SVEINBJÖRN SVEINBJÖRNSSON (1847-1927): Piano Trios in E Minor and in A Minor, Violin Sonata in F, Reverie for Flute, Cello and Harp.

Description: (All but the Reverie appeared on a specially-imported Naxos disc six and a half years ago which is no longer available.) Iceland's first composer spent 49 years of his life in Edinburgh, Scotland, composing, giving piano recitals and teaching piano. He studied briefly under Reinecke and sang in Niels Gade's choir in 1869-70. Mendelssohn (through Reinecke) and Gade are his major influences; although the Idyll and Víkivaki are from Icelandic folk material, they are paraphrases and Sveinbjörnsson showed no Griegian interest in folksong for its own sake. Often vivacious and bright in spirit, these chamber works (quite conservative for pieces written mostly between 1910 and 1923) are an attractive byway in European Romanticism. Members of the Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra.