Bára Gísladóttir wrote VÍDDIR to mark the end of her studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. The title of the piece translates as ‘dimensions’, and from its first sounds of five bass flautists screaming, ‘as strong as possible’, into their instruments, it is clear that VÍDDIR is not a light-hearted leap into a new life. It is a black night of a piece. An abyss, into which Gísladóttir has dived and reached deeply. An unbroken hour in length, it returns again and again to its own dark light.

Bára Gísladóttir (b. 1989) is an Icelandic composer and double bassist based in Copenhagen. This CD presents a live recording of the work VÍDDIR from Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavik at the festival Dark Music Days.

The recording was previously released on the digital album 8226643, which was listed on The New Yorker’s Notable Recordings of 2022 list and named Album of the year 2022 by 5:4.

VÍDDIR was nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize 2022.

VÍDDIR is an hour-long piece composed specifically for the unique acoustics in Grundtvigs Kirke, Copenhagen on the occasion of Bára Gísladóttir’s graduation from the Royal Danish Academy of Music in February 2020.

Since then, the piece has had several performances in various spaces, becoming something different every time, since the space itself serves as the fifteenth performer of the piece.

The piece is scored for nine flutes, percussion trio, bass guitar and double bass, played by Gísladóttir herself.

When performing the work, the flutes are placed around the audience, embracing the listeners and the rest of the ensemble, creating a surround-sound effect.