The Akureyri "Pond" is like a huge mirror.  The lights on Vaðlaheiði moor are reflected on the water in the evening.  Seen from the opposite side are the lights of the whole town and the mountains.  Upside down and right side up. Opposites like night and day, black and white, death and life.  Like the reflections in the fjord we see here first the Akureyri composers Atli Örvarsson and Gísli Jóhann Grétarsson.  And above them towers Bach himself like the mighty mountains above the town.  Bach is their mirror and there is always a new reflection, a new viewpoint, a different hue.  The advent chorales glitter like fairy lights in the water, reminding us of the eternal light which we sometimes fail to notice. These mark the beginning of the Church calendar, and both new life and death are close at hand, in the crucible where the worldly life meets the heavenly.  Phrases from the carol that Bach hides in the Crucifixion chorale O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß remind us of the light that seems to have been extinguished, the Alpha and the Omega.  

The Cross between the towers of the church is mirrored in the fjord.  The four ages of man, the four arms of the cross and the four chimes of the clock whose bells ring out over the water with the melody of the Icelandic composer and organist Björgvin Guðmundsson.

​

The reflection of the cross occurs frequently on the recording, reminding us of The Crucifixion. Bach drew his motif from Dietrich Buxtehude. Their passacaglias nod to each other from the shadows.  Their reflexions transport the imagination to new heights. Where do the bass lines we hear in these Passacaglias originate? They are unusual in works of German origin. The Cross motifs are more common with the juxtaposition of the notes. The Toccata and Fugue begins with a cross motif  which is heard both at the end and often in the middle of the work.  In the Crucifixion  chorale O Mensch, bewein, the cross is always nearby.    In Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659 are many cross motifs with a double one at the end.

Gísli Jóhann's Adagio was specially composed for a concert which also included an Adagio by Magnús Blöndal Jóhannsson. Here also the generations meet up. The whole canvas is bound together with the holy number seven and its multiples.

​

PÉTUR HALLDÓRSSON

TRANSLATION: MICHAEL JÓN CLARKE