4 star review - Castle in Air - Concert

Hello friends. 

I´ve translated the Castle In Air review which was published this morning and written by renowned Icelandic critic Jónas Sen (www.jonas-sen.com), who give us 4 out of 5 stars. Happy day.

The concert poster and flyer, which
will also be used for my upcoming album.

"A young man placed himself in front of the audience in Kaldalón Hall, Harpa last Sunday. This was Helgi Rafn Ingvarsson who is currently studying doctoral degree composition at the Guildhall School in London. A concert was about to commence featuring 5 pieces by him.

The introduction was quite unorthodox. What you read in connection with new pieces of music is often dry and academic. Intangible descriptions on development and leading motives, pitch-webs and chord clusters, fugues and other incomprehensible techniques. The layman seldom understands any of that. But Helgi presented his music into a whole different context. He created a fairy-tale, told us the story of a castle which someone entered, started up, made fly into the sky and hovered over the lands. We could see and hear all sorts of things from the castle, that´s what the music was about. This picturesque scene helped make the musical works easily understood. You walked into a fairy-tale world where each and every music phrase had a meaning.

The pieces were for different instrument combinations, violin, cello, viola or piano. The cello and piano were the most prominent. Guðný Jónasdóttir played the cello but Matthildur Anna Gísladóttir the piano. The forenamed played expressively and the piano playing was lively. All the other performers had their playing under control as well. 

From top left: Kristín Þóra Pétursdóttir, Helga Þóra
Björgvinsdóttir, Matthildur Anna Gísladóttir, Jonathan Larson,
Guðný Jónasdóttir and Pétur Björnsson.

If this music would had been performed 20 years ago, Helgi would had been crucified. You could hear melodies and simple meters, even repetition. Such things were not easily recognized back then, which is why contemporary music was hated by the general public. The good news is, this is not the case any more. Helgi began his music career by studying vocal arts [I actually start by playing the Euponium years earlier], which could explain the melodic elements in his music. The melodies were inconspicuously catchy, not like in a pop song however. There was nothing banal about the music: all sorts of clever nuances were introduced and the narrative was exciting and surprising. 

Helgi´s music carries the composer´s strong personal style. The tonality was, as I have already said, quite traditional, but far from being a cliché. Helgi had a lot on his mind, and he went his own way in delivering his message. The frame echoed the past, but the inspiration was completely unique. I´m looking forward to see what Helgi will do in the future." - Jónas Sen.

-Taken from Fréttablaðið, 10.09.15, p.47.

The set-up for my Castle in Air concert.
Matthildur Anna Gísladóttir warming up on the piano.

The original article - in Icelandic

Instagram

Find me on instagram under ´Helgi_composer´ : https://instagram.com/helgi_composer/

See you there.

Best wishes.

Évariste Moodsetter #2

A moodsetter for my ÉVARISTE OPERA.

From the book ´Évariste Galois 1811-1832 (Vita Mathematica)´

"Evariste Galois' short life was lived against the turbulent background of the restoration of the Bourbons to the throne of France, the 1830 revolution in Paris and the accession of Louis-Phillipe. It took more than seventy years to fully understand the French mathematician's first mémoire (published in 1846) which formulated the famous "Galois theory" concerning the solvability of algebraic equations by radicals, from which group theory would follow. Obscurities in his other writings - mémoires and numerous fragments of extant papers - persist and his ideas challenge mathematicians to this day."

Check out moodsetter #1 here: http://helgiingvarsson.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/evariste-opera-moodsetter-1-duel-at-dawn.html

Évariste Opera moodsetter #1: The duel at dawn

A moodsetter for my Évariste Opera:

From the book "The duel at dawn":

"In the fog of a Paris dawn in 1832, Évariste Galois, the 20-year-old founder of modern algebra, was shot and killed in a duel. That gunshot [...] marked the end of one era in mathematics and the beginning of another. [...] not even the purest mathematics can be separated from its cultural background, [...] In the eighteenth century [...] mathematicians were idealized as child-like, eternally curious, and uniquely suited to reveal the hidden harmonies of the world. But in the nineteenth century, brilliant mathematicians like Galois became Romantic heroes like poets, artists, and musicians. The ideal mathematician was now an alienated loner, driven to despondency by an uncomprehending world. A field that had been focused on the natural world now sought to create its own reality." 

‪#‎evaristeopera‬ ‪#‎newopera‬ #moodsetter 

Tickets: www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/evariste

http://www.amazon.com/Duel-Dawn-Mathematics-Histories-Technology/dp/0674046617/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435837522&sr=8-1&keywords=duel+at+dawn

Piece for trumpet and wind band

Jóhann Nardeau

I hereby humbly announce that I recently received generous support from Tónskáldasjóður RÚV (Icelandic National Broadcaster´s composer´s fund) and Lista- og Menningarráð Kópavogsbæjar (Kópavogur-town Arts Council) to fund my piece for trumpet and wind ensemble which will be premiered in Harpa Reykjavik Concert and Conference Centre March, 2016. Soloist will be the talented Johann Nardeau and conductor will be Össur Geirsson, my good old mentor.‪‬

´Castle in Air´ Irish premiere this weekend



Guðný Jónasdóttir



My solo cello piece, Castle in Air (Loftkastali), keeps conquering the UK. Tuesday 24th April Guðný Jónasdóttir will be performing it at the Society of New Music (Guildhall School of Music and Drama) concert 19:00 (FREE ENTRY) London EC2Y 8DT

Listen here: https://soundcloud.com/helgirafn/loftkastali-castle-in-air-solo-cello-2013






Martin Johnson



 

 

 

Then I´m off to DUBLIN (for the first time) to work with Martin Johnson on the Irish premiere of Castle in Air (Loftkastali) on Sunday 29th at the RHA Gallery.  




DIT Conservatory - Dublin

Additionally, I will be giving a seminar for composition students at DIT Conservatory of Music & Drama on Friday the 27th March. My trip is generously supported by the Concorde ensemble, the Guildhall School and the DIT Conservatory.

 If I am I excited I hear you ask? YES! is the answer. You can follow the ´tour´ on instagram: helgi_composer.

2015 - a great year coming up

2015 will be a great year, I can feel it.
There are many exciting things coming up:

FIRSTLY; I´d like to announce that my show-case concert in the beautiful and state-of-the-art Harpa Reykjavik Concert and Conference Centre (http://harpa.is/) will be SEPTEMBER 6TH. Reserve the date, more info later. (I hope that this project may lead to a CD release later on).

SECOND; my chamber opera ÉVARISTE will be premiered at The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, LONDON, JULY 12th. It will be an all-Guildhall School of Music & Drama cast and rehearsals will start January 18th. FOLLOW THE PROCESS ON INSTAGRAM: "helgi_composer"

THIRD; Loftkastali / Castle In Air (https://soundcloud.com/helgirafn/loftkastali-castle-in-air-solo-cello-2013) will receive it´s DUBLIN PREMIERE end of March in the RHA Gallery by non other than Martin Johnson (http://www.thehibernianorchestra.ie/past-soloists/past-soloists/martin-johnson.html)
and ANDAÐU / BREATH (https://soundcloud.com/helgirafn/breath-cello-harp-2012). will be performed at the DIT CONSERVATORY DUBLIN ´at the same opportunity´ (http://www.dit.ie/conservatory/)

OTHER exciting projects include:

• the creation of 2-3 monodramas,
• starting a new Icelandic opera based on an Icelandic folk tale (script already well underway) with Árni Kristjánsson and Rannveig Káradóttir,
• finishing the next version of BRÁÐ opera with Friðþjófur Þorsteinsson, starting a piece for solo trumpet and wind orchestra for a performance in Harpa 2016,
• and be a musical director for a Choir Festival in Kensington, London, April 18th.

Oh yes... and learn Finnish! Did I forget anything?

Best wishes
www.helgiingvarsson.com

Speaking at King´s College Study day in May.

I havent blogged for a long time.

The reason is that I do so much reading and writing regarding my work through my MPhil/DMus studies at Guildhall that I dont have much writing energy left. What I HAVE been doing is TWEETING, so if you´d like to see what I´m up to, then follow me @helgiingvarsson

NEWS: I will be speaking about my research at King´s College Study Day May 27th. That´s an exciting and important step for me to build up credibility as a researcher and a doctorate. More on that soon.

I did tweet a somewhat profound thought just now that´d I´d like to document here though:

"I´ve never been interested in the school of thought that uses art to shock or appall people. It´s more of an art to try and fascinate them."

-Helgi R. Ingvarsson

Get up and dance at Sensible

Not only classical music for me, nope. 

Spent 7 good hours yesterday mixing and editing Deborah Tyfield ´s new track "Get up and dance" with Deborah Tyfield and producer Jon Moon (Amy Winehouse, Cat Stevens and more) at Sensible Studios, with string and piano arrangements by me wrapped in dubstep/pop/electronica awesomeness. This Monday we will hopefully finish the track and send it off to mastering. 

Deborah´s FB artist profile: https://www.facebook.com/deborahtyfieldofficial?fref=ts

Harry Partch: Genesis of a Music

Yesterday, after being recommended by my supervisor, I glanced through Harry Partch´s Genesis of a Music. I dont know if I find his ideas about "Just Intonation" and "The Monophonic Concept" directly relevant to what I want to do in my music/research, although they are interesting no doubt. His ideas in general about music on the other hand, and the way he phrases them, are intriguing. Some of it simple truth at it´s core, but refreshing nevertheless.

"A tone in music, is not a hermit [...] it is always in relation to another tone, heard or implied. In other words, it is a musical interval." (p.86)

"The impulse to the growth and evolution of music is generated by the human ear, not by the piano keyboard." (p.95)

Scene 2, recitativo.

I´m spending today writing recitative from speech melodies, using the recorded voices of esteemed Guildhall School of Music & Drama vocalists Matthew Mcguigan, Holly Marie Bingham and Chloë Jane Treharne. 

In order to get one musical phrase I must listen to the same spoken sentence about 40-50 times in a row. Good bits like "Unlike some men, my theorems do not lie", "Impulsive! Impetuous!" and "Monsieur Galois. Polytechnique has a long tradition for mathematicians, standards which you know very well" are stuck in my head now, happily so. 

‎Évariste opera‬, libretto by Lori Ann Stephens

Évariste Suite live recording

My new string quartet is now online. Here is the live recording from the premiere at Salurinn, Iceland, August 7th. Performed by the Bartholdy Quartet.

´Évariste: Mutter Music Suite´ premiere

The Bartholdy Quartet premiered ´Évariste Suite´ last Wednesday, August 7th, with flying colors at Salurinn, Iceland! Hopefully I can release the recording soon.

Live on the radio, chamber pop!

Oh yeah, the radio gig today was great and they´ve published the recording on youtube, check it out.

Helgi Rafn og Bartholdy á RÚV2

STAÐFEST: Við verðum í Virkum Morgnum á Rás 2, ÞRIÐJUDAGINN næsta kl.11 í beinni! 

Svei mér ef við tökum ekki eins og eitt - tvö lög af því tilefni! 

Hér eventinn fyrir tónleikana okkar

https://www.facebook.com/events/310392545773482/?notif_t=plan_user_joined

ENG:// Dear friends, we´ll be playing live on national radio on Tuesday August 6th, 11am. 

I´ll post a link sooner to the date!

Interview: "Writes operas but has not given up on pop music"

Maður getur ekki annað en deilt þessari glæsilegu grein sem Ingibjörg Rósa skrifaði um mig á laugardaginn. Við Bartholdy verðum með tónleika 9. og 10. ágúst í Leikfélagi Kópavogs, Funalind 2, kl.21.

//

How can I not share with you this beautiful article written by Ingibjörg Rósa and published in Morgunblaðið (newspaper) in Iceland, July 28th, 2013. The title goes something like this: " "Writes operas but has not given up on pop music"

Icelandic summer & a doctorate

Working in Iceland for the summer.

Usually, like for most people, the summer is a time of relaxing for me. This summer I seem to be in demand cause I have to finish a string quartet and about 12 songs for strings and voice for August, then a brass sextet and a chamber opera for September. It´s nice to be in demand, but I wouldnt mind a bit of relaxing time as well.

First up is my first real string quartet and I´ve named it Évariste: Mutter Music. Like the title suggests
I´m using this opportunity to develop and workshop material from Évariste: chamber opera so it will be nice and polished for the workshop with singers at Guildhall school this autumn. The quartet will be premiered at Salurinn, Kópavogur, Iceland, August 7th which is the opening concert for TUF festival (Tónlistarhátíð Unga Fólksins). I was so lucky to be commissioned by the Bartholdy Quartet from the Royal Academy of Music, London.

The subtitle Mutter Music refers to a certain aspect of my doctorate research which has to do with speech analysis and it´s transition into musical melodies and rhythms. Évariste string quartet, along with Bráð chamber opera, will function as a starting point for my 3 year doctorate studies at the Guildhall school, school, starting this September.

Salurinn - Kópavogur concert hall

Stafnbúi - rýni

Hér á eftir fer smá texti sem ég setti saman er ég var að sækja um starf hjá hlestu blöðum Íslands sem tónlistarrýnir. Er það rann út í sandinn sat ég uppi með grein sem enginn vildi birta. Hví ekki að birta hana þá hér svo hún geymist og nýtist þá vonandi í e-ð nýtilegt í framtíðinni.

Hið upprunalega og einfalda (mestmegnis)

Umfjöllun og gagnrýni á hljómplötunni

Stafnbúi

eftir

Steindór Andersen og Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson

Stafnbúi er nýjasta hljómplata Steindórs Andersens kvæðamanns, en hann hefur

áður unnið með tónlistarfólki eins og SigurRós, Erpi Eyvindarsyni rappara og

fleirum. Í þetta sinn, þó ekki í fyrsta sinn, sér Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson,

kvikmyndatónskáld, um tónlistina. Stafnbúi er einstaklega eiguleg útgáfa. Í stað

venjulegs hulsturs fylgir diskurinn með í 80 blaðsíðna myndskreyttri bók. Að

sjálfsögðu fylgja öll kvæðin með í bókinni sem gefur útgáfunni um leið annað líf

sem vísnabók og einnig er að finna í bókinni áhugaverða fræðslu um uppruna og

eðli rímunnar. Hinar veglegu umbúðir plötunnar þykja mér þó ekki tóna við

innihaldið, sem mætti vera veglegra.

Áratuga framlag Steindórs Andersen, kvæðamanns, við varðveislu og almenns

viðhalds rímunnar er ómetanlegt og sú reynsla hans skilar sér í öruggum og

sannfærandi flutningi á plötunni, þó tilbreytingarlítill sé. Sigríður Thorlacius á

góða innkomu um miðbik plötunnar, í Yfirlit – fundurinn, sem er kærkomin

tilbreyting. En án þess að véfengja hæfileika Sigríðar sem listamanns hefði

söngkona á svipuðu reki og Steindór skilað betri trúverðugleika fyrir ekki

einungis heildarsvip plötunnar heldur sérstaklega þetta umrædda kvæði.

Heyrandi jafn unga konu syngja: Mér var aldrei lífið létt / lifði því með hraða getur

ekki talist trúverðugt þar sem kvæðið er augljóslega frásögn eldri manneskju.

Söngurinn er fallegur engu að síður.

Um tónlist sér Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, kvikmyndatónskáld, eins og áður sagði.

Styrkur hans liggur í skynbragði á sögusviðum og framvindu, ómissandi

eiginleiki hjá góðu kvikmyndatónskáldi. Ég hafði þó vonast til að Hilmar og

Steindór myndu reyna að ýta tónrænni vitund landans á rímunni fram í

samtímann með einhverju öðru en hinum hefðbundna pedalpunkti, þar sem

bassanóta verksins helst óbreytt í gegn á meðan hljómar og laglína dansa þar

ofan á. Þetta tónmál er þó óneitanlega mjög hentugt til að skapa þjóðlegan stíl og

virkar ætíð. Pedalpunkturinn góði á sér því stað og stund á plötunni og má dæmi

nefna áhrifaríkt samspil tónlistar Hilmars við texta Stefáns frá Hvítadal í Haustið nálgast.

Í formála bókarinnar segir:

Undanfarið hefur Steindór tekið þátt í ýmsum verkefnum sem hafa haft það

að markmiði að færa rímurnar til fjöldans og oftar en ekki hefur hann sett

þær í nýstárlegan búning.

Óhætt er að segja að nýstárleiki hafi ekki verið markmiðið með Stafnbúa. Einnig

segir í sama texta:

Á sama tíma hefur honum [Steindóri] verið umhugað að gæta að hinu

upprunalega og einfalda formi rímunnar […].

Það markmið er mun nær lagi og hefði tekist svo gott sem fullkomlega ef ekki

væri fyrir Lóa Fiðurgisin undir lok plötunnar. Fram að því tekst vel til að búa til

heildarstemmingu tónlistarinnar sem einkennist annarsvegar af hægum

strengjakvartett og af glaðlegra gítarspili í bland við steinhörpu og langspil

hinsvegar, sem bæði gefa rímunni andrými. Stemming sú er brotin upp með

nokkuð árásargjarnri innkomu trommuheila sem getur ekki talist styðja við hið

einfalda. Ef Hilmar og Steindór vilja flytja rímur við taktvissa raftónlist væri það

mun frekar efni í aðra plötu frekar en eitt stakt lag hér.

Samantekt

Stafnbúi er mjög áhugaverður og eigulegur gripur og þar er að finna mikið af

fallegum kveðskap, flutningi og tónlist sem styður við þá stemmingu sem textinn

kallar á. Tónefnið er of einsleitt og einfalt til að vera áhugavert til lengri tíma,

sem gefur þó rímunum rými til að njóta sín. 3/5 stjörnur.

Helgi Rafn Ingvarsson

Kópavogur, 05.01.13.

Greinarhöfundur er tónskáld, kórstjórnandi, söngvari og kennari.

How should an opera be ?

Bamm and kowabonga ! Debussy is on my side when it comes to writing opera. His views are peculiarly similar to the outcome of BRÁÐ, my and Friðþjófur ´s design led chamber opera.

In 1890 he wrote: 

"The ideal would be two associated dreams. No time, no place. No big scene [...] Music in opera is far too predominant. Too much singing and the musical settings are too cumbersome [...] My idea is of a short libretto with mobile scenes. No discussion or arguments between the characters whom I see at the mercy of life or destiny."

Apart from "no big scene" I have to say I agree with his thinking and reading it is very helpful for me to organize my thoughts regarding the genre.

Your Breath in My Ear

Your Breath in My Ear from Helgi Ingvarsson on Vimeo.

I finally received the video from my and Esther Siddiquie´s dance piece. This was performed in December, 2012 at the Place, dance theater, London. I hope you enjoy as much as I do.