Hafliði Hallgrímsson (born 1941) is 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 ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He was born in

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 ...

, and lived for a time in

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, 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 Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

of the

Iceland Symphony Orchestra Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa (concert hall), Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution u ...

(through 2010). He studied violoncello in Italy with Enrico Mainardi and composition in England with

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

and

Alan Bush Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 – 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed prol ...

. In 1970, Hafliði played the (uncredited) cello solo on “

Atom Heart Mother ''Atom Heart Mother'' is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the United Kingdom, and on 10 October 1970 in the United States. It was recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey Roa ...

” by

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

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) ''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 ... " * ''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 Annelies Marie Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – February or March 1945)Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new li ...

* ''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)

References

External links

Haflidi Hallgrímsson's homepage at Chester Music
* * performed by the Winchester College Chapel Choir
Hafliði Hallgrímsson - Glatkistan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallgrimsson, Haflidi Icelandic classical composers Icelandic male musicians Icelandic classical cellists Icelandic expatriates in Scotland 1941 births Living people Players of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Pupils of Peter Maxwell Davies