The Gospel of Mary, a new and magnificent oratorio by Hugi Guðmundsson, one of Iceland’s foremost contemporary composers, has been nominated to the Nordic Council Music Prize 2024 which will be announced in Harpa Eldborg October 22 2024.

The Nordic Council Music Prize is awarded for musicianship of the highest standard, to a piece by a living composer one year and to an ensemble or group the next.

Twelve works have been nominated for the 2024 Nordic Council Music Prize for their high artistic standard. They include albums with jazz and folk music, as well as film scores, symphonies, and concerts created by musicians from the Nordic countries. The winner will be announced on 22 October.

See also:  Here are the nominees for the 2024 Nordic Council Music Prize

The Gospel of Mary is a new and magnificent oratorio by Hugi Guðmundsson, one of Iceland’s foremost contemporary composers. Nila Parly and Niels Brunse’s libretto is largely based on a 5th century eponymous sacred text, believed to have been kept secret since it jarred with the Christian orthodoxy of those times. It is an unconventional and progressive interpretation of Christ’s message as a path to inner wisdom, rejecting death and suffering as ways to achieve eternal life. The gospel hints at Mary Magdalene having been an apostle, a truly volatile idea. This ancient gospel strongly resonates with our modern times, while the composer elevates it into a timeless space.

The work was premiered by a group of outstanding musicians: Schola Cantorum, Oslo Sinfonietta and Berit Norbakken, conducted by Hörður Áskelsson who commissioned the oratorio on behalf of the Friends of the Arts Society, original commissions being at the heart of the society’s work. Berit Norbakken is one of Norway’s best-known sopranos and has performed around the world, including in the Sydney Opera House and Tokyo Opera Palace.

Hugi Guðmundsson is one of the foremost representatives of Icelandic contemporary music, and an increasingly important name on the Nordic music scene. He is now nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize for the third time for his oratorio The Gospel of Mary. Guðmundsson is educated as a composer at Reykjavik College of Music and Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he studied with Bent Sørensen, Niels Rosing-Schow and Hans Abrahamsen. He took his second master’s degree at the Sonology Institute in The Hague, in electronic music and computer music. Guðmundsson is particularly known for his a cappella works, but has also written music for solo instruments and orchestra. In recent years, major works have become a larger part of his production, both concerts and opera, resulting in several awards and praise from critics. Hugi Guðmundsson´s The Gospel of Mary got the Icelandic Music Award as the composition of the Year 2022 and Hugi dedicated the award to Hörður Áskelsson as the Godfather of his work.

Hörður Áskelsson og Hugi Guðmundsson

Hörður Áskelsson is an award-winning conductor and organist, originally from Akureyri in northern Iceland. Áskelsson began as cantor in Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavik in 1982 and kept his position until 2021. He established the Motet Choir in 1982 (formerly the Hallgrimskirkja Motet Choir) and the chamber choir Schola Cantorum 1996 which have both achieved international recognition. He is also the man behind the Festival of the Sacred Arts and Friends of the Arts Society. The Icelandic conductor has received several music awards at home and abroad, and was awarded the Knight’s Cross from the Icelandic Falcon Order for his work. He was awarded the  Icelandic Music Honorary Award 2024 for his artistic achievements.

Niels Brunse is a writer and translator. He has translated over 200 works from English, German and Russian, including a wide range of plays by classical and modern playwrights, primarily Shakespeare, but also Chekhov, Kleist, Pinter, Beckett, Brecht, Dürrenmatt, Tennessee Williams and others. Brunse has written novels, short stories, song lyrics and drama, and recently finished a complete re-translation of Shakespeare’s plays. He has received several literary prizes, including the honorary prize from the Wilhelm Hansen Foundation and the Literature Prize from Weekendavisen.

Nila Parly is a librettist and opera dramaturg. Since 2005, she has participated in a number of productions, including at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen. Parly was a dramaturg in the production of Niels Marthinsen’s Skriftestolen (The Pulpit) at the Jutland Opera in 2007, which received the Reumert Prize as “Best Musical Theatre” the same year. Nila Parly is also a trained opera singer, and entitled her doctoral dissertation Vocal Victories: Richard Wagner’s Female Characters from Senta to Kundry at the University of Copenhagen, Department of Arts and Cultural Studies.

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