Sigvaldi Kaldalóns


Sigvaldi Kaldalóns was an Icelandic composer and doctor. Unlike the avant-garde composers of his day, he wrote in a traditional romantic style and composed many of Iceland's most famous and widely performed songs, many of which are now wrongly assumed to be folk songs. His particular skill was in capturing the spirit of poems in his melodies, making him Iceland's foremost lyric composer.

Life

He was born in Garðastræti, Vaktarabær in the Grjóta neighbourhood of Reykjavik, the son of Stefán Egilsson, a mason, and Sesselju Sigvaldadóttir, a midwife. He attended Lærðu School, matriculating in 1902 and then gained a diploma in medicine in 1908 from the medical school in Reykjavik. He then travelled to Denmark, where he graduated in Copenhagen. On 16 September 1909 he married Karen Margrethe Thomsen, a Danish nurse.

Works

Kaldalóns wrote about 350 songs. Among his most famous compositions are: