Björgvin Guðmundsson (16 April 1891 – 4 January 1961) was an Icelandic composer. He was born at Rjúpnafell,

Vopnafjörður Vopnafjörður (, meaning ''weapon fjord'') is a village and municipality in Northeast Iceland, standing on a peninsula in the middle of a mountainous bay by the same name. The main industries of Vopnafjörður are fish processing, agriculture an ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, where he grew up. In Vopnafjörður he showed inclination for music, and in his twenties Björgvin moved with his family to the Icelandic colonies in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, where he stayed until 1926. In 1923 Björgvin married Hólmfríður Frímann, a Canadian-born woman of Icelandic descent. During this period Björgvin composed the

oratorios An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishabl ...

Strengleikar ''Strengleikar'' (English: ''Stringed Instruments'') is a collection of twenty-one Old Norse prose tales based on the Old French '' Lais'' of Marie de France">The Lais of Marie de France">Lais'' of Marie de France. It is one of the literary works ...

(English: ''Stringed Instruments'') and Friður á jörðu (English: ''Peace on Earth''), in addition to the

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

Adveniat regnum tuum. The cantata was performed in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

in the fall of 1925, after which the

Icelandic Canadian Icelandic Canadians () are Canadian citizens of Icelandic ancestry, or Iceland-born people who reside in Canada. Canada has the largest ethnic Icelandic population outside Iceland, with about 101,795 people of full or partial Icelandic descent ...

population organized to support Björgvin to study

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

in London. Björgvin studied at London's

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

for two years. During that time, Icelandic poet Stephan G. Stephansson sent him his work Þiðrandakviða, to which Björgvin composed one of his greatest works, the oratorio Örlagagátan (English: ''Riddle of Fate''). Björgvin moved back to Winnipeg, where he completed his last major composition in 1929, Íslands þúsund ár (English: ''Iceland's Thousand Years''), a cantata to

Davíð Stefánsson Davíð Stefánsson (21 January 1895 – 1 March 1964) was an Icelandic poet and novelist, best known for his ten volumes of poetry. He was born on 21 January 1895, in Fagriskógur, Eyjafjörður, Iceland and he died on 1 March 1964, in Akureyr ...

's Alþingishátíðarljóð. At this time, Björgvin was offered teaching positions in his native Iceland, at both Akureyri Junior College and

Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...

's primary school. In 1931, Björgvin moved back to Iceland to teach singing in Akureyri. He held his position at ''Akureyri Junior College'' until 1957, when he resigned for health reasons. In Akureyri Björgvin composed numerous songs and minor musical works. He founded a cantata choir, which performed many of his works. Back in Iceland, Björgvin started writing. He wrote articles for journals, the play Skrúðsbóndinn from an Icelandic

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

, and his memoirs. Many of his literary works have never been published. He died in 1961, and was buried in Akureyri. A bust of Björgvin can be found in ''Akureyri Junior College''.

External links

A 1961 obituary in Icelandic
1891 births 1961 deaths Bjorgvin Gudmundsson Bjorgvin Gudmundsson 20th-century composers 20th-century male composers {{iceland-composer-stub