expression. In this concerto it is the soloist and not the col- lective that is the dominant initiator. It is already clearly evident that there is something provocative or “mad” that pervades the compositions of Atli Heimir Sveinsson. The aforementioned graphic composition Spectacles for percussion and tape is also a piece of instru- mental theatre that produced loud protests from the orderly festival audience when it was performed during the ISCM week in Basel in 1970. The audience was at least provoked by the ridiculous “laughter machine” that effectively denied them the possibility of placing the work in a traditional expressive category. In 1973 he composed an orchestral provocation, entitled Flower Shower and written for the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra in Sweden. The piece grows up imperceptibly from the murmuring of the audience and culminates both musically and visually when a cascade of flowers is strewn over the audience. An Aria for coloratura soprano and instrumental ensemble is a particularly bizarre work. It was written in 1977 for the Hungarian-Swedish soprano Ilona Maros and the Maros Ensemble. This group is based in Sweden and has devoted much attention to Icelandic music. In this piece the singer walks out on a loose tightrope with endless, hazardous and seemingly meaningless coloratura figurations against the background of a pulsating ostinato that is aggressive and four-square. The piece gives the impression of being an extract from an absurd wordless opera. There are two separate sources of inspiration behind the work. The singer wanted to have an extremely difficult piece to perform, and the composer wished to put into music- al terms his impression that we live in a completely mad world - an impression that he formed during a visit to Los Angeles. Atli Heimir Sveinsson’s absurdities are characterized to a great extent by endless repetition and monotony. An example of this can be found in Hreinn Gallery Sum (1974), written for two pianos, 1-10 violins, electric guitar, obbligato wind and percussion. The structure of the work is very simple. Against a continuous two-tone movement in one of the piano parts, a crescendo-diminuendo form with strange microtones and short, mutilated wind and percussion accents is evolved. Hreinn Gallery Sum is absurd in its static monotony but

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