KVIKA is the brand new album by Valgeir Sigurðsson. The music was used as the score for the wartime film MALÁ RÍŠA (Little Kingdom) by Slovakian director Peter Magát, and is now released as written on the composer’s own Bedroom Community label, performed by the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Bohdan Warchal Slovak Chamber Orchestra, The University Choir Technik, and a number of Valgeir’s close collaborators from previous projects, including violinist Daniel Pioro.
KVIKA is the Icelandic word for magma – the molten mantle of the earth that sits below Iceland in giant reserves, prehistoric reservoirs of heat simmering away beneath stoic, frozen landscapes. This record is formed from 21 thoughtful musical stills, isolated feelings captured in sound in which low end modular synth manipulation on a tectonic scale pulses and moves swiftly to underpin Pioro’s soaring solo violin and Valgeir’s cinematic arrangements. The sound is experimental, utterly beautiful, and unmistakably his.
Valgeir has become a master of sound to get lost in. Through his layering of his collaborators’ instrumental and vocal parts and a nuanced balance of electronic and organic sound, KVIKA is a perfect collection of moments that last only as long as they need before taking us elsewhere. After his award winning album Dissonance, it is a measure of his artistic inclinations that he looks to a shorter form of music making. Where Dissonance overwhelmed the ear with subterranean noise, sounds that seemed to last forever, KVIKA shimmers above the earth, fleeting and momentary.
released March 12, 2021
KVIKA
Music by VALGEIR SIGURÐSSON
Performed by:
DANIEL PIORO Solo Violin
ÞÓRUNN ÓSK MARÍNÓSDÓTTIR Viola
SIGURÐUR BJARKI GUNNARSSON Cello
FRANCESCO FABRIS Modular Synths
LIAM BYRNE Viola da Gamba
VALGEIR SIGURÐSSON Keyboards & Electronics
SLOVAK PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
BODAN WARCHAL SLOVAK CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
THE UNIVERSITY CHOIR TECHNIK
Conductor / Coordinator Orchestra / Choir recording Michal Adamec
Recorded at Greenhouse Studios, Reykjavík by Valgeir Sigurðsson & Francesco Fabris
Assistant engineers: Nathan Salon, Demetry Malahoff
Orchestra and choir recorded at Studio Loft Bratislava by Igor Baar
Music Coordinator Ondrej Geče
Produced, Mixed & Mastered at Greenhouse Studios by Valgeir Sigurðsson
Artwork by 404.zero
Original footage courtesy of FilmFrame
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra:
Violin Juraj Tomka
Violin Eva Brunclíková
Violin František Černý
Violin František Ferienčík
Violin Marián Hrubý
Violin Peter Mosoriak
Violin Milan Adamec
Violin Jozef OstroluckýHorn Ernest Kollar
Flute Andrea Adamcová
Clarinet Juraj Pivoluska
Clarinet Josef Eliáš
Horn Marcel Majoroš
Horn Roman Koza
Horn Tomáš Horkavý
Bohdan Warchal Slovak Chamber Orchestra:
Viola Radovan Blahúnka
Viola Peter Dvorský
Violoncello Katarína Kozelková
Violoncello Andrej Gál
Bass Marián Bujňák
The University Choir Technik:
Solo soprano Katarína Kvániková
Soprano Martina Berešiková
Soprano Jana Vikrutová
Solo soprano Kristána Gotthardt
Soprano Zuzana Telišková
Alt Radka Blahová
Soprano Martina Jandačková
Alt Diana Dobrucká
Alt Jana Brezinová
Conductor Matúš Uhliarik
Soprano Kristína Slámková
Bas Jacub Kováč
Soprano Júlia Štapánková
Alt Adriana Čatlošová
Bas Francisco Chica García
Tenor Andrej Morávek
Bas Tomáš Novotný
Tenor Matúš Minárik
Tenor Ján Pallo
Alt Petra Kropáček
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