Some years back I came across a compilation album which included recordings from Ísmús, an Icelandic online music and culture archive. I was surprised to find a recording of my ‘langamma’ or great-grandmother, poet and farmer Halla Lovísa Loftsdóttir, singing. This led me to discover a larger database entry dedicated to her, including interview snippets and singing—among them one of her own compositions. The encounter sparked the wish to ‘meet her’ through sound. I chose her performance of a part of an Icelandic oral hymn tradition—tunes that were passed on person to person, set to the 17th century 'Hymns of the Passion' by Hallgrímur Pétursson—as a meeting place.
At first, I improvised with her, but I felt like I could not ‘meet’ langamma, partially because of the tuning system in which she was singing. I turned to Vietnamese đàn tranh player Nguyễn Thanh Thủy, a master of improvisation and different tuning systems to hear if she could help me find a way in. It took my friend, trained in traditional Vietnamese performance to open the door to music making with langamma. On the basis of what Thuy heard and improvised, I embarked on a process that first led to a purely electronic piece which later developed into 'Hölluþula', a quadrophonic work for solo violin and live voice.
- Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, April 19, 2022
credits
released August 26, 2022
'Hölluþula' for solo violin (baroque setup), voice and electronics. Written and produced by Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir. Peformed by Halla Lovísa Loftsdóttir*, Nguyễn Thanh Thủy and Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir.
'strengur' for scordatura violin, aeolian violin, gut string and drum. Written, performed and produced by Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir.
'hvinskyn' for electronics. Written and produced by Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir. Peformed by Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, Halla Lovísa Loftsdóttir, Nguyễn Thanh Thủy, Árný Inga Pálsdóttir. Artificial intelligence production by Davíð Brynjar Franzson.
Halla plays a David Hopf violin from around 1780 in baroque setup by Matthieu Besseling. Bow by anonymous.
Final mix and mastering Valgeir Sigurðsson at Greenhouse Studios.
*Halla Lovísa Loftsdóttir's singing was recorded in 1969 in Reykjavík by Hallfreður Örn Eiríksson in Reykjavík. Used with permission from The Árni Magnússon Institute.
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