I’ve been so busy since I got home that I never got round to talking about my visit to Myvatn, but, seeing as I’m uploading photos to my other posts, I can’t really wrap up Iceland without showing you some photos of this amazing volcanic region. I confess to spending my last few days as a tourist, pure and simple, although as a musician, you’re always noticing sounds – the ones that’ll stay with me are the grey lag geese cackling away, the ravens croaking – and the wind!
As you can see, by this point, the autumn colour was just incredible. It was also a lot colder than when I arrived in Iceland in August, but then at 65 degrees 37 minutes north, it’s not so far from the Arctic Circle.
Ever since I studied geology at school, I’ve wanted to walk round a volcanic crater, and here it is:
Back in Reykjavik I got chance to shop for books and CDs to give me a bit more food for thought musically. I took a bit of a punt on a CD setting poems by the poet Ólafur Jónsson with the following Icelandic composers:
Bára Grímsdóttir, Hugi Guðmundsson, Trggvi M. Baldvinsson and Thuriður Júnsdóttir
It’s good! I really think we should be exploring more music from Iceland and the Faroes here in the UK, and in Scotland in particular – we have so much in common – impressive landscapes, a strong traditional and contemporary scene and an understanding of what the weather can do to you! Actually, these are the most important impressions I took home with me from the Faroes and Iceland – that and the wonderful and generous musicians I met on my travels.
nordicviola 