the normal theatres, semi-professional ensembles, church choirs and amateur musicians have important roles to play. Orchestral musicians must also be prepared to play chamber music without extra payment. Icelandic composers compose a great deal of music for the theatre, choirs and chamber ensembles, and they often do so in close contact with the musician or musicians who are to perform the work. Quite a large amount of music is composed specifically for a parti- cular performance, and only a small amount aims at eternity. Projects that require large forces and considerable expendi- ture, such as symphonies and operas, are rare, whereas solo concertos and works for occasional, special ensembles and solo instrumentalists are frequently to be found. There is probably no other Icelandic composer who has so consistently and faithfully acclimatized himself to this situation as Porkell Sigurbjomsson (bom 1938). “I do not believe that one can survive as a specialist in our little so- ciety. If I did want to be an academic composer, then I would move to the U.S.A., become a professor at a university, teach some academic subjects and write academic music that would only be performed by my colleagues at internal con- certs organized by the university. If I wanted to specialize in popular music, I would move to Hollywood, write simple melodies and hope I could sell several million copies. But if one wants to live here in this country and wants to survive, one cannot be that sort of specialist. You must write music that is needed, music that people want to listen to and play.” Porkell Sigurbjomsson says that he approves of Haydn’s way of working as a musician and composer. “I do not believe that it is always necessary for one’s works to be given so much attention. For me, to write is just as important as to eat. It is nice to get good food, but I also eat ordinary food. I have written quite a lot of music, and much of it is not particularly good. But I am not particularly worried about my compositions. I more or less only write for people I know, for soloists I work with, for particular occasions and contexts. Take for example Happy Music for brass ensemble. This is a piece written for a particular occasion - when the first of the Icelandic manuscripts were returned from Denmark in 1971. This is now forgotten and part of history, and the piece need Porkell Sigurbjomsson 93

(1) Front Board
(2) Front Board
(3) Front Flyleaf
(4) Front Flyleaf
(5) Front Cover
(6) Front Cover
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(191) Back Cover
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(193) Rear Flyleaf
(194) Rear Flyleaf
(195) Rear Board
(196) Rear Board
(197) Spine
(198) Fore Edge
(199) Scale
(200) Color Palette