Hrím (2010)

It is interesting to encounter Thorvaldsdóttir’s smaller works having been immersed in some of her larger ones. While the processes and journeys are often the same, in these works they are laid bare - they’re more discernible to the listener, but at the same time they present different opportunities for the composer. Hrím, for an ensemble of 14 players, is a good example. (...) Hrím’s development is taut, tense, and focused… It also clearly introduces some of Thorvaldsdóttir’s regular processes while revealing more about her seductive ear for instrumental colour. (...) Throughout [Hrím] it feels as though the ear, rather than the brain, is in control. That tells you how well the piece works with Ligeti’s Chamber Concerto, but also why Thorvaldsdóttir is a composer from whom we will be hearing a lot more.

...impulses spread through the ensemble towards pronounced structural events (the Icelandic title refers to the gradual growth of ice crystals). One of them, a room-stilling open chord of two notes, resounds just under four minutes in, pregnant with tension. Another sees a coalition of low instruments blossom outwards together with dark, heaving severity.