Icelandic composer Hjálmar Helgi Ragnarsson passed away last Friday, March 13. He was 73.
Ragnarsson left behind a wide range of music including symphonic works, operas, incidental music, songs, and film scores. He was a respected music theorist, and served as president of the Federation of Icelandic Artists, and rector of the Iceland University of the Arts.
Composed in 1985, Ragnarsson’s Ave Maria for a cappella mixed choir is music from a beautiful and desolate Nordic landscape. The play of light and shadow takes on an ethereal quality. Harmonically, the music searches, moves through haunting territory, and finds ultimate serene repose.
The second tallest building in Iceland, the Hallgrímskirkja church dominates the skyline of Reykjavík. Its facade evokes the “organ pipe” natural formations of the Iceland’s glacier-dotted landscape. This recording features the Hallgrímskirkja Motet Choir, led by Hörður Áskelsson:
Recordings
- Ragnarsson: Ave Maria, Hörður Áskelsson, Hallgrímskirkja Motet Choir Amazon