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.

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