Icelandic Folk Song Suite No. 1

In the tradition of Vaughn Williams’ “English Folk Song Suite”, Canadian writer Kristofferson has contributed this rich new work based on Icelandic Folk Songs to the concert band repertoire.  The first movement Ólafur Liljurós is based on a musical tale of a traveler’s encounter with an elf-maiden, and mixes moments of sprightliness with a dream-like middle section.  The second movement Bí bí og blaka features an alto saxophone soloist in a slower tempo movement with lush scoring.  This work could be performed as one or two movements in either order, and is a substantial and profound new work for band.