Hafliði Hallgrímsson
Hafliði Hallgrímsson (born 1941) is an Icelandic composer. He was born in Akureyri, and lived for a time in Bath, England. Hafliði was the principal cellist of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, but left that position in 1983 to pursue a full-time career as a composer. In 2008, he became composer-in-residence of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra (through 2010).[1]
He studied violoncello in Italy with Enrico Mainardi and composition in England with Peter Maxwell Davies and Alan Bush.[2]
In 1970, Hafliði played the (uncredited) cello solo on “Atom Heart Mother” by Pink Floyd.[3] His concerto for violin and string orchestra, Poemi, won the 1986 Nordic Council Music Prize.[4]
Selected compositions
- Verse I for flute and cello (1975)
- Poemi for violin and string orchestra (1983)
- Eight Pieces for wind quintet (1991)
- Intarsia for wind quintet (1992 revision of Eight Pieces for wind quintet)
- Rima for soprano and string orchestra (1994)
- Herma for cello and string orchestra (1995)
- Crucifixion for orchestra (1997)
- Mini-stories, music theatre work (1997)
- Homage to Mondrian seven pieces for piano solo, written for the Indonesian pianist Ananda Sukarlan (1995-2006)
- Passía for mezzo-soprano, tenor, choir and chamber orchestra (2001)[5]
- Die Wält der Zwischenfälle, chamber opera (2003)
- Cello Concerto (2003)
- Dagbókarbrot (Notes from a Diary) for viola and piano, Op. 33 (2005); dedicated to the memory of Anne Frank
- Narratives from the Deep North for symphony orchestra, Op. 41 (2009)
Selected recordings
- Herma; Ombra; Rima - Smekkleysa SMK 38
- Daydreams in Numbers; Jacob’s Ladder; Strönd; Tristia; Verse I - Merlin MRFD 88101
- Four Movements for String Quartet; Offerto; Solitaire; String Quartet No 1 - Eye of the Storm EOS 5004
- Passía. Ondine ODE 1027-2 (2003)
- Cello concerto; Herma. Ondine 1133-2 (2009)
- Choral Works. Schola Cantorum Reykjavík, dir. Hörður Áskelsson (2013)
References
- ^ Hallgrímsson Biography
- ^ Annala, Hannu; Matlik, Heiki (2010-10-07). Handbook of Guitar and Lute Composers. Mel Bay Publications. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-60974-353-6.
Halgrímsson, Haflidi (born 1941), an Icelandic cellist and composer ... studied cello playing in Italy with Enrico Mainardi and composition in England with Peter Maxwell Davies and Alan Bush.
- ^ Blake, Mark (2024). ""Atom Heart Mother's fusion of ordinary and extraordinary sounds gave Pink Floyd their first No.1 album"". Loudersound.com. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Poemi". Wise Music Classical. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ The Nature of Nordic Music Tim Howell · 2019 "They have performed large sacred choral works, including Bach's passions, as well as commissioning a number of large-scale oratorios from contemporary composers, such as Hafliði Hallgrímsson (Passía, 2001), John Speight (the Christmas ... "