Magnús Blöndal Jóhannsson

Magnús Blöndal Jóhannsson (8 September 1925 - 1 January 2005) was an Icelandic composer, pianist and conductor. Jóhannsson studied with Franz Mixa and Victor Urbancic at the Reykjavík College of Music (1935–7, 1939–45) and with Bernard Wagenaar and Marion Bauer at the Juilliard School (1947–53). He was active as répétiteur and conductor at the Icelandic National Theater (1956–61), His Fjórar abstraksjónir (‘‘Four Abstractions’’, 1950) for piano was the first Icelandic 12-note composition; composing his Elektrónísk stúdía (Electronic Study) for woodwind quintet, piano and tape in 1958. Working with very limited resources at the Icelandic National Radio, he composed the tape work Constellation in 1961, a key work in his output. The critical reception of his work during the 1960s, including the modernist orchestral work Punktar (1962) and Sonorities I for piano (1963) was negative and quite harsh. Yet Jóhannsson also had a lyrical vein, as is best exemplified in the vocalise Sveitin milli sanda, originally composed for a documentary film in 1962 and by far his most popular work. In 1971 Jóhannsson stopped composing for almost a decade; this extended silence was eventually broken with