H e (a) r
H e (a) r
Artist: Nordic Affect
Composers: María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Mirjam Tally, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir
Format: 1 CD + 1 Pure Audio Blu-ray
DSL-92224
Nordic Affect is
Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, violin
Guðrún Hrund Harðardóttir, viola
Hanna Loftsdóttir, cello
Guðrún Óskarsdóttir, harpsichord
H e (a) r performed by Carina Ehrenholm, Angela Rawlings, Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir and Liv Kaastrup Vesterskov.
Icelandic award winning ensemble Nordic Affect has been hailed as ‘multi-disciplinary force of nature’ (A Closer Listen), as gem in Iceland’s music life (Fréttablaðið) and for ‘ineffable synergy between the performers’ (San Francisco Classical Voice). Nordic Affect releases now its third album on the Sono Luminus label. Titled H e (a) r the album features seven world premiere recordings, including a soundscape which lends its title to the album by the group’s artistic director; composer and violinist Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir. The work “H e (a) r” connects to ecology, acoustics and embodiment; drawing on encounters and what happens in the connection.
Many of the instrumental works are a continuation of Nordic Affect’s longstanding collaboration with some of the exciting talent to emerge out of Iceland in recent years, many of which were featured on the 2015, release Clockworking. The title track was chosen for NPR's Songs We Love series and featured in various best-of-the-year lists, including Steve Smith’s for Night After Night, The Chicago Reader, and The New Yorker.
H e (a) r includes:
“Spirals” and “Loom” by María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir. In addition to composing her own music, Ms. Markan Sigfúsdóttir has toured the world with indie band amiina and recorded and collaborated with a range of other bands and artists. Her compositions have been performed in Iceland, Australia, Europe and the US.
A continuation of the solo work “2 Circles”, found on the Clockworking album, is “Point of Departure” by composer, cello player, and singer Hildur Guðnadóttir. Hildur has been manifesting herself at the forefront of experimental pop and contemporary music (e.g. with the band múm). Her output has encompassed four solo albums, and numerous works for theatre, dance performances and films.
H e (a) r also features “Reflections” and "Impressions" by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, a recipient of Lincoln Center’s 2018 Emerging Artist Award and 2018 Martin E. Segal Award. Anna Thorvaldsdottir frequently works with large sonic structures that tend to reveal the presence of a vast variety of sustained sound materials, reflecting her sense of imaginative listening to landscapes and nature.
A new collaboration is presented through “Warm life at the foot of the iceberg” by the Estonian Mirjam Tally. Sound is central to the Estonian MirjamTally’s creations. Her music is a flow of playful contrasts where a sense of humour and poetic use of sound are blended to mix. Her music has been performed in over 20 countries and earned her various accolades, including the 2018 Swedish Manifest prize.
Track List
1. H e (a) r: I (Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir) :18
2. Spirals (María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir) 7:48
3. H e (a) r: II 1:45
4. Warm life at the foot of the iceberg (Mirjam Tally) 8:22
5. H e (a) r: III 0:53
6. Reflections (Anna Thorvaldsdottir) 9:28
7. H e (a) r: IV 1:15
8. Impressions (Anna Thorvaldsdottir) 7:47
9. H e (a) r: V 2:03
10. Point of Departure (Hildur Guðnadóttir) 7:48
11. H e (a) r: VI 1:29
12. Loom (María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir) 8:31
13. H e (a) r: VII 2:50
Total time: 60:26
Release date: October 26, 2018
UPC: 053479222428
Quotes & Reviews
…a beautiful example of old meets new…
Rosa Gollan, New Sounds/WQXR
The playing is consistently excellent, and everything here is well worth hearing.
Rick Anderson, CD Hotlist
…yet another classic album from the quartet.
…truly exquisite.
Jeremy Shatan, AnEarful
I could try to break down my experience of Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir's Spirals and positively hypnotic Loom, Tally's Warm life at the foot of the iceberg—the closest I've ever gotten to the sounds of huge chunks of glacial ice melting, impacting each other, and disintegrating—Thorvaldsdottir's texturally extraordinary and emotionally potent Reflections and Impressions, and Hildur Guonadóttir's droning and dynamic Point of Departure—a miraculous work, really.
Jason Serinus, Stereophile
Many of the instrumental works are a continuation of Nordic Affect’s longstanding collaboration with some of the exciting talent to emerge out of Iceland in recent years, many of which were featured on the 2015, release Clockworking. The title track was chosen for NPR’s Songs We Love series and featured in various best-of-the-year lists, including Steve Smith’s for Night After Night, The Chicago Reader, and The New Yorker.
…I really enjoyed this disc, and it’s a great experience for those looking for new and interesting sonic frontiers.
Mel Martin, Audiophile Audition
Zoë Madonna’s best classical albums of 2018
There exists no single right way to listen to it; like looking at a snowscape, you can focus on the individual flakes of sound or take in the whole vista. This unique quartet’s latest fusion of music and ecology irrigates and invigorates the senses.
Zöe Madonna, The Boston Globe
…dense chords, hazy melodies, and fragmented sounds from an old music box echo and grow into an immersive meditation on time itself.
Maggy Molloy, Second Inversion
Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, Guðrún Hrund Harðardóttir, Hanna Loftsdóttir and Guðrún Óskarsdóttir are to be congratulated once again—they’ve pushed their sound further, and achieved more as a result. As intoned in “He(a)r II,” “the best conversations are still those that play on the variations on that great and ancient theme: I’m here (hear). Where are you?
Richard Allen, A Closer Listen
I could try to break down my experience of Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir's Spirals and positively hypnotic Loom, Tally's Warm life at the foot of the iceberg—the closest I've ever gotten to the sounds of huge chunks of glacial ice melting, impacting each other, and disintegrating—Thorvaldsdottir's texturally extraordinary and emotionally potent Reflections and Impressions, and Hildur Guonadóttir's droning and dynamic Point of Departure—a miraculous work, really. But that would leave you mired in the realm of words. Time to move beyond.
H e (a) r.
Jason Victor Serinus, Sterophile
Fourteen years on from its 2005 founding, Icelandic ensemble Nordic Affect has established itself as a creative force unlike any other…Nordic Affect stands out for the fact that these period instruments are used in the service of consistently adventurous contemporary material.
Ron Schepper, Textura
A total of five women composers are represented here, all in world premiere recordings about space, time, illuminating contrasts, and the auras projected by sound…They build sonic environments that beckon and alarm, lull and awaken.
Thomas May, Memetera
We hear on H e (a) r a uniquely original stance that the compositions and performances embody. That is encouraging and also very rewarding to hear. So listen, do that and you will h(e)(a)r-(h)ea(r) and perhaps exclaim "here-here!" I did that to myself in response. Bravo!
Grego Applegate Edwards, Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review
“Listeners equally equipped with patience and openness will be rewarded by this quiet and wise music, written and performed by women.””
“…yet another classic album from the quartet.
…truly exquisite.”
“Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, Guðrún Hrund Harðardóttir, Hanna Loftsdóttir and Guðrún Óskarsdóttir are to be congratulated once again—they’ve pushed their sound further, and achieved more as a result.”
