Further Information

We would be very grateful if you could support the publication of the CD Atli Heimir Sveinsson - songs with guitar, where we perform beautiful art songs by Sveinsson in new arrangements for voice and classical guitar. The CD is accompanied by a brochure with all the poems.

Where poetry takes flight

We hope that this CD may spread even more the wonderful art song heritage left by the talented Icelandic composer Atli Heimir Sveinsson (1938-2019) and make it accessible to the general public in new arrangement for voice and one or two classical guitars.

Atli Heimir is undoubtedly one of Iceland's leading composers in creating memorable songs where the poetry takes flight. He had a special way of giving the text life in beautiful melodies that serve the poem. When Francisco Javier Jáuregui got to know Atli Heimir's songs, he admired Atli Heimir's ability to create memorable and recognizable melodies, which could even stand alone and go extremely well with guitar accompaniment. Before Atli Heimir died, he encouraged Francisco Javier to arrange for voice and classical guitar songs that Atli had originally composed for voice and piano. This CD is the harvest of that work. This recording offers the world première of all of the songs in these new arrangements.

Most of the songs are arranged for voice and one guitar, but in some of the songs it was clear that they would sound even better with two guitars. As Chopin is supposed to have said: "There is nothing more beautiful than a guitar, except maybe two". It was a great fortune that guitarist Pétur Jónasson should have joined the group in a few songs and thus enriched the album with his artistry and insight. Atli Heimir wrote his main guitar works especially for Pétur, and they developed a close friendship through their collaboration.

The CD is accompanied by a booklet where you can read all the poems that can be heard on the CD. In this way, we hope that the listening experience will be even deeper, where poetry and music merge into one.

Plan

Arranging - completed
Recording - completed
Mix & Master - completed
Design - completed
Print - in progress
Send the CDs to Iceland - uncompleted
Publish - uncompleted
Ship rewards! - uncompleted

Why crowdfunding?

We have already received grants from the Cultural Fund of Icelandic Musicians (FÍH), the Publishing Fund of Icelandic Classical Musicians (FÍT), which helped with the recording costs, as well as grants from the Icelandic Artist Salary Fund, which covered our work (Gudrun and Javier). But we are still a little short of funding to be able to pay guitarist Pétur Jónasson, the designer Will Brady, print the CDs and brochures and have them sent to Iceland. That's where your support is crucial!

We would be so grateful for your support.

Best wishes, Gudrun and Javier.

About the performers

The Icelandic mezzo-soprano Gudrún Ólafsdóttir has performed across Europe and in the USA, Latin America and Africa in such halls as Bozar’s Henry le Boeuf Hall in Brussels, Auditorio Nacional de Música and Teatro Real in Madrid, and the Royal Festival Hall in London. She has performed with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra, the Community of Madrid Orchestra, the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. She has sung in baroque, classical, bel canto and contemporary operas in Spain, the UK and Iceland. A member of Sonor Ensemble and Trio Aglaia, Gudrún forms Duo Atlantico with her husband, the classical guitarist and composer Francisco Javier Jáuregui, with whom she performs extensively. They are the founders and artistic directors of the annual Hafnarborg Songfest in Iceland. Gudrún first studied voice in Reykjavík, then graduated from the Guildhall School of Music in Drama in London with a Master of Music in Performance and subsequently finished the Opera Course. Gudrun has made recordings for 17 albums as well as for radio and TV, films and series. A versatile recitalist and an exponent of new music, Gudrun has offered world premières of two opera roles and numerous chamber music works by a number of composers of different nationalities, who often have composed their works especially for her. www.gudrunolafsdottir.com

Born in Oxford, Spanish guitarist Francisco Javier Jáuregui studied classical guitar in Los Angeles, California, in Madrid, and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where he graduated with a Master of Music degree. Francisco Javier has played many recitals both as a solo performer and with different chamber combinations in Europe, USA, Africa and South-East Asia in venues such as the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Society Chamber (Glinka) Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Linbury Studio Theatre (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), and the Auditorio Nacional de Música de Madrid. Francisco Javier works regularly with Icelandic mezzo-soprano Gudrún Ólafsdóttir and since 1997 he has performed with violinist Elena Jáuregui as the Roncesvalles Duo. A large part of the music that Francisco Javier performs is music that he has arranged or composed himself. He has also written a number of arrangements and original compositions for various chamber groups including Spanish chamber group Sonor Ensemble. www.javierjauregui.com

Pétur Jónasson studied classical guitar in his native Iceland, Mexico and Spain. While studying, he was awarded the Sonning award for young Nordic musicians and was later one of only twelve guitarists selected to perform for Andrés Segovia at the historic Segovia Master Classes in Los Angeles. His debut performances in Mexico City, Reykjavík and the Wigmore Hall were highly acclaimed. Pétur has since given numerous solo performances in all the Nordic countries, Great Britain, Continental Europe, North America, Australasia and the Far East. His CDs include a number of works written especially for him. He has also been artistic director of various international contemporary music festivals, including Nordic Music Days and Dark Music Days. His doctoral studies at the Royal College of Music’s Centre for Performance Science focused on the effect of complexity on visual attention and visual working memory processes. Pétur has recently been appointed Head of Music at the Iceland University of the Arts. www.peturjonasson.com

Atli Heimir Sveinsson (1938 - 2019)

Atli Heimir Sveinsson was born in Reykjavík in 1938. Music was part of daily life in his family home, and he started taking lessons at the age of nine. He went on to study with Günther Raphael, Bernd Alois Zimmermann and Gottfried Michael König at the Cologne Music University, and graduated in composition and theory in 1963. Atli completed further studies with a number of well-known musical figures before moving back to Iceland. He has made significant contributions to Icelandic musical life in many fields. He taught composition at the Reykjavík College of Music and presented a popular music program on national radio. From 1972 to 1983 he was chairman of the Society of Icelandic Composers and sat on the boards of several arts associations.

Atli organised two major events in Reykjavík in the 1970s: the Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music in 1973 and Nordic Music Days three years later. These events were a turning point in Icelandic musical life, creating new links with many other countries. In 1980, Atli established the Myrka músíkdaga Festival of Music (Dark Music Days), which is held on the shortest day of the year and provides a platform for Icelandic composers both young and old.

Atli became the first Icelander to win the Nordic Council’s award for composition for his flute concerto written in 1976. He was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 1993. He has lectured in many universities in Scandinavia, Germany and the USA. In 2002-03 he was Visiting Professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He was appointed Composer in Residence for the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra in 2004.

Atli wrote a wide range of works, including four symphonies, nine concertos, five operas and a large number of chamber pieces. His works have been performed all around the world. His ballet-oratorio Tíminn og vatnið (Time and Water), with settings of poems by Steinn Steinarr, was performed at the Reykjavík Arts Festival in 1997, and the musical Land míns föður has been staged 218 times. Atli also wrote music for the theatre and composed many songs that have been become part of Icelandic musical culture.

Atli received an honorary stipend from the Icelandic Parliament.



Photo of Atli Heimir Sveinsson by Ólafur H. Torfason