Atli Heimir Sveinsson
Encyclopedia
Atli Heimir Sveinsson is an Iceland
ic composer.
Atli Heimir was born in Reykjavík
, Iceland and started piano lessons at the age of 10. He studied piano with Rögnvaldur Sigurjónsson at the Reykjavík College of Music
and took his diploma in 1957. He went on to study at the State Academy in Cologne
, Germany, from 1959, studying composition with Günter Raphael
and Rudolf Petzold, instrumentation with Bernd Alois Zimmermann
, conducting with Wolfgang von der Nahmer and piano with Hermann Pillney and Hans Otto Schmidt. He also took private lessons with Gottfried Michael Koenig
. He took his diploma in composition and theory in 1963, a year in which he also attended summer courses in Darmstadt
, making the acquaintance of Olivier Messiaen
, Pierre Boulez
, György Ligeti
and Bruno Maderna
. In 1964 he studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen
, Henri Pousseur
, Christoph Caskel and Frederic Rzewski
. In 1965 he went to the Netherlands
and studied electronic music with Gottfried Michael Koenig
in Bilthoven.
He was president of the Icelandic Composers Association from 1972 to 1983. In 1976 he received the Nordic Council Music Prize
for his Flute Concerto. Since 1992 Atli Heimir Sveinsson has received an honorary salary from the Icelandic Parliament. Atli Heimir was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music
in 1993. His Symphony Number Two premiered in Reykjavík on June 1, 2006.
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic composer.
Atli Heimir was born in Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
, Iceland and started piano lessons at the age of 10. He studied piano with Rögnvaldur Sigurjónsson at the Reykjavík College of Music
Reykjavík College of Music
The Reykjavík College of Music is an Icelandic conservatory of music that was founded in 1930 and is the oldest surviving college of music in the country. It offers music education at intermediate, continuing, and university levels. Students graduate with a degree equivalent to a B.A. in...
and took his diploma in 1957. He went on to study at the State Academy in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Germany, from 1959, studying composition with Günter Raphael
Günter Raphael
Günter Raphael was a German composer. Born in Berlin, Raphael is the grandson of composer Albert Becker. His first symphony was premiered by Wilhelm Furtwängler in 1926 in Leipzig. From 1926 to 1934 he taught in Leipzig, but illness and the rise of National Socialism - he was declared a half-Jew -...
and Rudolf Petzold, instrumentation with Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Bernd Alois Zimmermann was a post-WWII West German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera Die Soldaten which is regarded as one of the most important operas of the 20th century...
, conducting with Wolfgang von der Nahmer and piano with Hermann Pillney and Hans Otto Schmidt. He also took private lessons with Gottfried Michael Koenig
Gottfried Michael Koenig
Gottfried Michael Koenig is a contemporary German-Dutch composer.-Biography:Koenig studied church music in Braunschweig, composition, piano, analysis and acoustics in Detmold, music representation techniques in Cologne and computer technique in Bonn. He attended and later lectured at the...
. He took his diploma in composition and theory in 1963, a year in which he also attended summer courses in Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, making the acquaintance of Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex ; harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations...
, Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
, György Ligeti
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
and Bruno Maderna
Bruno Maderna
Bruno Maderna was an Italian conductor and composer. For the last ten years of his life he lived in Germany and eventually became a citizen of that country.-Biography:...
. In 1964 he studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
, Henri Pousseur
Henri Pousseur
Henri Pousseur was a Belgian composer.-Biography:Pousseur studied at the Academies of Music in Liège and in Brussels from 1947 to 1953. He was closely associated with Pierre Froidebise and André Souris...
, Christoph Caskel and Frederic Rzewski
Frederic Rzewski
Frederic Anthony Rzewski is an American composer and virtuoso pianist.- Biography :Rzewski began playing piano at age 5. He attended Phillips Academy, Harvard and Princeton, where his teachers included Randall Thompson, Roger Sessions, Walter Piston and Milton Babbitt...
. In 1965 he went to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and studied electronic music with Gottfried Michael Koenig
Gottfried Michael Koenig
Gottfried Michael Koenig is a contemporary German-Dutch composer.-Biography:Koenig studied church music in Braunschweig, composition, piano, analysis and acoustics in Detmold, music representation techniques in Cologne and computer technique in Bonn. He attended and later lectured at the...
in Bilthoven.
He was president of the Icelandic Composers Association from 1972 to 1983. In 1976 he received the Nordic Council Music Prize
Nordic Council Music Prize
The Nordic Council Music Prize is awarded annually by NOMUS, the Nordic Music Committee. Every two years it is awarded for a work by a living composer...
for his Flute Concerto. Since 1992 Atli Heimir Sveinsson has received an honorary salary from the Icelandic Parliament. Atli Heimir was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music
Royal Swedish Academy of Music
The Royal Swedish Academy of Music or Kungl. Musikaliska Akademien, founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden...
in 1993. His Symphony Number Two premiered in Reykjavík on June 1, 2006.
Selected works
Atli Heimir has a varied list of works to his credit including operas, ballet and major orchestral works which are widely performed, including:- nine solo concertos
- numerous orchestral, chamber and solo works
- an orchestral song cycle to Steinn SteinarrSteinn SteinarrSteinn Steinarr was an Icelandic poet.Many Icelanders regard Steinn Steinarr as their greatest poet, although he remains almost unknown outside of Iceland, due perhaps to a lack of effective translations of his poetry...
's poem Time and Water - operas The Silk Drum, Vikivaki TV opera, Moonlight Island and Hertervig
- three symphonies
- Cathexis for viola and piano (1977–1978)
- Dúó Rapp for viola and double bass (2004)
- Exploration for viola and orchestra (1971)
- Minning II (Manuela in Memoriam) for bass flute, viola and harp (2006)
- Þrjú sönglög (3 Songs) for low voice, viola and piano (2000)
- Sonata for viola solo (2002)
- Springsongs I-IV and Minning (Manuela in Memoriam) for flute, viola and harp (2006)