Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson was born in 1958. Since the early eighties he has been a prominent part of the Icelandic music scene shifting with relative ease between genres and his work has at some time or other been classified as rock, electronics, avant-garde, jazz or neo-classical. He has worked as producer for a variety of artists ranging from teenage death-metal bands to established blues legends such as Pinetop Perkins and Jimmy Dawkins. He has written music for over 30 feature films and in 1991 he was awarded the Felix Prize as European Film Composer of the Year for his work on Fridrik Thor Fridriksson's film “Children of Nature”. He been also the recipient of the Edda Prize awarded by the Icelandic Film and Television Academy for film music on three occasions. Another collaboration with Fridriksson, the critically acclaimed "Angels of the Universe", brought him to the attention of producer Laurie Parker and director Jane Campion who asked him to score the film "In the Cut" starring Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Kevin Bacon.His score for "Beowulf and Grendel", directed by Sturla Gunnarsson and starring Gerard Butler, Stellan Skarsgaard, Ingvar Sigurðsson and Sarah Polley received a Genie nomination by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television for Achievement in Music - Original Score in January 2007.For over two decades he has been exploring the old Icelandic tradition of "Rímur chanting" which has its roots in Viking music and poetry.His work with the group Sigur Rós and rímur-chanter Steindór Andersen has received high acclaim and two Nordic Council Music Prize nominations: April 2002 saw the premiere in the Barbican Centre of the large orchestral and choral piece, Odin´s Raven Magic, which they performed with the London Sinfonietta and The Sixteen Choir. The same piece was performed at the Reykjavík Arts Festival a month later to a standing ovation. Odin´s Raven Magic has also been commisioned by art festivals in Norway and France for performances in 2003 and 2004.His collaboration with Dónal Lunny for the 2004 Reykjavík Arts Festival, a search for the common roots of Celtic and Norse poetry and music was praised as “a blend of musicology and high energy that could raise the dead”.

Selected Filmography:Mamma Gógó, 2010 Dir. Fridrik Thor FridrikssonGuð blessi Ísland, 2009 Dir. Helgi FelixsonReykjavik Whale Watching Massacre, 2009 Dir. Júlíus KempWhen Cildren Play in the Sky, 2006 Dir. Lorenzo HendelBeowulf & Grendel. 2005 Dir. Sturla GunnarssonHorse Saga, 2004 Dir. Thorfinnur GudnasonFálkar / Falcons. 2002. Dir. Fridrik Thor FridrikssonPaa Fremmed Mark / Foreign Fields. 2000. Dir. Aage RaisPelon Maantiede / Geography of Fear. 2000. Dir. Auli Mantila

Englar Alheimsins / Angels of the Universe. 2000. Dir. Fridrik Thor Fridriksson Bye Bye Bluebird. 1999. Dir. Katrin OttarsdóttirUngfrúin Góða og Húsið / Honour of the House. 1999. Dir. Guðný HalldórsdóttirI Wonder Who’s Kissing You Now. 1999. Dir. Henning CarlsenVildspor / Wildside. 1998. Dir. Simon StahoSekten / Credo. 1997. Dir. Susanne BierKrystalbarnet / Crystal Child. 1996. Dir. Peter ThorsboeDjöflaeyjan / Devil’s Island. 1996. Dir. Fridrik Thor FridrikssonHaiti Untitled. 1996. Dir. Jorgen LethAnton / The Flyer. 1996. Dir. Aage Rais Pan / Two Green Feathers. 1995. Dir. Henning CarlsenÁ köldum klaka / Cold Fever. 1994. Dir. Fridrik Thor FridrikssonBíódagar / Movie Days. 1994. Dir. Fridrik Thor FridrikssonSvo á Jörðu / As in Heaven / Sur Terre. 1992. Dir. Kristín Jóhannesdóttir

More information on scores can be found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0385180/

Excerpts from reviews:Children of Nature Soundtrack CD

The Raging Consciousness (USA):

This CD is the perfect balance - a bridge between the Sacred beauty of Arvo Part and John Tavener to the Experimental works of Xenekis and Schutze. The marriage of these styles is done with such rare precision and delicate balance that the listener hangs on each note wishing to somehow make it lastlonger still...To pull this off is a miracle in of itself but there's more; this recording has no equals - no peers. Although flashes and memories flit in and out of the psyche while listening , it isn't until the end that a revelatory chord rings loud and true - THERE IS NO OTHER RECORDING LIKE THIS! The rarest of the rare these days (with myriad recordings flooding the market every day) is to have a piece of music that is truly original: that sounds as nothingthat has come before, and "Children of Nature" makes it's way in to that rarefied group. What's more (as if that wasn't enough) is that the sound is natural, smooth and realistic allowing for the ambiance and depth of the recording to come through. Hats off to Hilmar Om Hilmarsson and to Touch for giving us this gem.

immerse:

“Hilmarsson takes the listener on a journey through some of the most graceful classical music heard. Occasionally, stopping off in grassy acre of ambience, (no, I don't mean the techno variety), Hilmarsson brings a freedom to classical music that other composers within this field, and sadly, lack. It's often apparent that film scores, once removed from the images they initially accompany, sometimes fail. Children of Nature isn't one of those scores. It works alone, and will become a CD that'll never leave your player. AS"

i/e (USA):

"Inverting above notions (see review of Leisure Zones Ash 2.5) completely is Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, who provides the symphonic score on the soundtrack to the film of the same name, Children of Nature. With his richly angelic neo-chamberist blending of chilly strings set amidst sweeping keyboards, Hilmarsson seems to approximate the Icelandic wilds and poignancy of the Icelandic landscape, punctuated by the minimalist tones of his instruments. His style recalls the expansiveness of Harold Budd's work with Zeitgeist, but on a more bouyant level; the twelve works to be found here fairly ache with melancholy, but it's a melancholy suggestive of triumph as well."

NAPRA ReView Vol. 7 No. 4 (USA):

"Hilmarsson's score to the 1992 film of the same name is an inspired romantic blend of classical string sounds and electronics. This powerful collection sustains a melancholy, sorrowful tone throughout its 42 minutes, but this cathartic music is also beautiful, incorporating modern classical, ambient and minimalist sensibilities. The composer has found a strong mixture of angelic keyboards, mournful strings, some eerie effects, and percussion (on two pieces) which communicates stirring emotions. No surprise, considering Hilmarsson writes that "this music was written as a commemoration for those I have loved and lost": the results are a stunning score. The booklet features some gorgeous color photography, presumably from the film, which nicely complements the music." (Bryan Reesman)

EST (UK):

"...makes fine use of violin and cello to add a more human element, and which, outside of distinctive voices like Morricone or Nyman, or groovy pop/film tie-ins, is one of the better soundtracks I've heard in a while. It's sufficiently accomplished that some of it could sit next to Gorecki or Arvo Part with little problem."

ECLECTRICITY:

"I think it's WONDERFUL frankly. The fact that the soundtrack can exist in isolation from its visual partner, yet convey an equally as involving, contemplative

& deep bond with the audience, illustrates the evocative power, latent but here realised, within Hilmarsson's crafted compositions. It's a magnificent work. My only difficulty is putting my feelings about it into words, & finding which parts I enjoy most...

Musicweb.co.uk:

I mentioned this marvellous disc in a recent review of another Touch release (Jóhann Jóhannsson's Englabörn) and here it is in a repackaged reissue. The music was written for Fridrik Thor Fridriksson's Oscar winning 1991 film Children of Nature and the score itself won the Felix Music Award that year. The film tells the story of an elderly couple escaping the confines(?) of Reykjavik to make an epic journey back to their old home in the stunning but often savage Icelandic rural landscape; the beautifully produced booklet features several stills from the visually stunning movie but do see it if you ever get the chance. Suffice to say that Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson's soundtrack lives up to its task admirably.

Hilmarsson is more recently known for his production work with Icelandic "avant electro-folk" group Sigur Rós and on Rímur (a new release on the Naxos World label) featuring Steindór Andersen's interpretations of a traditional form of narrative Icelandic epic song. However, on Children of Nature, he makes full use of keyboards, electronics and samplers, supplemented highly effectively by strings and percussion. The result, which he dedicated as a "commemoration of those I have loved and lost", is an accessible but profoundly moving set of short pieces which have a melancholic yet often uplifting feel to them. For those who insist on labels, this is superior soundtrack music rather than classical music per se and remains a firm favourite for me, seven years on from its first release.

The opening Ars Moriendi, with its violin and cello driven themes, later reprised in Titles, sets the scene for rest of the album perfectly. The keyboards and electronic effects are never used excessively and this music feels much more organic than synthetic, especially as there are plenty of sampled natural sounds, e.g. choirs. Sudurgata may be the best known track here as it has also appeared on one of the Touch samplers and it is a gorgeous fusion of yearning Bachian (or Pärtian?) violin melody and Nordic folk music - I never tire of hearing it and look forward to many more people hearing it through this timely reissue.

On Farm, Hilmarsson introduces some oriental instrumentation alongside the violin, providing a slightly different, more dissonant take on the overall mood, followed by the brief Snatis's Death and the heavier more substantial Journey, in which a cavernous, echoing sound picture predominates. After the rhythmic interlude that is Escape, Coffin is less grim than its title suggests, some rather resigned organ sounds being kept afloat by bells and a gorgeous violin melody. Gregorian chant can be heard in parts of Ascension but it is interpolated so skilfully and unobtrusively that the crassness we often associate with this sort of melding of disparate musical elements is totally avoided. In Titles, the violin tune

from the very opening of the disc makes its reappearance, and quite rightly so, given its sheer simple beauty. Aerophilia, as the title suggests, is the lightest piece on the disc and puts me in mind of Eric Serra's music to The Big Blue. The latter is meant as a complement and the score as a whole can stand against the very best film music anywhere as far as I am concerned. Here percussion underpins chiming, upwardly spiralling keyboard melodies leading us (relatively) light-heartedly into the climax of the record, the valedictory Pretty Angels which, in contrast to the preceding track, is rather more severe than we might have expected. It starts off like an orchestrated version of Joy Division (New Dawn Fades or The Eternal, something like that!) then develops into a tuneful, elegiac procession culminating in a glorious conclusion featuring organ and harpsichord.

So who should like and therefore buy this album? For starters, anyone who likes tuneful, melodic but serious modern music, e.g. ECM aficionados - Touch's production values echo that special label's and this music is not a million miles removed from the most recent inspirations of, say, Garbarek or Rypdal. Also, fans of superior soundtrack music (Blade Runner? Kitaro's Silk Road? Lord of the Rings?) are sure to respond positively to a significant voice in the genre. However, anybody who has any interest in any of the other artists, groups or composers mentioned above is bound to find something here for them too. In short, a record of wide appeal and hopefully, second time around, equivalent success. Of its kind, this is a truly great achievement, a stunning document I urge you to investigate immediately. It is one of my favourite records, of any genre, released in the last decade, and an absolute classic film soundtrack.

Neil Horner

DUST TO DUST Soundtrack CD

Brainwashed.com:

Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, "Dust to Dust" Five films by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson have music featured on this compact collection. While over the last few weeks I have been listening to more soundtracks than ever, I've been finding that listening to them straight through (for many) can be quite repetitious. Themes frequently get repeated ad nauseam with jumbled up arrangements between instruments, scatterings of 1-minute tracks seem rather incomplete, and there's always a sense of something 'missing' — but that's really just the nature of the beast. A collection like this, however provides a ton of well-developed music, carefully collected and organized, and sparks an interest in the works of both HÖH and Fridriksson. Three tracks from 1991's award-winning "Children of Nature", seven from 1994's "Movie Days", six from 1994's "Cold Fever", two from 1996's "Devil's Island" and two proverbial selections from "Angels of the Universe" make up the tracklist. Hilmarsson's scores are heavy with emotions, subtly crafted in various ways,

either with conventional instrumental foundation like bass guitar, electronic reeds, or deep and decadent echoes, topped occasionally electronic samples, choral voices and weeping strings. I still have yet to see any Fridriksson film but the sounds here are enough to suggest I'm in for some very heavy stuff. Play this one extra loud. - Jon Whitney

RIMUR CD - CONTACT _Con-433938A724 \c \s \l Steindór Andersen / produced by Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson

Musicweb.co.uk:

"Icelandic Viking Poetry Chanting" is how the avant electro-folk group Sigur Rós described Steindór Andersen's contribution to their 2001 collaboration and that is a pretty accurate representation of the sounds contained herein. The great Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson is the common thread linking Andersen and Sigur Rós, here he has recorded the singer in various Icelandic locations:- "Tracks 1 to 7 … in the small confines of the traditional baðstofa, and the perspective was that of a member of the household listening in a typical evening wake situation", others inside a small turf church and the Salurinn Concert hall, with its "beautiful acoustics". Hilmar gives a detailed account of the recording process with the performer himself enlightens us to the history and development of rímur in a very readable but detailed fashion.

According to Anna M. Magnúsdóttir, rímur (plural of ríma) are "melodies sung to long narrative poems, characterised by irregular accents corresponding to changes in the underlying poetic metre". Like its Lydian mode dominated folk music, they are central to the Icelandic musical heritage and play a pivotal role in the music of the country's classical composers, such as Jón Leifs and Karl Runólfsson.On this inspired disc from Naxos World, Steindór Andersen proves to be an expert and genial guide. In their original settings rímur cycles can go on for hours so here we are treated to well chosen excerpts or "chapters" The subject matter ranges from "tales of ancient warriors, life's lessons, songs to the sea, and how to buy a horse!" and the composers dates span the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Most of the rímur are sung solo unaccompanied but in some Andersen's elemental voice is twinned with another chanter, a didgeridoo (that must be Hilmar's influence!) and an Irish harp. On the turf church recordings, he is occasionally accompanied by the howling wind outside, its haunting sound fitting the subject matter being sung about. It is perhaps an indication of my own musical preoccupations that I found the harp pieces particularly affecting but I also found some kinship within the more sparse pieces with the glorious sean-nos Irish singing tradition. This is a wonderful introduction to a virtually unknown genre outside its native land and should be of interest to anyone interested in Nordic/Celtic folk music or the wider musical traditions, classical included, of northern Europe. Recommended for serious listening but not as background music, "Adiemus" it isn't!

Neil Horner