Markéta Irglová

Markéta Irglová () (born 28 February 1988) is a Czech-Icelandic singer-songwriter, musician and actress, who starred in the film ''Once'', which earned her a number of major awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Falling Slowly", with co-writer and co-star Glen Hansard.

Early life

Irglová began taking piano lessons at age 7 and began playing the guitar at age 8.

Career

Irglová is a member of the band The Swell Season with Glen Hansard. The band released its eponymous album on Overcoat Recordings in 2006. In 2007, Irglová co-starred in the indie film ''Once''. Irglová co-wrote many of the songs for the film including "Falling Slowly", which received an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The film won the World Cinema Audience Award for a dramatic film at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Irglová appeared on the 2007 ''I'm Not There'' soundtrack with the Swell Season's version of Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere".

While accepting the Academy Award she and Hansard were played off before she could begin her acceptance speech. Later in the evening comedian Jon Stewart stopped the show to bring her back on stage to complete her speech. She ended it by wishing "fair play to those who dare to dream."

The 2012 Broadway stage adaption of Once (musical) won eight Tony awards and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

In 2022, Irglová was announced as one of the participants in '' Söngvakeppnin 2022'', the Icelandic national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, where she is competing with the song "Mögulegt" / "Possible".

In March 2022, Irglová, as part of The Swell Season, embarked on a six-city US tour.

Personal life

Irglová met Glen Hansard in 2001 when she was 13 years old. Her parents organized a music festival in the Czech Republic and booked The Frames. Hansard played a large part not only in her development as an artist and songwriter but also in launching her career. Although they met years earlier, her romantic relationship with Hansard began during the making of the film ''Once'' and ended in 2009.

In 2012, Irglová moved to Reykjavík, Iceland where she met Icelandic music producer Sturla Míó Þórisson (Sturla Mio Thorisson) while recording her first solo album, Anar. They later married and now have three children together. Irglová speaks fluent Icelandic and is a dual citizen of the Czech Republic and Iceland.

Discography

With The Swell Season (2006-2009)

*''The Swell Season'' (2006)
* ''Once'' (Soundtrack) (2007)
*'' Strict Joy'' (2009)

Solo

''Anar'' (2011)

Irglova's first full-length solo album was titled '' Anar''. Citing references ranging from Otis Redding, to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, to the soundtrack from Jesus Christ Super Star, Irglova pulled from numerous influences to create a delicate balance of ethereal vocals and expanding instrumentals on her 12-track debut, including the R&B influenced “Go Back” and heart-felt song “Crossroads.” Cover illustration by Nahid Hagigat.

''MUNA'' (2014)

''Muna'' is an album that takes the Oscar-winning singer’s music further into the realm of the ethereal. If her debut ANAR explored the dynamic of intimate personal relationships, the new record is a document of spiritual searching. Written over the course of a year, and recorded in six months with producer/engineer Sturla Mio Thorisson, it utilises full choral, string and percussion sections, plus guests Rob Bochnik (The Frames), Iranian daf player and vocalist Aida Shahghasemi, and Marketa’s own sister Zuzi on backing vocals. All told, the album’s cast-list runs to some 27 players.

Muna means “to remember” in Icelandic. Remembering that which has been forgotten is a recurring theme throughout this record. “I had been to Iceland for the first time with the Swell Season,” Marketa says. “I fell in love with it then and was sad to leave, although I knew someday something would bring me back. I am inspired by the open space, the wilderness of the nature, the strong energy coming from the land. There is a harmony, a balance, something that allows for a freer flow of creativity. It is easier to be one with oneself and one with everything and everyone around. This makes for better art, in my opinion.”

In keeping with the choral textures, MUNA is an album of saints, angels and psalms (the Lord’s Prayer makes an appearance in ‘Without A Map’). The songs were, admits Marketa, partly inspired by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s and Tim Rice’s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.

Overall, MUNA’s musical and lyrical themes take solace from the smallness of individual concerns when contrasted with the scale of the universe. It is the result, Marketa says, of a process of growing up, of “going through difficult times and getting lost and feeling left alone to find my way back. Turning to something – or someone – bigger than me to make some sense of things that did not make sense at all. Feeling encouraged to zoom out and widen the lens through which I look at the world – from personal to worldwide to eventually universal. It is much easier to feel victimized when living in the micro-cosmos of our personal dramas. But once we open our minds to the macro-cosmos that we are part of, the issues that seemed so big start to seem small, and that is the beginning of us rising above them and changing our lives for the better.”

Cover illustration by Nahid Hagigat.

''LILA'' (2022)

''Lila''
is the third in a trilogy of solo albums, presenting a dreamlike collection of songs on the theme of Love, in all its guises: False love. Vulnerable love. Imagined love. Filial love. Childlike love. Parental love. Sensual love. Young love. Past love. True love. Purest love. Confusing love. Romantic love. Unitive love. Eternal love.

With its confessional-like nature, the record offers insight into Irglova’s journey and how she has managed to find balance in her career as an artist, wife and mother, while embracing the full paradox of love, which softens even as it provides strength.

The central premise of LILA’s nine-song journey is one of LOVE. It finds Irglova living her dream life offering insight into the healing power of love and being at peace with that which you cannot control. As Irglova states: “Simply sitting with things I can’t change, rather than trying to solve them or run away from them, has brought me into a deeper place in my heart and I am grateful for that.”

The record comes after a 8 year long hiatus, during which Irglova married, had three children, and built a studio, all while working on music near constantly in the intermitting years.

Films

*''Once'' (2007)
*''The Swell Season'' (2011)
*''Home Is Here'' (2016)

Television

''Live from the Artists Den: The Swell Season'' (Season 1, Episode 8, 28 Feb. 2008)
*''The Simpsons'' episode "In the Name of the Grandfather" (2009)

Awards and nominations

Awards

* Academy Award 2008 Achievement in Music Written for a Motion Picture (Original Song) – "Falling Slowly" from ''Once''
* Critics' Choice Award 2008 Best Original Song – "Falling Slowly" from ''Once''
* Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award 2008 Best Original Score – for ''Once''

Nominations

* Grammy Award 2008 (50th Annual Grammy Awards) Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media – "Falling Slowly" from ''Once''
* Grammy Award 2008 (50th Annual Grammy Awards) Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media – ''Once''

Footnotes

External links

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Spotify

Bandcamp

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irglova, Marketa
1988 births
21st-century Czech actresses
21st-century Czech women singers
21st-century Icelandic actresses
21st-century Icelandic women singers
Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters
Czech emigrants to Iceland
Czech film actresses
Czech folk singers
Czech rock musicians
Czech singer-songwriters
Drama Desk Award winners
Icelandic film actresses
Icelandic folk singers
Icelandic rock singers
Icelandic singer-songwriters
Laurence Olivier Award winners
Living people
Naturalised citizens of Iceland
People from Valašské Meziříčí
The Swell Season members