Sigvaldi Kaldalóns

Sigvaldi Kaldalóns (Stefánsson) (13 January 1881 – 28 July 1946)^[1] was an Icelandic composer and doctor.^[2] Unlike the avant-garde composers of his day, he wrote in a traditional romantic style and composed many of Iceland's most famous and widely performed songs, many of which are now wrongly assumed to be folk songs.^[3] His particular skill was in capturing the spirit of poems in his melodies,^[4] making him Iceland's foremost lyric composer.^[5] Since the end of 2016, his works have entered the public domain in Iceland.

Sigvaldi Kaldalóns

Life

He was born in Garðastræti, Vaktarabær in the Grjóti neighbourhood of Reykjavík,^[6] the son of Stefán Egilsson, a mason, and Sesselja Sigvaldadóttir, a midwife.^[7] He attended the Reykjavík Latin School, matriculating in 1902 and gained a diploma in medicine in 1908 from the medical school in Reykjavík.^[7] He then travelled to Denmark, where he graduated in Copenhagen.^[7] On 16 September 1909 he married Karen Margrethe Thomsen (née Mengel), a Danish nurse.^[8]

Works

Kaldalóns wrote about 350 songs. Among his best-known compositions are:

• Ave María, to a poem by Indriði Einarsson (instrumental performance by Víkingur Ólafsson available on YouTube)
• Ísland ögrum skorið (Iceland Deeply Carved) to a poem by Eggert Ólafsson^[9] (performance available on YouTube)
• Á Sprengisandi (Ride Hard Across the Sands) to a poem by Grímur Thomsen^[9] (performance available on YouTube)
• Suðurnesjamenn (performance available on YouTube)
• Svanasöngur á heiði (performance available on YouTube)
• Heimir (performance available on YouTube)
• Erla, góða Erla
• Draumur hjarðsveinsins
• Þú eina hjartans yndið mitt
• Ég lít í anda liðna tíð