Sigvaldi Kaldalóns

Sigvaldi Kaldalóns (Stefánsson) (13 January 1881 – 28 July 1946)[1] was an Icelandic composer and doctor.[2] Unlike the avant-garde composers of his day, he wrote in a traditional romantic style and composed many of Iceland's most famous and widely performed songs, many of which are now wrongly assumed to be folk songs.[3] His particular skill was in capturing the spirit of poems in his melodies,[4] making him Iceland's foremost lyric composer.[5]

Sigvaldi Kaldalóns
Born	13 January 1881 Westfjords, Iceland
Died	28 July 1946
Relatives	Eggert Stefánsson

Life

He was born in Garðastræti, Vaktarabær in the Grjóta neighbourhood of Reykjavik,[6] the son of Stefán Egilsson, a mason, and Sesselju Sigvaldadóttir, a midwife.[7] He attended Lærðu School, matriculating in 1902 and then gained a diploma in medicine in 1908 from the medical school in Reykjavik.[7] He then travelled to Denmark, where he graduated in Copenhagen.[7] On 16 September 1909 he married Karen Margrethe Thomsen (née Mengel), a Danish nurse.[8]

Works

Kaldalóns wrote about 350 songs. Among his most famous compositions are:

• Ísland ögrum skorið (Iceland Deeply Carved) to a poem by Eggert Ólafsson[9] (performance available on YouTube)
• Á Sprengisandi (Ride Hard Across the Sands) to a poem by Grímur Thomsen[9] (performance available on YouTube)
• Suðurnesjamenn (performance available on YouTube)
• Svanasöngur á heiði (performance available on YouTube)
• Heimir (performance available on YouTube)
• Erla, góða Erla
• Ave María
• Draumur hjarðsveinsins
• Þú eina hjartans yndið mitt og Ég lít í anda liðna tíð

References

1. "Sigvaldi Kaldalóns - Concerts, Biography & News - BBC Music". BBC. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
2. Review, Iceland (2006-11-10). "Icelandic folk song concert". Iceland Review. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
3. "Iceland Music Information Centre - Originators - Sigvaldi S. Kaldalóns". shop.mic.is. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
4. Júlíana Rún Indriðadóttir (26 September 2016). "A Journey through the history of Icelandic traditional and classical music" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-06-07.
5. Guðbergur Bergsson. "Grindavík By The Golden Sea" (PDF). Icelandair Stopover, Winter 2018: 44. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
6. "Tónlistarsaga Reykjavíkur: III Tímabilið 1900 – 1930: Sigvaldi Kaldalóns". musik.is. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
7. "Menningar-Staður Merkir Íslendingar - Sigvaldi Kaldalóns". menningarstadur.123.is. 2018-01-13. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
8. J. M. Eggerisson (1921). "Sigvaldi St. Kaldalóns, læknir". Óðinn. p. 89. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
9. Frederick Key Smith (2002). Nordic Art Music: From the Middle Ages to the Third Millennium. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-275-97399-5.