Jón Leifs

When Jón Leifs was born in Iceland in 1899, his country was in the early stages of developing its classical music tradition. Encounters with Icelandic folk music were vital in helping Leifs to forge his personal idiom, as was his volatile, often confrontational temperament. The convulsive Organ Concerto from 1930 contains elements of both, and astounded early audiences with its dissonances and explosive use of percussion. Iceland’s influence is even more explicit in Leifs’ epic multi-part oratorio Edda (examining national history and mythology), and the elemental orchestral piece Hekla, where a volcanic eruption is depicted with percussion including stones, shotgun sounds and anvils. The brief, beautiful choral Requiem—a tribute to his daughter Lif, who drowned in 1947—shows a gentler side to Leifs’ musical nature, as does the poignant Hughreysting (Consolation) for string orchestra. Still controversial by the time he died in 1968, Leifs is increasingly regarded as a key figure in the development of Icelandic classical music.