18th century that bigoted religious attitudes had all but suppressed the langspil tradition in Iceland. He asked why ‘these arts [music and poetry], which were formerly held in such high estimation among the people of this bleak and rugged region, should be totally discountenanced and banished at present’ (Burney, 1776, p.42). However, a Scottish geologist travelling in Iceland early in the 19th century reported with enthusiasm on his introduction to this instrument (Mackenzie, 1811).

During the 19th century, the langspil was appropriated for religious purposes. A manual for learning to play the instrument and ‘for learning Psalm Melodies from the Notation’ was published in 1855. Its author, Ari Saemundsen, was more interested in teaching parishioners how to sing psalm tunes than providing a method for langspil playing.

Iceland

4. Christian traditions.

Christianity was adopted in 1000, and soon schools were established, principally at the bishoprics of Skálholt in the south (1056) and Hólar in the north. The earliest fragments of music manuscripts and knowledge of the first church leaders point to close ties with England, Ireland and France until the 14th century. Bishop Jón Ögmundsson (d 1121), himself a noted singer, brought the singing and versification master Ricini from Alcase for his school at Hólar. Two centuries later the rector chori at Hólar Cathedral was instructed by Bishop Lárentíus Kálfsson (d 1331) to correct misuse in singing habits. The bishop furthermore forbade all singing in triplum or duplum, and ordered the clergy to revert to plainchant. Bishop Thorlák Thórhallsson of Skálholt (d 1193) studied at Paris and Lincoln. He was canonized in 1198, and an Office and Mass were compiled in his honour. A few musical documents containing a number of references to singing, playing and even organ building (Abbot Arngrímur Brandsson in 1329) indicate that during the Middle Ages attempts were made to follow musical developments in the rest of the Christian world.

In the 16th century the Reformation took root in Iceland and the Lutheran chorale was imported. (There are, however, no references to indicate that the chorales were ever sung in harmony.) In 1589 the first Icelandic book of hymns was printed, including some tunes; this was the achievement of Bishop Guðbrandur Thorláksson (1542–1627). Five years later he published the Graduale, a missal with traditional Latin chants alongside the new chorales, which appeared in 19 editions, little changed, until 1779. A short appendix to the sixth edition of the Graduale was the first and only instruction in elementary music theory available in print to Icelanders before the beginning of the 19th century. This appendix was written by Bishop Thórður Thorláksson (d 1697) who was an ‘accomplished player of the clavichord, regal and symphonium’. However, 19th-century critics of the ‘old singing’ describe the leading church singers as men who cared nothing for the written chants and chorales but embellished everything beyond recognition. Apart from the Graduale, there was no more music printing until towards the end of the 19th century.

Some early 17th-century manuscript fragments show attempts at three- and four-part writing, and a few accomplished canons from that time are also extant. In 1647 a petition was sent to the king in Copenhagen stating the need for singing teachers and describing how musical instruments were rapidly falling into disuse. The petitioner offered all his wealth, so that a school of music, including teaching of instrument-making and repairs, could be instituted. Unfortunately, this petition was never answered. A writer in 1800, bemoaning the decadence of singing, mentioned a few instruments which went out of use, along with traditional dances, during the 18th century. One of these instruments, the langspil, had a brief renaissance during the 19th century; a textbook for it was published in 1855 and the instrument has survived into the 20th century (see §3(ii)). Two valuable collections of monodic songs, mostly sacred, survive in manuscripts from the 17th and 18th centuries: Melodia (c1650; Arnamagnaean Institute, Copenhagen), containing about 200 songs, and Hymnodia sacra (1742; Reykjavík National and University Library) containing 110 songs. The former mentions ‘foreign tones’, interspersed with ‘tones by Jón Ólafsson’, the latter makes no such distinction. There are however many songs and texts in Hymnodia which do not exist anywhere else. It is possible that Pastor Guðmundur Högnason composed them himself.

The 19th century brought new musical influences from Denmark and Germany, and the importation of modern instruments. Reykjavík Cathedral acquired its first organ in 1840. Its organist, Pétur Guðjohnsen (1812–77), trained in Denmark, was also responsible for the first Icelandic hymnal (in three and four parts) printed with modern notation (1861 and 1874). Other musicians followed in close succession, advocating ‘new singing’ (i.e. partsinging).

Iceland

5. European art music.

The new patriotic poems required suitable songs. Many of these were imported, but many were also composed in Iceland. The first professional pianist-composer, Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson (1847–1927), composer of the national anthem (1874), completed his musical studies in Copenhagen and Leipzig, and many followed his example. Most of his active career was spent abroad, chiefly in Edinburgh. Suddenly, there appeared a whole generation of prolific composers of songs (mostly for voice and piano accompaniment, but also for male or mixed choirs). Hundreds of romantic and nationalist songs were composed and published. Only a few of the composers were professional musicians; they were predominantly doctors, lawyers, clergymen, bankers or politicians. Some of their songs form the mainstay of the song repertory in Iceland today, especially the songs of Sigvaldi Kaldalóns (1881–1946).

The 1000th anniversary of the Icelandic parliament, Althing, in 1930 provided a new stimulus to musical development. The Reykjavík Music Society was founded to establish a school of music and a symphony orchestra in Reykjavík, and all available musical forces were gathered for the performance of the prize-winning Althing Festival Cantata by Páll Ísólfsson (1893–1974). In the same year the Iceland State Broadcasting Service was founded with Ísólfsson as its first director of music. He was also principal of the Reykjavík School of Music (now the Reykjavík College of Music), and for 30 years organist of Reykjavík Cathedral. A parallel force in shaping modern Icelandic music was Jón Leifs (1899–1968), who strove to form a national style of composition. He founded the Icelandic Composers’ Society in 1945 and STEF, the Icelandic performing rights society three years later. In 1995 there were 42 active members of the Composers’ Society and about 70 members of a sister organization of popular writers. Fresh musical influences came during the late 1930s with immigrant musicians from Germany and Austria, who left a profound mark on music in Iceland as educators, composers, conductors or performers.

In 1950, the National Theatre in Reykjavík opened, and that year also saw the establishment of the Iceland SO. Ten years later, the Musica Nova organization started to introduce the newest developments in composition, including the first Icelandic electronic pieces by Magnús Blöndal Jóhansson (b 1925) in 1961.

In 1970 the biennial International Festival of the Arts in Reykjavík was launched, and four years later, the first full-length Icelandic opera Thrymskviða (‘The Lay of Thrym’) by Jón Ásgeirsson (b 1928) was given its première. In 1982 the opera Silkitromman (The Silken Drum) by Atli Heimir Sveinsson (b 1938) was performed for the first time at the National Theatre and in the same year, the newly founded Iceland Opera opened its doors. In 1993 the Northern Iceland SO was established in Akureyri.

Iceland

6. 20th-century trends.

Iceland's independence from Denmark was achieved over a period of years, from 1918 to 1944, and its new status was reflected musically in the development of major international institutions: 1930 saw the founding of the conservatory of music and the Iceland State Broadcasting Service. Symphonic activity began about the same year and culminated in the founding of the National Symphony Orchestra in 1950. At the same time institutions were founded in the 20th century to promote the indigenous rímur tradition: Kvaeðamannafélagið Iðunn (Idunn Rímur Chanters' Society) in 1929 and Kvaeðamannafélagið Hafnarfjörður (Rímur Chanters' Society from Hafnarfjörd) in 1930. Kvaeðamannafélag Siglufjörður has since been founded in the north. A touring trio of musicians (Njáll Sigurdsson, Bára Grímsdóttir and Sigurður Runar Jónsson) was organized in the 1990s to give lecture-demonstrations on traditional music. The folk-rock group Íslandica (supported by Iclandicair airline) has moved in the direction of traditional idioms. There is a movement to have the rímur tradition taught in schools; a textbook for grammar schools has been published by a member of the Ministry for Education (the traditional singer Njáll Sigurðsson), and a text providing instruction in rímur metrical composition is now used in secondary schools. Hallgrimur Helgason (1914–94) adapted traditional stylistic features to symphonic idioms; a student of Hindemith, he also published the classic work on the Icelandic epic-song tradition (1980).

In 1987, the Sugarcubes became the first Icelandic rock group to win an international award; its star singer, Björk, is now a major solo star (see fig). Among her influences, she credits English rock groups, Icelandic folk music and the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.

In 1971 the manuscript collection named after Árna Magnússon, its original collector, began to be returned from the University of Copenhagen; the Stofnun Árna Magnússonar (Árna Magnússon Institute) is the prime source for the study of Icelandic traditional music. Other important collections and resources include Ríkisútvarp Íslands (Icelandic State Broadcasting Service), Thjóðminjnasafn Íslands (National Museum of Iceland), Kvaeðamannafélagið Iðunn, all in Reykjavík, and the Willard Fiske Icelandic Collection of Cornell University, USA.

Icelandic trends in musical thought during the course of the 20th century can be traced through the history of the institutions constantly being established – from electronic music laboratories to rímur associations. Iceland has never become completely isolated from European intellectual traditions, often incorporating ideas and entire themes into its traditional modes of expression. After independance from Denmark in 1944, it was the general acceptance of (and official sanction accorded to) the new idioms that was unusual, resulting in (once again, as during the days of the Commonwealth) the active participation of Icelandic musicians in an élite international culture. Seen in the historic context, both the 20th-century shift away from the national culture and the recent signs of a reawakening interest in it are not new phenomena. By and large it has been (as it continues to be) individual Icelanders who make selections concerning what is to be changed, modified, merged or retained.

Iceland

BIBLIOGRAPHY

and other resources

BurneyH

S. Sturluson: Heimskringla, i, ed. G. Schoning (Havniae, 1777)

G. Mackenzie: Travels in the Island of Iceland, during the Summer of the Year 1810 (Edinburgh, 1811, 2/1842 as Travels in Iceland)

A. Saemundsen: Leiðarvísir til að spila á langspil og til ad laera Salmalög eftir notum (Akureyri, 1855)

A. Hammerich: ‘Studien über isländische Musik’, SIMG, i (1899–1900), 341–71

B. þorsteinsson: Íslenzk þjóðlög (Copenhagen, 1906–9)

O. Andersson: Stråkharpan: en studie i nordisk instrumenthistoria (Helsinki, 1923; Eng. trans., 1930/R)

S. Nordal: Introduction: Codex Wormianus (Copenhagen, 1931)

P. Hallberg: The Icelandic Saga (Lincoln, NE, 1962)

L. Hollander: The Skalds (Ann Arbor, 1968)

J.C. Griffiths: Modern Iceland (London, 1969)

O. Andersson: ‘The Bowed Harp of Trondheim Cathedral and Related Instruments in East and West’, Galpin Society Journal, xxiii (1970), 4–34

J. Helgason: ‘Eddåsang’ [Eddaic songs], Årsbok för Samfundet Sverige-Island i Lund-Malmö, iii (1972), 15–49 [with Eng. summary]

H. Jóhannsdóttir: ‘The Fidla of Iceland’, From Bone Pipe and Cattle Horn to Fiddle and Psaltery, ed. M. Müller (Copenhagen, 1972), 27–31

H. Biriksson: ‘On Icelandic Rimur: an Orientation’, Tidskrift for Nordisk Folkeminnesforskning (1975), 139–50

H. Eiríksson and H. Jóhannsdóttir: Recordings of Icelandic Folklore (Reykjavík, 1974)

H. Jóhannsdóttir: ‘Fidla’, ‘Langspil’ and ‘Island: Folkmusik’, Sohlmans Musiklexikon, ii, iii and iv (Stockholm, 1975)

S. Sturluson: Heimskringla II: Sagas of the Old Norse Kings (London, 1975)

E. Turville-Petre: Scaldic Poetry (Oxford, 1976)

H. Helgason: Das Heldenlied auf Island: seine Vorgeschichte, Struktur Vortragsform: ein Beitrag zur alteren Musikgeschichte (Graz, 1980)

S. Nielsen: Stability in Musical Improvisation: a Repertoire of Icelandic Epic Songs (Rimur) (Copenhagen, 1982)

F. Raschella, ed.: The So-Called Second Grammatical Treatise: an Orthographic Pattern of Late Thirteenth-Century Icelandic (Florence, 1982)

S. Einarsson: Studies in Germanic Philology (Hamburg, 1986)

P. Hopkins: Aural Thinking in Norway: Performance and Communication with the Hardingfele (New York, 1986)

A. Faulkes, ed.: Snorri Sturluson: Edda (London, 1987)

R. Aðalsteinsson: Bögubókin (Reykjavík, 1990)

S.H. Nielsen: ‘Rímur: Epic in Iceland and how it was Recited by two Icelanders’, Historische Volksmusikforschung Göttingen 1991, 49–53

G. Bergendal: New Music in Iceland (Reykjavík, 1992)

M. Ginsberg: Ari Froði: Singer of History (diss., U. of Iowa, 1992)

K. Hastrup: A Place Apart: an Anthropological Study of the Icelandic World (Oxford, 1998)

J. Jochens: Women in Old Norse society (Ithaca, 1996)

J. Sigursson: Chieftans and Power in the Icelandic Commonwealth (Odense, 1999)

J.J. Sigurjónsson: ‘Electro-acoustic and computer music in Iceland’, Nordic sounds, ii (1994), 10–14

recordings

Folk Songs of Iceland, perf. A. Thorhallsdóttir, Lyrichord LLST 7335 (c1975)

Here today, tomorrow next week!, perf. Sugarcubes, Elektra 60860–2 (1989)

Rammislensk, Icelandair, Fimmund 001 (1990) [arrs. of traditional Icelandic music performed by Islandica]

Icelandic Folksongs, perf. Hamrahlid Choir, ITM 8-05 (1993)