Jón Leifs

Jón Leifs (1934)

Jón Leifs (born May 1, 1899 in Sólheimar ( Austur-Húnavatnssýsla ), † July 30, 1968 in Reykjavík ) was an Icelandic composer and conductor.

Life

Training in Leipzig

In 1916 Leifs followed two compatriots to the Royal Conservatory of Music in Leipzig . He had piano lessons from the piano teacher Robert Teichmüller and composition lessons from Paul Graener . At Teichmüller he met his future wife, the pianist Annie Riethof . In 1921 Jón Leifs finished the Conservatory with good grades. He gave up the pianist career soon after the final exam.

Leifs took conducting lessons from Hermann Scherchen , Aladár Szendrei and Otto Lohse and wanted to devote himself primarily to composing. He saw it as his life's task to give Iceland its own musical identity. He began to look:

“[...] I was trying to find an answer to the pressing question of whether we in Iceland, as in other countries, had any material that could be renewed and used as a starting point for new music; a spark that could light the fire. Then the world of folk songs was revealed to me and I felt that I had found the laws I had been looking for. "

It found its sources in the medieval Zwiegesänge (Tvísöngur) and the powerfully marked metric of the Rímur chants of the people.

Conductor and folk song collector

He was very successful as a conductor in Germany, Czechoslovakia and the Nordic countries in the 1920s. In the spring of 1926 he went on a tour with the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra to Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland. His compatriots could hear an orchestra for the first time. He also wrote numerous articles in various newspapers on Nordic folk music, orchestral conducting, interpretations of classical music, composers and conductors. He also wrote numerous concert reviews.

With the support of the Icelandic Cultural Council and the Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft, Leifs undertook a trip to western and north-western Iceland in autumn 1928 for the phonogram archive of the Berlin University of Music under Erich von Hornbostel in order to record the Icelandic folk songs phonographically. These recordings were then subjected to scientific research by Hornbostel and the results were published. These recordings are still available today and are used for scientific purposes. As early as 1925 he had collected folk songs in the country.

In February 1935 he was offered the post of musical director of the Icelandic State Radio, whereupon he returned to Iceland, while his family stayed in Rehbrücke near Berlin. In his free time he composed the first part of his oratorio Edda.

Return to Germany and departure to Sweden

In 1939 he returned to Germany. Leifs was married to the Jewish pianist Annie Riethof, with whom he had daughters Snót and Líf. They lived in Rehbrücke near Berlin, in Wernigerode and temporarily in Baden-Baden . His private situation became more and more tense, as there were hardly any conducting and his works were rarely performed. In 1944 he and his family were allowed to leave for Sweden. There he divorced his wife in 1945.

Return to Iceland

Leaving his family behind, Jón Leifs returned to Iceland in July 1945. There he founded the Icelandic Composers' Association and in January 1948 the Icelandic Music Bureau STEF, the Icelandic Copyright Society, of which he was also president. In July 1947 his youngest daughter Líf drowned off the Swedish coast. In her memory he wrote his little a cappella Requiem op.33b , a piece that touches in its simplicity and depth. He also dedicated his second string quartet "Vita et mors" to her. A second marriage to a Swedish woman, for which he briefly returned to Sweden, did not last long.

Organizational and musical activities

Back in Iceland, there were many opportunities for him to bring the country's culture to the world. He was supported in this u. a. by the writers Halldór Laxness and Gunnar Gunnarsson. Leifs arranged the first music exhibition in Iceland and in 1947 joined the Bern Union, an international treaty for the international protection of works of literature and art. At his suggestion, Iceland was accepted into the Nordic Composers 'Council and the International Union of Authors' Rights in Buenos Aires in 1948. With a kind of cultural diplomat from his homeland, his works have now also been performed at the Nordic biennials. In 1950 the Saga Symphony op.26 was premiered at the Nordic Music Days in Helsinki and received cold rejection. In 1952, also during the Nordic Music Days, selected movements from the oratorio Edda I were premiered in Copenhagen . But the audience reacted negatively and Leifs was deeply hurt. In 1959 he married Þorbjörg Jóhannsdóttir Möller. His son Leifur was born in 1957.

Late creative years

Jón Leifs burial place in Fossvogsgarður cemetery in Reykjavík

This marriage seemed to have revived his productivity after long creative pauses in the 1950s that followed the failures. He had given up hope of being understood in his lifetime. Leifs spent his remaining years composing almost hectically. Nevertheless, this last phase of his life marked his most outstanding artistic period. Leif's late maturity is marked by a further radicalization of his style, which he freed from all superfluous ornamentation and supple polyphony. His clay poems Geysir , Dettifoss , Hafís and Hekla were created . The first performance of the tone poem Hekla op.52 took place on October 2, 1964 in Helsinki on the occasion of a meeting of the Council of Nordic Composers. It was there that Jón Leifs experienced his last public humiliation: the audience was confused, the critics indignant. Nevertheless, he continued to write several works based on Edda texts for voice with orchestra and in 1966 finished the second part of the Edda oratorio . There are also several orchestral pieces among them. a. Fine I and II , the Scherzo concreto and Víkingasvar . In 1968 he was still working on the third part of the Edda. In the spring of 1968 he was treated for lung cancer at the Reykjavík hospital. When Leifs finally felt his end was near, he composed a work for string orchestra. He called it his last greeting to humanity - Consolation, Intermezzo for strings op.66 .

Leifs died on July 30, 1968 and was buried in Fossvogur Cemetery, south of central Reykjavík.

Work and reception

Leifs wrote about his own work:

"My first and last goal in all of my musical work is to be myself, to be honest and genuine, not to let in any outside influence from others, not to be mannered, not to have a last resort in terms of ability and style [...]"

His text-based compositions are based on poems by Icelandic poets such as Jónas Hallgrímsson , Einar Benediktsson , Jóhann Jónsson , Þorsteinn Erlingsson and others. a. Halldór Laxness is the author only once . Texts from the sagas and especially the Edda are primarily used. Among the orchestral works, works that depict Icelandic forces of nature such as Geysir , Dettifoss , Hafís ( drift ice ) and Hekla stand out . In his play Hekla, for example, he describes a volcanic eruption that he himself experienced in 1947. In the text accompanying a CD release it says: "The loudest piece of music, the orchestra musicians demanded earmuffs". In fact, Leifs offers a range of percussion instruments (with 19 percussionists!) That was unparalleled until then. He calls u. a. Iron chains, anvils, large and small stones, sirens, large bells, large wooden hammers, large and small cannons. His instrumentation is sometimes unfamiliar. So in the Saga Symphony z. B. Signs made of iron, wood and leather are mandatory. In several works he occupies up to 6 luras (copies). In his oratorio Edda I , rare instruments such as the ocarina and, probably unique in a classical work until then, a bagpipe are used. The small work Víkingasvar (Eng. Wikings answer) should also be mentioned. In addition to wind instruments, drums, violas and double basses, it also uses 4 saxophones. Until then, it was unique in Leif's work and Nordic music. The three string quartets also have a special place in his work. They are milestones from different phases of the composer's life. Jón Leifs never heard many of his works during his lifetime. This was primarily due to practical performance issues, immense demands on the performers and, last but not least, to the general lack of understanding of his music. The world premieres of his great orchestral works did not begin until the late 1980s (!). Thanks to the Swedish music label BIS Records , many of his works are now available on CD.

Leif's catalog raisonné includes 66 compositions (opus numbers). In addition, 32 works without an opus number, mainly small piano pieces, also a cappella choral works.

The Swedish musicologist Carl-Gunnar Åhlén wrote: "Later, the symphonic poem" Geysir "from 1961 paved the way for Jón Leifs to be unreservedly recognized as Iceland's greatest musical personality, as well as a master of the same artistic rank, integrity and originality like Sibelius and Bartok. "

Movie

Tears of Stone (orig .: Tár úr steini ; English: Tears of Stone ); Iceland / Sweden / Germany 1995; Direction: Hilmar Oddsson, script: Hjálmar H. Ragnarsson, Sveinbjörn I. Baldvinsson, Hilmar Oddsson, actors: Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson , Ruth Ólafsdóttir, Heinz Bennent , Ulrich Tukur , Bergþóra Aradóttir u. a. This film describes Leifs' life phase during the time of National Socialism in Germany from the early 1930s until he left with his family for Sweden. There he is mainly portrayed as a victim of the National Socialist cultural policy.

Works (selection)

Orchestral works

• Trilogia piccola op. 1, 1920-22
• Loftr-Suite op.6a
• Organ concert op.7, 1930
• Variazioni pastorale on a Beethoven theme, op.8, 1930
• Iceland Overture, with mixed choir op.9, 1926
• Icelandic Folk Dances op. 11, 1929–31
• Saga Symphony op.26, 1941
• Landsicht Overture, with male choir, op. 41, 1955
• Three pictures op.44, 1955
• Geysir, Prelude for orchestra op.51, 1961
• Hekla, with mixed choir op.52, 1961
• Fine I op. 55, 1963
• Dettifoss, with baritone and mixed choir op.57, 1964
• Hafís, with mixed choir op.63, 1965

Others

• Reminiscence du Nord, for string orchestra op.40, 1952
• Elegy, "In memoriam September 30, 1961", for string orchestra op. 61, 1961
• Víkingasvar, Intermezzo for winds, percussion, violas and double basses (with 4 saxophones) op.54, 1962
• Fine II for vibraphone and string orchestra op.56, 1963
• Consolation, Intermezzo for string orchestra op.66, 1968

Vocal music

• Iceland cantata, for mixed choir and orchestra, op. 13, 1929–30
• Lied der Gudrun, for mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass and orchestra op. 22, 1940
• Requiem for mixed choir a cappella op.33b, 1949
• Baldr, choreographic drama in 2 acts for tenor, speaker, mixed choir and orchestra op. 34, 1943–47
• Spring song for mixed choir and orchestra op.46, 1958
• In memoriam Jónas Hallgrímsson, for mixed choir and orchestra op.48, 1961
• Nacht, for tenor, baritone and small orchestra op.59, 1964
• The ballad of Helgi, the dog murderer, for alto, tenor and small orchestra, Op. 61, 1964
• Groas Zauber, for alto, tenor and orchestra op.62, 1965

Oratorio

• Edda I for tenor, bass, mixed choir and orchestra op. 20, 1935–40
• Edda II for mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass, mixed choir and orchestra op.42, 1966
• Edda III for mixed choir and orchestra op. 65, 1964–68, unfinished

• Other choral works a cappella or with various accompaniments
• Numerous songs for various solo voices, especially with piano accompaniment

Chamber music

• Quintet for flute, clarinet, bassoon, viola and violoncello op.50, 1960
• Scherzo concreto for piccolo, flute, oboe, english horn, clarinet, bassoon, trombone, tuba, viola and violoncello op.58, 1964
• Tower Glockenspiel on a theme from Beethoven's 9th Symphony, for Glockenspiel o.op., 1958

String quartet

• String quartet No. 1 "Mors et vita" op. 21, 1939
• String quartet No. 2 "Vita et mors" op. 36, 1951
• String quartet No. 3 "El Greco" op. 64, 1965

Piano music

• Torrek op. 1 No. 2, 1919
• Four pieces op. 2, 1922
• Icelandic Folk Dances op. 11, 1929–31
• New Icelandic Dances op.14b, 1931
• Song of the Boy, Op. 49, 1960
• Reverie o.op.
• Iceland ballad o.op., 1922
• Iceland Scherzo o.op., 1922
• Various smaller pieces mainly from the 1920-30s

swell

• Jón Leifs: Composer i motvind. Carl-Gunnar Åhlén, Atlantis, Sweden 2002, biography.
• Örn Magnússon: Booklet text, CD Jón Leifs - The complete Piano Music. 1994, BIS CD-692.
• Arni Heimir Ingolfsson: Booklet-Text, CD Jón Leifs - Edda Part I. 2007, BIS SACD-1350.
• Arni Heimir Ingolfsson: Booklet-Text, CD Jón Leifs - Hekla and other Orchestral Works , 1999, BIS CD-1030
• Hjalmar H. Ragnarsson: Booklet-Text, CD Jón Leifs - Geysir and other Orchestral Works , 1996, BIS CD-830.
• Carl-Gunnar Åhlén, booklet text, CD Jón Leifs - The Three String Quartet. 1994, BIS CD-691.
• Jón Leifs: Icelandic Folk Songs - Third Report, Messages from Friends of Iceland. Jena, 1931.
• Roland Thimme: Jón Leifs, an Icelandic composer in Potsdam . In: Mitteilungen der Studiengemeinschaft Sanssouci eV, Potsdam 2009, pp. 139ff.

literature

• Árni Heimir Ingólfsson: Jón Leifs and the musical invention of Iceland , Indiana University Press, Bloomington 2019, ISBN 978-0-253-04405-1 .

Web links

• Works by and about Jón Leifs in the catalog of the German National Library
• Comprehensive articles on life and work
• Icelandic Music Information Center
• Nordic music

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://servefir.ruv.is/jonleifs/aevi.html
2. ↑ Annie ( Icelandic ) In: Vefurinn to Jón Leifs . Ríkisútvarpið and Íslensk tónverkamiðstöð. 1999. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
3. ↑ Arni Heimir Ingolfsson: Booklet-Text, CD Jón Leif - Hekla and Other Orchestral Works , 1999, BIS CD-1030
4. ↑ Jón Leifs: Icelandic Folk Songs - Third Report. In: Messages from friends of Iceland. Jena, Jg. 29, 1931, H. 1, pp. 2-12. ( Digitized version ).
5. ↑ Grave site: K-45-0071
6. ↑ Jón Leifs: How I Compose Music. Unpublished article, 1960.
7. ^ Carl-Gunnar Åhlén, booklet text, CD Jón Leifs - The Three String Quartet. 1994, BIS CD-691.
8. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117868

Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .