Music at World’s End
SUNY Press, 2025/Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag, 2024.
“A pioneering work in exile music research.”
Albrecht Dümling, musica reanimata Society, Berlin
“Much more than a triple biography ... a valuable and necessary book.”
***** Magnús Lyngdal Magnússon, Morgunblaðið, 2024.
“A magnificent book, a must-read for anyone interested in Iceland’s music history.” Hjálmar H. Ragnarsson, emeritus Dean, Iceland University of the Arts
“Music at World’s End offers a wealth of new details and insight, with many new perspectives and details about how foreign musicians essentially built the foundation for classical music in Iceland.” Kimberly Cannady, Senior Lecturer, Victoria University
“Pioneering, perceptive, and eloquent, this book uncovers a fascinating chapter of music history that has largely been overlooked. Ingólfsson's study enriches our understanding of the interplay of migration and isolation, far from and yet in conversation with mainland Europe. This exploration of how music bridges worlds and transcends borders feels more timely than ever.” Tina Frühauf, CUNY Graduate Center, New York
Nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize, 2024.
The Songbook of Rev. Ólafur Jónsson
The first comprehensive edition of the remarkable collection of 51 songs to texts by the Icelandic pastor and poet Ólafur Jónsson (d. 1627), with essays and critical commentary.
Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 2024.
“Very informative and enlightening ... this new edition adds substantially to our knowledge of Iceland's cultural heritage.”
***** Magnús Lyngdal Magnússon, Morgunblaðið, 2024.
Jón Leifs and the Musical Invention of Iceland
A biography of one of Iceland’s most remarkable twentieth-century composers.
“A brilliant, panoramic biography ... a thoroughly absorbing study of a formidable and sometimes troubling figure who possessed one of the more original musical voices of the twentieth century. A major twentieth-century figure at last receives his due.”
Notable Book of the Year 2019, Alex Ross, therestisnoise.com.
“A carefully contextualised examination of his works and efforts to professionalise Icelandic music-making. Ingólfsson extols Leifs’s achievements, yet at the same time shows how vital it is not to overlook the troubled personality that so often disturbed others, and worked against himself.”
**** Steph Power, BBC Music Magazine, February 2020.
“An absorbing and significant work … Leifs’s musical career is placed in illuminating and fascinating context … By intertwining the narrative of Leifs’s personal turmoil and joys, political maneuverings, professional struggles, and creative triumphs, Ingólfsson allows the full view of Leifs as artist, composer, and man to become discernable. That complete and detailed picture is what makes this biography compelling.”
Dan White, Music References Services Quarterly, 2020.
Tónlist liðinna alda
Iceland’s music history from 1100 to 1800 told through music manuscripts held in libraries in Iceland, Europe, and the United States. Around 60 manuscripts are discussed, along with the music they contain and the people who wrote them.
“A fantastic book with much information about Icelandic music history. An incredible achievement ... this book admirably clarifies the historical connection between music-making in Iceland and the rest of Europe.” ***** Jónas Sen, Fréttablaðið, 2019.
Saga tónlistarinnar
A comprehensive history of Western music from the Middle Ages to the present day; the first such book to be written in the Icelandic language.
“Ingólfsson shares an immense amount of information, demonstrating the contexts of music history and drawing lively portraits of its masters. The style is light, yet carefully crafted and informative, and leads the reader through this work that glows with passion and genuine affection for the subject. Outstandingly well done.”
Árni Matthíasson, Morgunblaðið, 2017.
Nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize, 2016.
Jón Leifs - Líf í tónum
A detailed study of the composer Jón Leifs in Icelandic. For a version of this book in English, see Jón Leifs and the Musical Invention of Iceland, above.
“Ingólfsson can be very pleased with his work, which must count as one of the year’s most important publications, and will remain for a long time the key work on the life of this remarkable but flawed man.” ***** Páll Baldvin Baldvinsson, Fréttablaðið, 2009.
Nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize, 2009.
Listed as one of the 100 best Icelandic books of the 21st century, Heimildin, 2024.
