Nú erum torvelt
Now My Course Is Tough
2020
Composition for accordion
82 minutes

Commissioned by Ung Nordisk Musik Iceland

Nú erum torvelt is systematically based on the poem Sonatorrek (Loss of Sons) by Egill Skallagrímsson. Each letter in the Icelandic alphabet represents a note in Db minor and a few accidentals at random. The notational system was then bound to all 25 verses of Sonatorrek, with each beat rendered as one beat and the spaces between each word as rests. This results in disparate but regular tonal clusters, embodying Egill's complex sorrow.

Performed by Jónas Ásgeir Ásgeirsson
Filmed by Patrik Ontkovic
Sound engineered by Guðmundur Ari Arnalds
Edited by KAM Film