Tears of Stone: Jon Leifs 1899-1968

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Is that really possible?   This is a work I will have to hear!!
Will hope to listen to some more Leifs this evening.

Oh yes, it's possible. What works have you heard so far, Daniel?

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By the way, Baldr will blow a toupee clean off a guy's head, so don't play this work around any bald guys.

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Here is a complete list of Leifs' compositions:

Vokudraumur (Reverie), piano (1913) [no opus number]
Trilogia piccola, orchestra, op. 1 (1919-24)
Torrek (Intermezzo), piano, op. 1, no. 2 (1919)
4 Pieces, piano, op. 2 (1922)
Praeludium e fuga, violin, op. 3 (1924)
[3 Songs], soprano/tenor and piano, op. 4 (1924)
    - A King's Child, soprano/tenor and piano, op. 4, no. 1 (1924)
    - I Was Young, soprano/tenor and piano, op. 4, no. 2 (1924)
    - Die Beasts, soprano/tenor and piano, op. 4, no. 3 (1924)
Organ Prelude, op. 5, no. 1 (1924)
Kyrie,chorus, op. 5, no. 2 (1924)
Galdra-Loftr, incidental music, op.6 (1915-25)
25 islensk thjoolog (Icelandic Folksongs), piano (1925) [no opus number]
Organ Concerto, op. 7 (1917-30)
Variazioni pastorale (Variationen uber ein Thema von Beethoven), orchestra, op. 8 (1920-30; arr. for string qt, 1937)
Minni Islands (Icelandic Overture), chorus and orchestra, op. 9 (1926)
Galdra-Loftr Overture,  orchestra, op. 10 (1927)
Islensk rimnadanslog (Icelandic Dances), piano, op. 11 (1929) [also arr. for male chorus]
3 Church Songs (Hymns), voice and piano/organ, op. 12a (1929)
    - Be Thou, O Father, voice and piano/organ, op. 12a, no. 1 (1929)
    - As, In a Dewy Meadow, voice and piano/organ, op. 12a, no. 2 (1929)
    - Arise My Soul, voice and piano/organ, op. 12a, no. 3 (1929)
Thjoohvot (Iceland Cantata), chorus and orchestra, op. 13 (1929-30)
2 Songs, voice and piano, op. 14a (1929-30)
    - Now Glides the Moon, voice and piano, op. 14a, no. 1 (1930)
    - Cradle Song, voice and piano, op. 14a, no. 2 (1929)
Ny rimnadanslog (New Icelandic Dances), piano, op. 14b (1931; arr. for male voices, 1955)
Islendingaljoo (Poems of Icelanders), male chorus, op. 15a (1931)
Sjavarvisur (Ocean Verses), male chorus, op. 15b (c. 1931)
3 Organ Preludes, op. 16 (1931)
Islenskir songdansar (Icelandic Dance-Songs), chorus, and instruments ad lib. , op. 17a (c. 1931)
3 islensk salmalog (3 Icelandic Hymns), chorus and organ, op. 17b (c. 1932-40)
2 Songs, voice and piano, op. 18a (1931)
    - Good Night, voice and piano, op. 18[a], no. 1 (1931)
    - Reimweise (Rhyme), voice and piano, op. 18a, no. 2 (1931)
2 Songs of the Edda (Love Verses from the Edda), tenor and piano, op. 18b (1931-32)
    - Long is One Night, tenor and piano, op. 18b, no. 1 (1931)
    - In the Courts of Gymir, tenor and piano, op. 18b, no. 2 (1931)
Nocturne, harp, op. 19a (c. 1934)
2 Icelandic Folk Songs, voice and piano, op. 19b (1934)
    - Slumber Dearest Child of Mine, voice and piano, op. 19b, no. 1 (1934)
    - Fjords of Thousand Islands, voice and piano, op. 19b, no. 2 (1934)
Edda I, 'Skopun heimsins' (The Creation of the World), oratorio, tenor, baritone, chorus and orchestra, op. 20 (1935-39)
Quartetto I, 'Mors et vita', string quartet, op. 21 (1939)
Guorunarkvioa (The Lay of Gudrun), mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass and orchestra, op. 22 (1940)
3 Songs, voice and piano, op. 23 (1941)
3 Saga Songs (3 Songs from Icelandic Sagas), tenor and piano, op. 24 (1941)
    - tenor and piano, op. 24, no. 1 (1941)
    - Love Poems to Steingerdur, tenor and piano, op. 24, no. 2 (1941)
    - Haugskvida Gunnars, tenor and piano, op. 24, no. 3 (1941)
Songs from the Saga Symphony, tenor and piano, op. 25 (1941)
    - Skarphedinn's Song When Burning, tenor and piano, op. 25, no. 1 (1941)
    - Exhortations to the Farmshands, tenor and piano, op. 25, no. 2 (1941)
Sinfonia I 'Soguhetjur' (Saga Heroes; Saga-Symphony),  orchestra, op. 26 (1941-42)
3 aettjaroarsongvar (3 Patriotic Songs), male chorus, op. 27 (1927-43)
3 songvar eftir Jonas Ballgrimsson (3 Verses by Jonas Hallgrimsson), chorus, op. 28 (1943)
Islendingaljoo (Poems of Icelanders), male chorus, op. 29 (1943)
Islendingaljoo (Poems of Icelanders), chorus, op. 30 (1943)
3 Ancient Songs, voice and piano, op. 31 (1944)
3 althyousongvar (3 Folksongs), chorus, op. 32 (1945)
Torrek, voice and piano, op. 33a (1947)
Requiem, chorus, op. 33b (1947)
Baldr, choreographic drama, tenor, chorus and orchestra, op.34 (1943-47)
Erfiljoo (Elegies - In Memoriam), mezzo-soprano, male chorus and violin, op. 35 (1947)
Quartetto II, 'Vita et mors', string quartet, op. 36 (1948-51)
Fjallasongvar (Mountain Verses), mezzo-soprano, baritone, male chorus, timpani, percussion and double bass, op. 37 (1948)
Thorgeroarlog (Songs of Thorgerdur), male chorus, flute, viola and cello, op. 38 (1948)
2 songvar (2 Songs), male chorus, op. 39 (1948-61)
Reminiscence du nord (Reflections from the North), string orchestra, op. 40 (1952)
Landsyn (Landfall) [Overture], male chorus and orchestra, op. 41 (1955)
Edda II, 'Lif guoanna' (The Lives of the Gods), oratorio, soli, chorus and orchestra, op. 42 (1951-66)
Baptism Invocation, baritone and organ, op. 43 (1957)
3 peintures abstraites,  orchestra, op. 44 (1955-60)
Memorial Songs on the Death of Jónas Hallgrímsson, mezzo-soprano/baritone and piano, op. 45 (1958)
    - Homesickness, mezzo-soprano/baritone and piano, op. 45, no. 1 (1958)
    - Solstice, mezzo-soprano/baritone and piano, op. 45, no. 2 (1958)
    - Hearts Rise Up, mezzo-soprano/baritone and piano, op. 45, no. 3 (1958)
Vorvisa (Spring Verse), chorus and orchestra, op. 46 (1958)
Turmglockenspiel uber Themen aus Beethovens Neunter Symphonie, carillon (1958) [no opus number]
Das Leben musS trotz Allem stets weiter gehen, carillon (1958) [no opus number]
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen, folksong, chorus (arr. 1958) [no opus number]
Stand, House of Stone, tenor and piano, op. 47a (1958)
Veourvisur (Weather Verses), male chorus, op. 47b (1961)
Jonasar minni Hallgrimssonar (Jónas Hallgrímsson in memoriam), chorus and orchestra, op. 48 (1961)
Strakalag (Boy's Song), piano, op. 49 (1960)
Quintetto, flute, clarinet, bassoon, viola, cello, op. 50 (1960)
Geysir,  orchestra, op. 51 (1961)
Hekla, chorus and orchestra, op. 52 (1961)
Hinsta kveoja (Elegy),  orchestra, op. 53 (1961)
Vikingasvar (A Viking's Answer),  wind ensemble, percussion, violas and double bass, op. 54 (1962)
Fine I,  orchestra, op. 55 (1963)
Fine II,  orchestra, op. 56 (1963)
Dettifoss, baritone, chorus and orchestra, op. 57 (1964)
Scherzo concreto, pic, fl, ob, eng hn, cl, bn, trbn, tuba, va, vc, op. 58 (1964)
Nott (Night), tenor, bass & small orchestra, op. 59 (1964)
Darraoarljoo (Song of Dorrud/Njal's Saga), chorus and orchestra, op. 60 (1964)
Helga kvioa Bundingsbana (The Lay of Helgi the Bunding-Slayer), alto, bass and orchestra, op. 61 (1964)
Grogaldr (The Spell of Groa), alto, tenor and orchestra, op. 62 (1965)
Hafis (Drift Ice), chorus and orchestra, op. 63 (1965)
Quartetto III, 'EI Greco', string quartet, op. 64 (1965)
Heilsuheimt (Health Regained), chorus (arr. 1965) [orig. work of L. van Beethoven, op. 132, no. 2]
Edda III, 'Ragnarok' (The Twilight of the Gods), oratorio, soli, choruses and orchestra, op. 65 (1966-68, incomplete)
Hughreysting (Consolation),  orchestra, op. 66 (1968)

[springrite]

By the way, Baldr will blow a toupee clean off a guy's head, so don't play this work around any bald guys.

It blew mine off and I don't even wear a toupee!

Note to self: Never listen to Leifs on headphone again.

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It blew mine off and I don't even wear a toupee!

Note to self: Never listen to Leifs on headphone again.

I enjoy listening to classical music on headphones, but with Leifs you have to be careful. Those thunderous passages will really put the hurting on the ol' eardrums. Best thing for me is to listen at a moderate volume.

[madaboutmahler]

Oh yes, it's possible. What works have you heard so far, Daniel?

Only two at the moment, John: the Icelandic Overture and Geysir. But just those two themselves were enough to convert me into a massive Leifs fan! Very excited to hear more, I'll listen to some more of the links you posted on my facebook this evening, and will hopefully buy the Geysir cd very soon.

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Only two at the moment, John: the Icelandic Overture and Geysir. But just those two themselves were enough to convert me into a massive Leifs fan! Very excited to hear more, I'll listen to some more of the links you posted on my facebook this evening, and will hopefully buy the Geysir cd very soon.

Great to hear, Daniel! Have you spent your Christmas money yet? That "Geysir" recording on BIS is fantastic, but all of them are.

[madaboutmahler]

Great to hear, Daniel! Have you spent your Christmas money yet? That "Geysir" recording on BIS is fantastic, but all of them are.

Thank you, John!
No, not yet. Will definitely get the Geysir disc, and then either the Liadov or Bavouzet Ravel PCs. Whichever other one I'll put straight on the birthday list

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Thank you, John!
No, not yet. Will definitely get the Geysir disc, and then either the Liadov or Bavouzet Ravel PCs. Whichever other one I'll put straight on the birthday list

Great! Here are the contents of the Geysir BIS recording:

1.   Geysir, Op.51 (1961) Prelude for orchestra   9'46

Trilogia piccola, Op.1
  2.   I. Praeludium (1920-1922)   5'05
  3.   II. Intermezzo (1919-1923)   4'15
  4.   III. Finale (1920-1924)   2'12

Trois peintures abstraites, Op.44 (1955)
  5.   I. Fegurd himinsins   3'21
  6.   II. Vixlspor   0'54
  7.   III. Klettar   1'32

Icelandic Folk Dances, Op.11 (1929/31)
  8.   I. Allegretto   4'06
  9.   II. Tempo giusto   3'07
  10.   III. Allegro moderato ed energico   3'13
  11.   IV. Allegro Vivace   1'46

  12.   Overture to 'Loftr', Op.10 (1927)   7'33

  13.   Consolation, Intermezzo for string orchestra, Op.66 (1968)   6'20

Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä, conductor

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Daniel, did you listen to any Leifs today?

Edit: I see you listened to Geysir again. Wait until you hear Hekla, Hafis, and Dettifoss. As an old saying goes, you haven't heard nothing yet.

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The Leifs series on BIS:







The only one I don't own is the recording of the solo piano music, which is very expensive.

Daniel, just in case you missed this post. Recent news: I received Edda Part 1: The Creation of the World today. Really looking forward to digging into that one. I'm still waiting on the Voices and Orchestra recording.

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I've been enjoying Edda: The Creation of the World. Stylistically, it's not a world away from Baldr, but while Baldr is more primitive, Edda has many more ethereal, transcendent moments in the work. I wouldn't say it's an immediate success, but I have no qualms with it right now. Performances are exemplary.

[madaboutmahler]

Daniel, did you listen to any Leifs today?

Edit: I see you listened to Geysir again. Wait until you hear Hekla, Hafis, and Dettifoss. As an old saying goes, you haven't heard nothing yet.

Hi John, think I might listen to Hekla today, sounds thrilling!

[The new erato]

I have this, bought back in the days before the BIS series started.

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Hi John, think I might listen to Hekla today, sounds thrilling!

Excellent, please share your thoughts here, Daniel.

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I have this, bought back in the days before the BIS series started.

How is this recording, erato?

[The new erato]

Very good both sonically and in other ways. I've never found a reason to search out the BIS version (even though owning a few other of their Leifs discs). And I'm not saying this to win a bet..... 

[Cato]

YouTube offers nice introductions to a good number of works by Leifs:

http://www.youtube.com/v/Rx3fBqm3nBc

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Very good both sonically and in other ways. I've never found a reason to search out the BIS version (even though owning a few other of their Leifs discs). And I'm not saying this to win a bet..... 

Thanks. Yeah, I probably won't search out an alternative performance to Baldr. I'm quite content with the BIS recording.

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YouTube offers nice introductions to a good number of works by Leifs:

http://www.youtube.com/v/Rx3fBqm3nBc

Being able to sample a lot of music for free is definitely an advantage of YouTube. They do have many Leifs works on there.