The folksongs of Iceland will be performed for the very first time at the Kala Academy, Panjim on Saturday, February 8, all thanks to the Umbra Ensemble. The band was formed a decade ago with four women bringing in not just folksongs but a mix of original arrangements of medieval tunes and contemporary songs composed by the band members. Alexandra Kjeld, Arngerður María Árndóttir, Guðbjörg Hlín Guðmundsdóttir and Lilja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir, received a great response for their concerts in Kolkata and are now looking forward to their performance in Goa.
“The reception was great and it was an outdoor concert. The audience listened very carefully of what we have to say and sing and play and after the concert, we got a chance to speak to the audience. This was really good experience for us to come here and we don't take it for granted because this is very different music from Indian music. Although we can say that the stories are the same type, but the music is totally different. We are very grateful that we did have this good reception,” says Guðbjörg Hlín Guðmundsdóttir, a member of the touring band that has performed in various European countries as well as China.
The band has a big repertoire in ancient and medieval music, and also contemporary music as well. They have a composer in the group in Guðbjörg, who composes the songs that are arranged by the band. They are also doing new music, but always in the environment of this old sound with their instruments in their soundscape. One unique instrument is the langspil, a traditional Icelandic drone zither. It has a single melody string and 2 drone strings. “For a long time, this was the only instrument that was used because when we became protestant, the instruments were banned. This is the only one that survived as a local instrument. The women in Iceland used this instrument to play little songs together for storytelling. But I would like to add one thing regarding the instruments because on the concerts here, I also play Indian harmonium. And I have one at home in Iceland that was bought especially for me in Chennai from a business trip,” says Arngerður María Árndóttir.
Speaking about the exposure for women artistes in Iceland, Lilja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir informs that men and women share an equal status in every field. “There’s a strong equality in Iceland. We had the first elected woman president in the world, who won the 1980 presidential election and right now, we have Iceland's youngest prime minister, who is a 36-year-old woman. Culturally speaking, women and men are equal and we have a law that you have to ensure equal gender rights. Women rights are a big force in Iceland and we have come a long way compared to many other countries.”
The band has been here for ten days now and they see a vast difference between both the countries. “Iceland only has 400,000 people in the whole country and there's space for everybody. The first day in Kolkata and we got a cultural shock. But what we have noticed, that people are always so warm and wear beautiful clothes in Kolkata. In Goa, we went to the beach which is so warm. We will do sea swimming in Iceland but it it's freezing cold. It's very healthy for the body to have cold bath,” says Lilja.