Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson (28 June 1847 – 23 February 1927) was an Icelandic composer best known for composing "
Lofsöngur", the
national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
of
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
.
Early life and education
Sveinbjörn was born in
Seltjarnarnes
Seltjarnarnes () is a town in the Capital Region of Iceland. Seltjarnarnes is beside Reykjavik.
It took on its current political form shortly after the Second World War and was formally created as a township in 1947. It is the smallest Icelandic ...
. He was studying
divinity
Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.[divine< ...](_blank)
when he met a young Norwegian violinist and composer,
Johan Svendsen
Johan Severin Svendsen (30 September 184014 June 1911) was a Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist. Born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway, he lived most his life in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Svendsen's output includes two symphonies, a violin ...
. At the time, Svendsen had just finished his studies in Leipzig and encouraged Sveinbjörn to go and study music, either in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
or
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
. Sveinbjörn went to Copenhagen, but later carried on to Leipzig where his teacher was
Carl Reinecke. Consequently, Sveinbjörn gained a far higher level of musical education than other musicians in Iceland at that time.
Career
As the musical opportunities were limited in Iceland at the end of the 19th century, Sveinbjörn moved to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
. His composition pieces were mostly melody songs or poetical
chamber music in the spirit of
Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...
. Sveinbjörn also composed a considerable number of folk songs.
Later life and death
In 1922, the Icelandic parliament,
Althing
The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (" thing fields" or "assemb ...
, decided to grant him a pension, which allowed him to return to Iceland. He died in Copenhagen.
Recordings
* Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson. ''Piano Trios / Violin Sonata in F major''. Nina-Margret Grimsdottir, piano; Audur Hafsteinsdottir, violin; Sigurgeir Agnarsson, cello; Sigurður Bjarki Gunnarsson, cello. CD. Naxos 8.570460.
Naxos
Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...
, 2007.
ncludes Idyl in A flat major, Vikivaki in B minor, Piano Trio in A minor, Lyric Pieces Nos. 1–4, Piano Trio in E minor, Violin Sonata in F major, Barcarolle in F major.
Further reading
Icelandic music history: Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson
External links
*
*
1847 births
1927 deaths
Icelandic composers
Icelandic male musicians
National anthem writers
{{Iceland-composer-stub