On this latest episode of The New Classical Order Podcast, David Weuste and Dr. Jennifer Hund take a look at an interesting new composer from Iceland named Ólafur Arnalds.
Born in 1986, Ólafur hails from the suburban Icelandic town of Mosfellsbær, just a few kilometres outside of Reykjavík. He has immersed himself completely in a world of delicate symphonic compositions generating near weightless orchestral pieces. Arnalds explores the crossover from classical to pop by mixing chamber strings and piano with discreet electronics which makes him a perfect fit for cinematic music label Erased Tapes. His motivations are clear: ‘The classical scene is kind of closed to people who haven’t been studying music all their lives. I would like to bring my classical influence to the people who don’t usually listen to this kind of music…open people’s minds.’
Listen Now:
The New Classical Order – Ólafur Arnalds
Music on this podcast:
Track: Loftið verður skyndilega kalt
Album: …and they have escaped the weight of darkness
Composer: Ólafur Arnalds
Artists: Ólafur Arnalds
Label: Erased Tapes
Purchase on Amazon.com
Track: Þú ert jörðin
Album: …and they have escaped the weight of darkness
Composer: Ólafur Arnalds
Artists: Ólafur Arnalds
Label: Erased Tapes
Purchase on Amazon.com
Track: 0040
Album: Eulogy for Evolution
Composer: Ólafur Arnalds
Artist: Ólafur Arnalds
Label: Erased Tapes
Purchase on Amazon.com
Track: Brotsjór
Album: Dyad 1909
Composer: Ólafur Arnalds
Artist: Ólafur Arnalds
Label: Erased Tapes
Purchase on Amazon.com
Track: 3326
Album: Dyad 1909
Composer: Ólafur Arnalds
Artist: Ólafur Arnalds
Label: Erased Tapes
Purchase on Amazon.com
Track: 3704/3837
Album: Eulogy for Evolution
Composer: Ólafur Arnalds
Artist: Ólafur Arnalds
Label: Erased Tapes
Purchase on Amazon.com
Jennifer Hund is currently a music professor at Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts. She was previously a professor in the musicology department of Texas Christian University’s School of Music in Fort Worth. Prior to her work in Texas, she was visiting lecturer at Purdue University and Indiana University where she earned her Ph.D. in musicology in August 2007 with her dissertation “The Proposta e Risposta Madrigal, Dialogue, Cultural Discourse, and the Issue of Imitatio.” In this study, Hund combined her interests in the Italian madrigal, poetry, Renaissance studies, and dialogue. She also has a B.M. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Illinois Wesleyan University and an M.M. in Musicology from Florida State University. Her other interests include music and humor, opera and politics, the nineteenth-century symphony, and the pedagogy of music history. Hund is currently writing a book based on her dissertation research as well as completing another edition of A Study and Listening Guide for A History of Western Music (W. W. Norton).
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