Jón Leifs: Edda, Part 1- The Creation of the World [Hybrid SACD] [Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import]

Bjarni Thor Kristinsson (Performer), Jon Leifs (Composer), Hermann Bäumer (Conductor), Iceland Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Douglas Brotchie (Performer), Gunnar Gudbjornsson (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Bjarni Thor Kristinsson, Douglas Brotchie, Gunnar Gudbjornsson
• Orchestra: Iceland Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Hermann Bäumer
• Composer: Jon Leifs
• Audio CD (November 27, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import
• Label: Bis
• ASIN: B000XXW9GC
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #321,939 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World, for vocal soloists, chorus & orchestra: 1. Ár var alda (Young Were the Years)

2. Edda, Part 1: The Creation of the World, for vocal soloists, chorus & orchestra: Vetr ok vindr (Winter and Wind)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The premiere of Leifs' largest composition, December 21, 2007

By 

Russ (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Jón Leifs: Edda, Part 1- The Creation of the World [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

I have been waiting for this!

Jón Leifs (1899-1968) was Iceland's first nationalist composer. But more than that, with his angular, irregular accents (derived from the meter of old Icelandic folksong), his colorful orchestration, including ancient bronze horns and rocks (yes, that's right, rocks), and his penchant for everything extreme, Leifs is probably one of the most singular artistic voices of all time.

This release represents the premiere recording (and performance of the complete version) of Part I of Leifs' largest composition, the massive Edda oratorio. The oratorio was conceived in three parts: 'The Creation of the World', 'The Lives of the Gods' and 'Twilight and Resurrection'. The composition of the oratorio preoccupied Leifs throughout his entire artistic career, with the third part remaining incomplete at the time of the composer's death.

Listeners will find all of the hallmarks of Leifs' style in this, the most ambitious of Leifs' compositions. Whether it is the unusual fortissimo two chord motto that unifies the work, the extremes of dynamics and range, the parallel fifths, the constant string tremolos or the unbelievably difficult choral writing, there is no mistaking this music as coming from any other composer. All of these characteristics amalgamate to create a style that is truly primordial. And what style is better suited to depict the battles of giants, the actions of gods and the creation of the earth itself?

Everything here is fantastic: the music, the performance and the engineering. The music is highly varied, ranging from solitary, solemn expanses, portraying the 'Dark World' prior to the creation of the earth (Track 2), to incredibly dense and aggressive fugal sections depicting the shining of the sun (Track 7).

The performance by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Schola Cantorum deserves special mention. To say this is challenging music would be a bit of an understatement. The choral part is particularly demanding, especially the large leaps and frighteningly high notes required of the sopranos. I am not quite sure if anyone can indicate what Leifs precisely conceived in some parts of the oratorio (take the opening of the ninth movement, filled with an array of unusual percussion sounds and exigent writing for those ancient bronze horns, as an example), but I suspect these forces get as close as can be expected.

Fans of Leifs have been waiting for this premiere. And I am happy to report that this release was worth the wait. If you are new to Leifs, this release makes for an excellent introduction. If you liked this release, I also specifically recommend Baldr Op 34, Jón Leifs: Works for Voices and Orchestra or any of the other releases of Leifs' works on the BIS label. Now, I am just eagerly awaiting the release of Part II of the Edda oratorio.

Highest Recommendation!!

TT: 75:39

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astounding, June 1, 2010

By 

G.D. (Norway) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jón Leifs: Edda, Part 1- The Creation of the World [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Leifs counted his cycle of Edda oratorios as his most important works, although he never had the opportunity to hear any of the three oratorios complete (in fact, the third was left unfinished at his death). This disc brings us the first recording of the first of the cycle, The Creation of the World (according to Norse mythology). It is a hugely complex and powerful work that puts well-neigh impossible demands on the performers, and it is certainly to BIS's credit that they manage to come up with a performance as thoroughly convincing as this one.

The music is immediately recognizable as Leifs's (whose musical languages must have been among the most individual of the twentieth century); primordial, granitic and even volcanic power, sequences huge blocks and boulders of sound rumbling and crashing into each other, craggy and wild as the Icelandic landscape but not without its own kind of ethereal beauty and lyricism. In fact, this Edda oratorio is more harmonically and rhythmically varied than many of Leifs's works. It is firmly rooted in Icelandic folk music and very colorfully orchestrated, but this time Leifs provides us with genuinely memorable tunes and wonderfully nuanced and shaded textures. Not as viscerally magnificent as Geysir, perhaps, this is instead and endlessly fascinating, imaginative and evocative work with new, glittering details revealing itself at every turn, and a work that demands to be heard. Even if you don't normally warm to Leifs's mesmerizing music, I urgently recommend acquainting yourself with it (the melodies are for instance not as short-breathed as some of his other works).

The performances are genuinely marvelous; yes, the chorus is sometimes a little strained (the demands put on it are after all inhuman), but overall it is really impressive, and the soloists are uniformly superb. The Iceland Symphony Orchestra under Hermann Bäumer is of course familiar with the idiom but this is still an almost astonishing achievement, realizing a dizzying array colors, wonderfully singing lines above grinding rocks, musical earthquakes and intense fervor. The sonics are spectacular; very strongly recommended.