I first came to know Haflidi Hallgrímsson and his music in the early 1990s, and have since been consistently impressed by the depth and originality of his work. Passia, first performed in 2001, may be his finest achievement to date. Written to celebrate the millennium of Christianity in Iceland, it combines a monumental, timeless quality with an acute sense of human fragility in music of deft orchestration and highly effective vocal writing.

The text is drawn from a variety of Icelandic sources to form a continuous narrative which relates to the choruses and arias of the traditional Passion structure. There are moments of blazing light (as in the chorus’s reiterations of the word ‘passia’ at the opening of the second section) to punctuate the tenebrous journey travelled by soprano and tenor soloists (Mary Nessinger and Gardar Thór Cortes are outstanding in these demanding roles), and the work is essentially one of hope and optimism arrived at after a tortuous journey, which turns around the combination of physical brutality and divine mercy of the crucifixion scene that constitutes the fourth section: ‘Yea, between the sledge’s blows / They hear the Saviour praying…’.

Hallgrímsson’s use of the orchestra is extremely effective. Textures are essentially spare, thus making the more thickly scored passages stand out the more, and a notable feature is the colour provided by the organ, the magnificent instrument of the Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik.

An outstanding release, and one that should help to give Hallgrímsson the prominence he deserves.