Poems

Poems, the collaborative debut DG album from Icelandic composer, conductor and producer Viktor Orri Árnason, is released worldwide on 10 November – on CD, on vinyl and digitally. The album was conceived and co-written with soprano and visual artist Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir. Its ten exquisite tracks draw on the pair’s shared cultural heritage, setting poems by Icelandic poets past and present, including lyrics by Árnason and Guðmundsdóttir themselves. Viktor adds piano accompaniment to Álfheiður’s hushed, floating vocals throughout, at times playing violin and viola as well, with some tracks featuring additional strings (members of the Reykjavík Orkestra) and/or subtle electronic elements.

The duo found inspiration in the work of Ólöf Sigurðardóttir frá Hlöðum (1857-1933), Hulda (1881-1946), Guðfinna Jónsdóttir frá Hömrum (1899-1946), Sigurður Pálsson (1948-2017) and Arndís Lóa Magnúsdóttir (b.1994). Drawn to poetry that speaks of vulnerability and solitude, change and renewal, the beauty of the natural world, and the power of words to express our dreams and innermost selves, they were also inspired to write their own poems, each contributing one new text to the album. Árnason hopes Poems will encourage listeners to be mindful: “Poems is in many ways about the joys and struggles in life and how being present can help you through.”