An Introduction to Icelandic Classical Music

For its relatively small size – not even 40,000 square kilometers, and a population estimated at around 360,000 – Iceland has had a significant impact on the music world. Björk and Sigur Rós are probably the first names that come to mind. But along with its rock scene, Iceland also is home to a large number of folk, electronic, and metal musicians. Its classical music, too, is remarkably diverse and fascinating.

The earliest Icelandic folk music probably dates from the fourteenth century. Because of its isolation from the rest of the world, foreign influences on the music were pretty much absent for a long time. Some of the earliest influences from outside came from Danish settlers, who brought traditional dances like the waltz and polka. The European classical tradition was a late arrival, only emerging in the middle and late nineteenth century.

Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson, recognized as the first professional Icelandic composer, received training in Europe under Johan Svendsen and Carl Reinecke, and actually ended up living in Scotland. Sveinbjörnsson is largely remembered today as the composer of Iceland’s national anthem, “Lofsöngur,” which he wrote in 1874 for the one thousandth anniversary of the settlement of Iceland. He also made many arrangements of Icelandic folk songs.

The first orchestral concert in Iceland took place in 1921 as part of the ceremonies around a visit by King Christian X of Denmark, then also the reigning monarch of Iceland. The group that performed was dubbed the The Reykjavík Orchestra (Hljómsveit Reykjavíkur). In conjunction with, and supported by, the creation in 1930 of the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service and the Reykjavik College of Music, the orchestra continued performing in subsequent decades, eventually morphing into the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in 1950. The Iceland Symphony continues to perform a full annual series of concerts, and tours and records frequently. The Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra and the chamber ensemble Nordic Affect have also become familiar to audiences in Iceland and beyond.