Quite the impressive concert took place in Harpan, consisting of pieces by Kjartan Ólafsson, Haukur Tómasson, Ingibjörg Ýr Skarphéðinsdóttir, Gunnar Andreas Kristinsson and Áskell Másson. Ingibjörg’s work really stood out to me!
„Pons papilloma“, written in 2021, has its world premiere tonight. It is quite the honour to be one of the first people to hear it.
With this piece, Ingibjörg shows us her experience of having a brain tumor removed and how the post-surgery effects changed her everyday life. It begins with a siren-like sound which she tells us is made with a so-called seagull effect on the cello. This instantly makes you envision the environment she was in, the hospital.
Throughout the piece there is a series of tense, loud and chaotic moments, making you feel like you are spinning and then it quickly slows down and
becomes quiet. This, she describes, is showing how she would feel okay every now and again, after feeling extremely dizzy and confused for days, and then it going back to the way she felt before. We hear the flute play sweet and joyful tunes as more and more instruments join in, making uncomfortable noises, building up to the spinning point again. We also hear the bass drum make a sound similar to a heartbeat.
“I felt like I was in an airplane”, said Ingibjörg when we asked her about her experience, which the piece is based on. She described it like the restless feeling you get when there’s lots of turbulence in an airplane. Everything was moving and she felt extreme dizziness. This is very well executed in her music and almost makes you feel as if you are really experiencing what she experienced.