Sigfús Einarsson

Sigfús Einarsson (30 January 1877 – 10 May 1939) was an Icelandic composer, organist, and music critic. He was a pioneer in Icelandic music in the early twentieth century and is particularly well known for his songs, many of which remain highly popular. Career Sigfús Einarsson was born at Skúmsstaðir in Eyrarbakki in Southern Iceland. The son of a merchant, he was raised in a musical household and at age 12 was already a member of the Báran choir, one of Iceland’s earliest mixed choirs. At age 15, he went to Reykjavík to study at the local Latin School (Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík), where he also founded and established a student choir. He went to Copenhagen to study law, but quit his studies to focus on music, which would be his main profession in life. In Copenhagen, he studied composition and music theory with August Enna, and met his future wife, the Danish singer and pianist Valborg Hellemann (later Valborg Einarsson). Sigfús and his wife moved back to Iceland in 1906 and would become instrumental in Reykjavík’s growing musical life for the next decades. He taught singing in several schools, and in 1911 he established the choral society Söngfélagið 17. júní, which he conducted f