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Sigvaldi Kaldalóns

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Sigvaldi Kaldalóns

Sigvaldi Kaldalóns (Stefánsson) (13 January 1881 – 28 July 1946)[1] was an Icelandic composer and doctor.[2] Unlike the avant-garde composers of his day, he wrote in a traditional romantic style and composed many of Iceland's most famous and widely performed songs, many of which are now wrongly assumed to be folk songs.[3] His particular skill was in capturing the spirit of poems in his melodies,[4] making him Iceland's foremost lyric composer.[5] Since the end of 2016, his works have entered the public domain in Iceland.

Life

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He was born in Garðastræti, Vaktarabær in the Grjóti neighbourhood of Reykjavík,[6] the son of Stefán Egilsson, a mason, and Sesselja Sigvaldadóttir, a midwife.[7] He attended the Reykjavík Latin School, matriculating in 1902 and gained a diploma in medicine in 1908 from the medical school in Reykjavík.[7] He then travelled to Denmark, where he graduated in Copenhagen.[7] On 16 September 1909 he married Karen Margrethe Thomsen (née Mengel), a Danish nurse.[8]

Works

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Kaldalóns wrote about 350 songs. Among his best-known compositions are:

References

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  1. ^ "Sigvaldi Kaldalóns - Concerts, Biography & News - BBC Music". BBC. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  2. ^ "Icelandic folk song concert". Iceland Review. 2006-11-10. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  3. ^ "Iceland Music Information Centre - Originators - Sigvaldi S. Kaldalóns". shop.mic.is. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
  4. ^ Júlíana Rún Indriðadóttir (26 September 2016). "A Journey through the history of Icelandic traditional and classical music" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-06-07.
  5. ^ Guðbergur Bergsson. "Grindavík By The Golden Sea" (PDF). Icelandair Stopover, Winter 2018: 44. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
  6. ^ "Tónlistarsaga Reykjavíkur: III Tímabilið 1900 – 1930: Sigvaldi Kaldalóns". musik.is. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
  7. ^ a b c "Menningar-Staður Merkir Íslendingar - Sigvaldi Kaldalóns". menningarstadur.123.is. 2018-01-13. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
  8. ^ J. M. Eggerisson (1921). "Sigvaldi St. Kaldalóns, læknir". Óðinn. p. 89. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  9. ^ a b Frederick Key Smith (2002). Nordic Art Music: From the Middle Ages to the Third Millennium. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-275-97399-5.