Iceland's Anna Thorvaldsdottir Imagines Fantastical Landscapes

It is simply too simplistic to say that Anna Thorvaldsdottir is “inspired by nature,” as has become the shorthand in describing composers hailing from Iceland. The statement may be nonetheless true, but the nuance involved requires further listening, and it would be more accurate to describe her captivating scores as “imaginative listening to fantastical landscapes.”

Thorvaldsdottir’s music holds the unique distinction of being as compelling in headphones as it is on stage. Vast panoramas are fashioned from primarily traditional instruments and savvy, composer-produced mixes on recordings, and the experience is simultaneously intimate and startlingly immense.

Take In the Light of Air, which has been making the rounds in 2015. An expedient ensemble of viola, cello, harp, piano, and percussion mingle amplified breathing, gripping duets and live lighting cues triggered by the players to create a sphere in which the concert hall evaporates and the listener’s own thoughts are made vulnerable, even unavoidable.

The composer’s catalogue runs deep with these introspective, transportive pieces, such as with her orchestral works Hrim, Dreaming, and AERIALITY, as well as with stunners for small ensemble, like Ró, into - Second Self, and Tactility. 

This shy timbre-conjurer was dealt a hefty dose of limelight when her debut album, "Rhizoma," hijacked Top 10 lists in 2011, and the momentum has yet to abate. That same year, Thorvaldsdottir won a coveted spot on the International Contemporary Ensemble’s ICElab roster (where Into the Light of Air was incubated), and later went on to win a Nordic Council Music Prize in 2012 as well as securing a Miller Theatre portrait concert in 2013 (featuring the Either/Or ensemble).

New York audiences, in particular, are in luck, as this detonating talent has recently been named a New York Philharmonic Kravis Emerging Composer. That her (only) second album was recorded for the Deutsche Grammophon label in 2014 means that new music fans have years of must-listen tracks ahead of them.