JÓN LEIFS (1899-1968): Edda, Part 1 - The Creation of the World.

Description: It's the grand-daddy of Leifs' later choral/orchestral spectaculars like Geysir and Hekla! The baleful sound of the lur and the use of rocks in the percussion section began here, in 1939. There were to have been four parts or the work he intended to do right what Wagner got wrong with his Ring cycle, but Leifs finished only two and part of the third. The elements of Icelandic folk music are here - parallel fifths, irregular meters and root-position triads - but there is quite a bit of polyphony too and merciless writing for the chorus (lots of high Cs for the sopranos and occasional low Cs for the basses). Icelandic-English texts. Gunnar Guthbjörnsson (tenor), Bjarni Thor Kristinsson (bass-baritone), Schola Cantorum, Iceland Symphony Orchestra; Hermann Bäumer.