Tail, Lathed

Instrumentation | percussion, flute, clarinet, violin and cello
Date | 2019
Duration | 6’
Premiere | Commissioned by The National Sawdust as winner of their Hildegard prize, and premiered by The National Sawdust Ensemble

Peter Margasak for Best of Bandcamp Contemporary Classical

(…) “Tail, Lathed” by Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir, a beguilingly elusive collage of frictive rhythmic spasms and terse, throbbing strings and reeds that recalls the fury of the natural world, but which ultimately forms its own logic and flow.

Alyssa Kayser-Hirsh for The National Sawdust Log

“Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir’s Tail, Lathed rounded out the program, incorporating visual elements through a handful of vintage light bulbs surrounding the ensemble. As the overhead lights in the room went out, a blustery soundscape set in, becoming increasingly rumbly without entirely eclipsing solo instruments that slowly emerged in time with the flickering of an individual light bulb. The resulting bleak expanse was penetrated with outbursts of arresting light and sound, until the work came to an abrupt ending.”

Amanda Cook for I Care If You Listen Editor’s Picks: 2020 Contemporary Classical Albums

“complex, textural, glacial blocks of sound”