TMF 2026: Kjartan Sveinsson & Aili Järvelä: Iceland's and Finland's mountains

Hear how the mountains of Iceland and Finland meet! The works of two powerful voices in contemporary music, Iceland’s Kjartan Sveinsson and Finland’s Aili Järvelä, will be performed side by side by the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra. The evening’s concert will feature Sveinsson’s dramatic work Der Klang der Offenbarung des Göttlichen (The Sound of Divine Revelation) and Järvelä’s beautiful and powerful VUORI (Mountain). The concert will be conducted by Kaapo Ijas.

Sveinsson’s work is a four-part “opera without a stage,” created in collaboration with artist Ragnar Kjartansson. It is based on Halldór Laxness’s novel World Light and combines choral singing, orchestration, and soundscape in a way that is both romantic and experimental. To the general public, Sveinsson is better known from the band Sigur Rós. Järvelä’s VUORI, on the other hand, is a new solo album in which her compositions and lyrics are combined with the sounds of the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Laura Hynninen’s harp, and Samuli Kosminen’s percussion. Järvelä has composed, written the lyrics, arranged and produced the songs herself, making the whole a personal work, full of nature and inner landscapes.

The first half of the concert creates a visual and auditory space without actors; the music and choir carry the entire story. The soundscape of the work moves between steady tones, harmonies raised by the choir, and subtle orchestral ensembles, and in the last part, the power bursts forth toward a pure sense of survival and revelation. The second half of the concert, on the other hand, conveys an intimate, delicate power. Järvelä’s voice, the violin, and the warm sound of the orchestra create an experience that feels like a journey toward an inner mountain peak. The texts and compositions build a story of growth, longing, and hope.