Hildur Guðnadóttir (b. 1982)
Where to From
Hildur Guðnadóttir (cello, vocalist), Eyvind Kang (viola), Liam Byrne (viola da gamba), Clare O’Connell (cello), Else Torp (vocalist), Jessika Kenney (vocalist)
rec. 2024/25, Meistersaal, Hansa Studios, Berlin & Scoring Stage Babelsberg, Potsdam, Germany
Reviewed as a download
Deutsche Grammophon 4863110 [31]
It has been quite a while since the last solo album of music by Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir. This new one from Deutsche Grammophon is available in all formats including CD. If you do not know her music, this would be an ideal introduction. It is intimate in scale; almost all the pieces are composed for a trio of viola, viola da gamba and cello, with added vocals on several. Guðnadóttir’s music is poetic, quite dark, very ambient and minimalist in its approach. I find it hypnotic, mesmeric and very calming.
Guðnadóttir is best known for her work for the screen. Her three most famous scores are those for the films Joker (2019) and Tár (2022), and the music she provided for the TV series Chernobyl (2019). The “Bathroom Dance” in Joker is centred on the cello (Guðnadóttir’s own instrument) and offers a perfect snapshot of her style. In Chernobyl she somehow manages to give a sound, a voice even, to that unseen, silent, deadly, central character: radiation. Yet there are also places in that score such as the very strong choral piece “Vichnaya Pamyat” and Liður where she offers so much more.
In the nine works presented on her new record we hear the authentic inner voice of Guðnadóttir. She plays cello on a couple of titles and sings on three. The last track is the wonderful Fólk fær andlit (2015, revised 2025) in which through multi-tracking, sampling and layering she sings with several versions of herself whilst playing a cello drone.
We learn from an interview in the booklet that all the music on the record existed in Guðnadóttir’s head, formed from her everyday experiences, walking cycling or driving. She would then record the music (vocalised, I presume) on her mobile phone, later transcribing it. She calls the themes: “diary entries”. In Stimm, separated chords in the trio are augmented by wordless hums. Erindi is a beautiful cello-centric piece in which Guðnadóttir herself joins the existing trio of viola, gamba and cello. Silence and restraint are a feature of the music captured on this recital. Subtle changes happen in repeated phrases and chords are woven expertly to create a coherent whole.
The numbers one would term as vocal pieces start with Make Space for three female voices. I hold close is an unaccompanied duo which would serve well as a four-minute coaching session on self-awareness. All Along feels like a development of a previous instrumental work, now with two voices added on top. The purely instrumental works that come in-between are programmed intelligently giving the recital variety whilst maintaining a satisfying forward motion towards the final station of Fólk fær andlit with its repeated pleadings for mercy and forgiveness.
This is a very satisfying album, then, with which I was glad to have spent a few hours, and to which I will no doubt return. The playing time is very brief, but I was pleased to see the booklet and the choice of audio formats. I note that the Barbican and the Holland Festival will both be showcasing Guðnadóttir in concerts in 2026.
Philip Harrison
Contents
1. Stimm
2. Erindi
3. Steps Out Loud
4. Make Space
5. Over There
6. I Hold Close
7. Melody of Not Knowing
8. All Along
9. Fólk fær andlit
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