Icelandic composer Gudmundur Steinn Gunnarsson’s Stífluhringurinn
Gudmundur Steinn Gunnarsson: Stífluhringurinn; Caput Ensemble; Service Information
Reviewed 18 June 2024
Music like no different. The Icelandic composer returns with an extended, single work for big ensemble that mines his fondness for considering timbres and rhythms, and for music that avoids typical straight strains and grids, but creates pure magic
The Icelandic composer Gudmundur Steinn Gunnarsson is a kind of artists whose work retains an entrancing unpredictability to it. Having overview one disc, you may by no means be fairly certain what the subsequent one will include. His newest disc, Stífluhringurinn consists of a single, lengthy two-movement work carried out by the Caput Ensemble who first carried out the work again in 2019.
It’s his fourth recording on the Service Information label.
Steinn Gunnarsson describes the work as being impressed by a suburban path and landmark in Reykjavík that connects the 2 neighbourhoods the place he grew up. The piece is devoted to 2 clergymen who serve in every of those neighbourhoods. One is a Lutheran minister of Japanese descent who has labored extensively with refugees and common immigrants for many years, no matter their background or faith. The opposite is a Zen priest of Icelandic descent who has spent a whole lot of time in coaching monasteries in Japan and America.
The work begins as sparse, notes in area that steadily coalesce, however there may be all the time area. Steinn Gunnarsson talks about being within the thought of getting 4 sound classes, quick pitchless, quick pitched, lengthy pitched and glissando, and setting up music the place every of those involves the fore then retreats. There are pitched and unpitched notes, however it’s sound-quality and timbre of the notes moderately than the precise pitches themselves that matter. There is no such thing as a typical concord, hardly any chords, simply issues taking place, typically collectively and typically not.
One concept that these of us wedded to standard notation have a tough time getting our head round is that Stein Gunnarson isn’t concerned with music based mostly round grids or straight strains, and sometimes his music is notated utilizing display based mostly scores and animated notation (or associated digital strategies) to precise his incapability to adapt to the handy society. The outcomes can at instances sound freely improvised, when in truth the composer has quite a lot of management.
There’s something meditative about this music. By that, I don’t imply that it’s amorphous whale-music, however that every motion takes time (the primary motion is nineteen minutes lengthy, the second 14 minutes) to discover its chosen space, circling round and approaching from completely different route. This is not music that goes anyplace, it’s exploring its chosen area.
The work is carried out by the Caput Ensemble – Tenor and Bass Recorder + Discovered Objects: Þórunn Björnsdóttir, Flute and Alto Flute + Discovered Objects: Steinunn Vala Pálsdóttir, Clarinet + Discovered Objects: Guðni Franzson, French Horn: Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir, Trumpet: Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson, Trombone: Ingi Garðar Erlendsson, Harpsichord and Harmonica: Guðrún Óskarsdóttir, Metal-string Guitar, Banjo and Harmonica: Óskar Magnússon, 12-string Guitar, Mandolin and Harmonica: Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson, Percussion: Steef van Oosterhout, Violin: Hildigunnur Haraldsdóttir, Viola: Herdís Anna Jónsdóttir, Violoncello: Sigurður Halldórsson.
But the music by no means appears like there are many individuals concerned, there may be sparseness even to probably the most intense moments. Once more, it’s value exploring the composer’s web site as a result of he explains, “The piece was written for the Caput Ensemble who premiered it in 2019. Covid derailed all plans for a bunch recording. Resulting from social distancing guidelines, the choice was made to document the piece in smaller teams. This resulted in a extra granular recording, permitting the composer the liberty to transform the piece within the studio afterwards. The objective of the recording was to not produce a precise illustration however to permit for a form of free play that might convey sure subtleties to the entrance that may simply be misplaced within the live performance corridor. After the composer’s preliminary enhancing and effecting, the Norman Conquest blended and mastered the album with added inventive touches.“
As along with his different albums [I have reviewed Landvættirnar fjórar and Sinfonia], it’s important to put apart preconceptions and immerse your self in a sound world containing music like no different.
Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson – Stífluhringurinn
Caput Ensemble
Recorded by Albert Finnbogason at Víðistaðakirkja February 2022
Service Information
The recording is accessible in all kinds of codecs from BandCamp.