Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson: Steinalda
Schedule
Fri, 14 Nov, 2025 at 08:00 pm
UTC+00:00Location
Óðinsgata 2, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland | Reykjavík, RE
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Friday, November 14thGUÐMUNDUR STEINN GUNNARSSON
STEINALDA
doors 19:30 / show 20:00
2500kr / 2000kr for students / pay what u can
Á tónleikunum 14. Nóvember mun hljómsveitin Steinalda leika tvö ný verk í fjórum þáttum eftir Guðmund Stein Gunnarsson en þau heita:
Hugleiðingar um skaðsemi eiturlyfja
og
Hugleiðingar um sorphirðu og hreinlæti
Bæði verkin fá heildarfrumflutining á tónleikunum. Í þeim verða blokkflautur, flautur og púkablístrur af ýmsu tagi áberandi, innan um plokkuð strengjahljóðfæri s.s. banjó, mandólín og gítar ásamt rafmagnspíanói ásamt ýmsu tilfallandi drasli.
Sveitin gaf út plötuna Landvættirnar fjórar árið 2022 og hlaut sú tvöfalda breiðskífa mikið lof (sjá neðst).
Hljómsveitina skipa ásamt Guðmundi Steini:
Þórunn Björnsdóttir,
Steinunn Vala Pálsdóttir,
Ásthildur Ákadóttir,
Óskar Magnússon,
Páll Ivan frá Eiðum,
Andrés Þór Þorvarðarson.
______________________________________
The concert on November 14th will see the group Steinalda premier two new pieces by Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson and they are called:
Hugleiðingar um skaðsemi eiturlyfja
(contemplations on the harms of narcotics)
og
Hugleiðingar um sorphirðu og hreinlæti
(contemplations on trash collection and hygiene)
Those will be premiere performances for both pieces. In these pieces flutes and recorders play an important role, along with bird calls of various sorts. Also plucked strings such as banjos, guitars and mandolin in microtonal tunings are quite central along with a vintage wurlitzer electric piano. Also all players double on various pieces of garbage.
The group released the double album Landvættirnar fjórar (The Four Land Wights) in 2022. Said record received some praise, as seen below.
Along with the composer Guðmundur Steinn, the group consists of:
Þórunn Björnsdóttir,
Steinunn Vala Pálsdóttir,
Ásthildur Ákadóttir,
Óskar Magnússon,
Páll Ivan frá Eiðum,
Andrés Þór Þorvarðarson.
“The effect is to feel like one is in the hands of the weather itself. […] This release is one of delicate haunting rather than bombastic fantasy. […] Consider the seductive quarter tones of the closing three pieces as an example of the care and craft on offer here. There is not enough space in a review like this to really get deep into this music. Witty, inventive, unusual and captivating.”
Johny Lamb on Landvættirnar fjórar for The Quietus
“Whatever the aura, Landvættirnar fjórar consistently entices due to Gunnarsson’s attention to compositional detail, with each moment in his musical timeline serving a purpose.”
Marc Masters on Landvættirnar fjórar for Bandcamp Daily – Best Experimental,
“On the first encounter, it feels primitive in its artlessness, but it quickly becomes clear that not only are these sounds—deftly performed by Steinalda, an ensemble Gunnarsson assembled for this project—meticulously plotted, but once the ears can adapt to this charmingly odd sound-world, the music is flush with folksy melodic fragments, crystalline counterpoint, and polyrhythm. It recalls some ancient Japanese folk traditions in terms of its lean austerity, but in the end, it occupies a space all of its own.”
Peter Margasak on Landvættirnar fjórar for Bandcamp Daily – Best Contemporary Classical
“The music is not descriptive, instead, it draws you into this world and each movement feels like a tone picture. Not in the symphonic sense, but more related to the music that comes from graphic scores, that each line, each instrument is a representation of a concept, an idea, and that their formal relationship is less to do with correct classical construction than instinct and freedom.”
Robert Hugill on Landvættirnar fjórar for Planet Hugill,
“Look into the natural setting placed before us. Understand or lives in brief moments, while the world around exists in epochs. An average size tree might equal the length of a single human existence, river contours or mountain ranges multiply this factor exponentially. […] The sounds of Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson help connect these vast blocks of time with present day. An orchestra of primordial essence, tones and rhythms reaching past future directions. We listen in this moment only to hear the symphonic cacophony of the mode of being. A slow and most patient march into the distant future lying beyond average lifespans. Strings vibrate with quirky like motions of long legged birds stepping across shallow water. ”
-Robert Rattle on Landvættirnar fjórar for Lost in a Sea of Sound
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Where is it happening?
Óðinsgata 2, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland, Óðinsgata 2, 101 Reykjavíkurborg, Ísland, Reykjavík, IcelandEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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