Finnur Torfi Stefansson composer of music

Curriculum vitae.

Born in Iceland 1947. Candidatus juris from University of Iceland, Diploma in Political Science from University of Manchester, BA in Composition and Theory from the Reykjavik College of Music, MA in Composition and Theory from the University of California Los Angeles, doctoral studies við Brian Ferneyhough and Roger Reynolds at the University of California San Diego. Lawyer in private practice and with the Icelandic Government before turning to composition as a main occupation. Married to Steinunn Johannesdottir with 3 grown up children. Lives in Reykjavik, Iceland. Click the links above to see his compositions. All the music is available at Iceland Music Information Centre ; itm@mic.is

New works finished in 2024 are:

Work XIV for Orchestra ; 2 fl., 2 ob., e.h., 2 cl. Bb, 2 bsn., 4 hn F., 2 tpts c., 2 tbn., b tbn., tba., timp., perc.,harp., strings.,  which is in 3 movements with duration of ca. 30 min. Finished Dec. 2024.

“So are you”.  A song for soprano and chamber ensemble :  sopr., bsn., pno., vl 1, vl. 2, vla, vc and cb. Lyrics by Hallddóra Líney Finnsdóttir. Composed in 2024.

“Like a stolen kiss” .  A song for soprano and piano to lyrics by Halldóra Líney Finnsdóttir. Composed in 2024.

Lýðveldislag 1 and 2 .  Two songs for SATB choir to text by Thorarinn Eldjarn . Composed in 2024.

Works finished in 2023 are:  Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in three movements, duration ca. 20 min., ” Persephone ” for soprano and piano to text by Halldóra Líney Finnsdóttir duration 4:30 min.,  ” Stefjamóðirin ” for soprano and orchestra , to text by Þorsteinn frá Hamri,  duration  6:30 min , and ” Ýtt úr vör ” for soprano and piano , to text by Tennyson/ Þorarinn Guðnason ,  duration 3:30 min..

A few remarks about harmony.

The human ear seems to have an unique ability to perceive the qualities of the intervals of the lower reaches of the overtone series. A minor third has a clearly different quality from a major third . A fourth and a second and all their inversions are also very different and can be used for different purposes. The combination of intervals into chords and their arrangement in time makes harmony infinite as a material for composition.

Chromaticism can only function as chromatic in diatonic settings. A fully chromatic cluster does away with most of the intervals, as only a dense collection of minor seconds is heard. Harmony has by this been neutralised. The only colour heard is grey. What the composer is left with is mere sound.

It makes no difference which technique is used, be it 12 tone , serial , cluster, or whatever the name may be, as long as the result is totally chromatic, no harmonic effect will be produced. The pitches used will only function as carrying material for the instrumental sounds being used . A different approch with the same result is found in minimalism, where the endless repetition of the same triad is used to neutralise harmony.

It is of course possible to write music with sound only, but it becomes monotonous and boring quickly.

About my music.

My purpose is to make a contribution, however small, to the great classical tradition of western music. I consider most of my works tonal in the sense that clearly audible harmony is used to organize the form. Instead of basing the harmony on a single pitch or a root, the basis of my harmony is a group of pitches, in most cases a hexachord, that is treated as a harmonic field in which the pitches are basically equal.

To keep pitches equal is not as easy as it sounds, but my solution is found in the liberal use of superposed fourths. The fourth is a most interesting interval. On the one hand it is the inversion of the fifth, a most stable interval. In itself it is slightly unstable or dissonant , having a tendency to resolve to the third. A chord of superposed fourths is to my ears neutral with regard to tonal centers. A harmonic field of a limited number of notes can be modulated in a fashion that is clearly heard in the music. Modulation becomes thus a most important tool to delineate the form.

I consider music as an abstract narrative. A story is being told in tones. In this I follow my Icelandic cultural heritage. We have many times been told that storytelling is obsolete. I disagree. Quite on the contrary I feel that it is not worth the while speaking if you dont have a story to tell.

Sound in itself is not music. One has to choose those aspects of sound to work with that posess expressive qualities and avail themselves to storytelling and poetic manipulation.

After World War II it was maintained by many composers that a new start in music was necessary in which all influence from the great European classical tradition was to be excluded. I disagree with this view. In general the quality of our music has been in decline since 1914. Whether the bottom has been reached is anybodys guess. The composer of the 21st century has a duty to stem the tide, relying on his own judgement and rejecting all superior authority. He is free to seek influence wherever he likes, but if he excludes that which has been done best in his field he does so at his own peril.