Jón Nordal

Jón Nordal, former principal of the Reykjavík School of Music and one of the nation's most beloved composers, passed on December 5th 2004, at the age of 98.

Jón leaves behind an immense cultural legacy, having composed countless solo and orchestral works, chamber music, concertos, choral pieces, and more. Many of his songs have become a part of the national consciousness of Icelanders, including the song "Smávinir fagrir" which he composed to the Hulduljóð of Jónas Hallgrímsson, as well as "Hvert örstutt spor" from Halldór Laxness' Silfurtungl. Among his larger orchestral works are Bjarkamál (1956), Brotaspil (1962), Leiðsla (1973), Langnætti (1975), Tvisöngur (1979), and Choralis, which was composed at the request of Mstislav Rostropovich and premiered under his direction in Washington, DC, in 1982.

In addition to being a prolific composer, Jón played an important role in other areas of Icelandic musical culture. He was the principal of the Reykjavík School of Music from 1959 to 1992, served on the board of the RÚV’s Composer Fund for nearly half a century, and was one of the founders and the first chairman of Musica Nova, a society dedicated to the performance of contemporary music in Iceland.

Jón was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Falcon in 1993 and received the Honorary Award at the Icelandic Music Awards in 2010.

We have compiled the sheet music for a few of his most popular works into this collection, but you can listen to recordings of these works here.