Event info

Jóhann Jóhannsson
Honourable Presidents (Opening Theme)
Philip Glass
Symphony No. 1
Johann Jóhannsson
Odi et Amo
Jóhann Jóhannsson
A Prayer to the Dynamo

Daníel Bjarnason
conductor

Jóna G. Kolbrúnardóttir
soprano

Golden Globe winner and two-time Oscar nominee Jóhann Jóhannsson was one of the best-known film composers of our time when he passed away unexpectedly in 2018. This concert celebrates the release of the ISO's new album, produced by the German recording giant Deutsche Grammophon and featuring Jóhann's composition A Prayer to the Dynamo. Commissioned in 2012 by the Winnipeg New Music Festival, the piece draws on the writings of American historian Henry Adams, whose visit to the Hall of Electrical Machines at the 1900 Paris Exposition had a profound impact on him. The marvels of this cutting-edge technology caused Adams to ponder the future of humanity and to ask questions that seem no less pertinent today, in the age of computing and artificial intelligence. This concert also presents Philip Glass's captivating and trance-like Symphony No. 1, which is based on David Bowie's 1997 album Low. Two other works by Jóhann round out the programme: Fanfare from the opening of his 2004 piece Honourable Presidents, and the poignant song Odi et Amo from the 2002 play Englabörn (Children of Angels).