Siggi String Quartet Makes Sono Luminus Debut

from the Amazon.com Web page of the album being discussed

This coming Friday Sono Luminus will release its first recording of the Icelandic ensemble Siggi String Quartet. The members of the group are violinists Una Sveinbjarnardóttir and Helga Þóra Björgvinsdóttir, violist Þórunn Ósk Marínósdóttir, and cellist Sigurður Bjarki Gunnarsson. They formed their quartet in 2012 during the Young Scandinavian Composers festival in Reykjavík in their native Iceland. Their album is entitled South of the Circle (referring, presumably, to the Arctic Circle). It surveys compositions completed between 2011 and 2018, all by Icelandic composers: Daníel Bjarnason, violinist Sveinbjarnardóttir, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Mamiko Dís Ragnarsdóttir, and Haukur Tómasson.

As might be expected Amazon.com has created a Web page for pre-orders. The information about the ensemble provided on this page is minimal. (The names of the performers are not given in any of the text, nor are they in the images of the front and back covers.) On the other hand, there is an amusing “Sponsored products related to this item” section at the bottom of the Web page for purchasing ladies’ hats made by Siggi Hats!

Those who have followed my writing for some time know that I have not “warmed up” (shameless turn of phrase) to the music of Icelandic composers. My most extensive experience has come from the music of Anna S. Þorvaldsdóttir. It took a concert performance by Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the San Francisco Symphony to wean me away from my generally dismissive attitude; but, even under those circumstances, my experience of that performance of “METACOSMOS” left me concerned that practice was being heavily outweighed by theory.

Thus, I was not surprised to encounter a booklet rich with background information about both the composers and the works being performed. Nevertheless, I cannot say that all of that input registered on my listening experiences with very much substance. While I would not go as far as to say that there is a disquieting sameness shared by all five of the composers, I can say that, having now had both “first contact” and “second contact” experiences, I have yet to encounter moments on this album that really prompted me to sit up and take notice. Granted, this is a purely subjective response; but it is one that has me concerned about a “new music movement” that may be making much ado about not very much.