Halldór Kiljan Laxness in Art Song: Fulbright Research
Cayla Rosché
In the Fall of 2022, I came to Listaháskóli Íslands on a Fulbright to teach Icelandic and English diction and also reseach Icelandic Art Song. Prior to arriving in Iceland, I wrote a handbook for singing in Icelandic and I used this handbook in addition to a handbook on English singing diction published by Cheri Montgomery to teach Diction for Singers at LHÍ. My handbook is the first of its kind to use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and focuses on rules of singing, so this was the first time this class was taught using the IPA. I collaborated with the students to make edits to my handbook to prepare it for publication later this year. At LHÍ I also taught voice lessons, master classes, and was guest lecturer in several other classes. While preparing for a recital and a journal article for the Journal of Singing I discovered that many Icelandic composers have set text by Halldór Kiljan Laxness. As an American who did not grow up reading Laxness novels I thought it would be helpful to research and catalogue these poems for future repertoire study. I spent the remainder of my time during my Fulbright cataloguing these poems and writing an article for the Journal of Singing titled Icelandic Legacies of Word and Song: Halldór Kiljan Laxness Poetry in Contemporary Icelandic Songs.[1] This article features three composers and their songs composed with text by Laxness in addition to word-for-word translations of the poems, and information on lyric diction. Below is the table that I curated to catalogue the poems by Laxness used in Icelandic Repertoire. Only compositions that are to my knowledge readily available for purchase were included in this table.
I am very grateful that my colleagues at LHÍ were so welcoming and generous with their sharing of information. I look forward to future collaborations and continuing to disseminate Icelandic repertoire to the rest of the world.
Table 1: Songs Written with Text by Halldór Kiljan Laxness
Name of Song |
Where Text was Published |
Composer(s) |
Á þjóðveginum |
Novel: Höll sumarlandsins (1927) Second part of World Light Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Jón Ásgeirsson |
Atlantshafið |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1930 first edition) |
Jóhann G. Jóhannsson |
Barnagæla frá Nýja Íslandi |
Short Story: Nýja Ísland (1927) Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson Jón Ásgeirsson |
Bráðum kemur betri tið |
Novel: Undir Helgahnúk (written 1922, published 1924) Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Atli Heimir Sveinsson Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson Jóhann G. Jóhannsson Kristinn Reyr |
Dans |
Novel: Stálfstæðu fólki (1934) Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Atli Heimir Sveinsson Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson Karl O. Runólfsson |
Dáið er allt án drauma |
Novel: Barn náttúrunnar (1919) Poems: Kvæðakver (1992 fifth edition) |
Elín Gunnlaugarsdóttir Jón Þórarinsson |
Ef hjarta mitt (also Hjarta mitt) |
Novel: Fegurð himinsins (1940) Fourth part of World Light Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Heimir Sindrason Jón Ásgeirsson |
Ég er brott frá þér bernska |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson Þóra Marteinsdóttir |
Ég er sú sorg (from the poem Ljóð frá sýrlandi) |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Magnús Á. Árnason |
Fatahreinsararafsódian |
Play: Dúfnaveislan (1966) Poems: Kvæðakver (1992 fifth edition) |
Jóhann G. Jóhannsson
|
Glugginn |
Magazine: Published as ‘Upp þetta dimma sund´ in Tímariti Máls og menningar (1958) then Memoir: Sjömeistarasagan (1978) Poems: Kvæðakver (1992 fifth edition) |
Jórunn Viðar |
Haldiðrún Gróa hafi skó |
Novel: Höll sumarlandsins (1938) Second part of World Light |
Jón Ásgeirsson |
Hallormsstaðarskógur |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1930 first edition) |
Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson Jóhann G. Jóhannsson Kristinn Reyr |
Hjá lygnri móðu |
Novel: Ljós heimsins (1937) First part of World Light Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Jakob Hallgrímsson Jón Ásgeirsson Karl O. Runólfsson |
Hvert örstutt spor |
Play: Silfurtúnglið (1954) Poems: Kvæðakver (1992 fifth edition) |
Jón Nordal |
Íslenskt vögguljóð (á Hörpu) |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1930 first edition) |
Jón Þórarinsson Ólafur I. Magnússon |
Í þessu túni |
Memoir: Í túninu heima (1975) |
Leifur Þórarinsson |
Kastrup lufthavn |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Leifur Þórarinsson |
Klementínudans (also Langt fyrir utan) |
Novel: Paradísarheimt (1960) |
Atli Heimir Sveinsson Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson Jón Ásgeirsson |
Kletturinn |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Óliver Kentish |
Kór þokkadísanna |
Play: Prjónastofan Sólin (1962) |
Kjartan Ólafsson |
Lagstúfur úr Atómsöðinni |
Novel: Atómsöðin (1948) |
Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson |
Maístjarnan |
Novel: Ljós heimsins (written 1936, published in novel 1937) First part of World Light Poems: Kvæðakver (1956 third edition) |
Hildigunnar Rúnarsdóttir Jón Ásgeirsson
|
Margur er skauð |
Novel: Sjálfstæðu fólki (1934) Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Atli Heimir Sveinsson Skúli Halldórsson |
Nótt á tjarnarbrúnni |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1930 first edition) |
Jóhann G. Jóhannsson |
Nú snýr þú jörð |
Novel: Hús skáldsins (1939) Third part of World Light |
Jón Ásgeirsson Jón Leifs |
Sigurður Breiðfjörð |
Novel: Ljós heimsins (1937) First part of World Light Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson Jón Ásgeirsson |
Snjógirni |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1930 first edition) |
Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson |
Spegillinn |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Magnús Á. Árnason |
Stanza Antica (original poem Tveir fuglar flugu af björgum) |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1930 first edition) |
Magnús Á. Árnason |
Stríðið |
Novel: Sjálfstæðu fólki (1934) |
Atli Heimir Sveinsson Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson Jóhann G. Jóhannsson Skúli Halldórsson |
Tveir fuglar flugu af björgum |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1930 first edition) |
Karl O. Runólfsson |
Um hina heittelskuðu |
Novel: Novel: Ljós heimsins (1937) First part of World Light |
Jakob Hallgrímsson Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson |
Únglíngurinn í skóginum |
Magazine: Eimreiðinn Novel: Vefarinn mikli frá Kasmír (1927) |
Jórunn Viðar Karl O. Runólfsson |
Únglíngurinn í skóginum II (second part of poem above) |
Magazine: Eimreiðinn Novel: Vefarinn mikli frá Kasmír (1927) |
Jórunn Viðar
|
Vor hinsti dagur er hniginn |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1930 first edition) |
Jón Ásgeirsson Þórarinn Guðmundsson |
Vorkvæði (first 9 lines of poem Apríllinn) |
Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Jón Leifs |
Vorvísa |
Novel: Ljós heimsins (1937) Poems: Kvæðakver (1956 third edition) |
Jakob Hallgrímsson Jón Ásgeirsson |
Þar sem háfjöllin heilög rísa |
Novel: Vefarinn mikli frá Kasmír (1927) Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Tryggvi M. Baldvinsson
|
Þótt form þín hjúpi graflín |
Novel: Fergurð himinsins (1940) Fourth part of World Light |
Jón Ásgeirsson |
Þú kysstir mína hönd |
Novel: Höll sumarlandsins (1938) Second part of World Light. Poems: Kvæðakver (1949 second edition) |
Jón Ásgeirsson |
Þú vínviður hreini |
Novel: Fuglinn í fjörunni (1932) Second part of Salka Valka |
Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson |
[1] Awaiting publication in the Journal of Singing. Should be available in 2025.