Jóhann has been commissioned to write the score for the upcoming Warner Borther & Alcan Entertainment feature Prisoners, directed by Denis Villeneuve. The film will be released in the autumn of 2013.
Jóhann’s new piece “Hz” was premiered by the Bang on a Can All Stars at Merkin Hall in New York City on March 14th. The piece was commissioned as a part of Bang on a Can’s Field Recordings series.. The piece features super 8 film by Magnus Helgason and sound recordings from an old abandoned hydro-electric power plant in a valley outside Reykjavik. Here is a review in The New York Times.
Jóhann’s has won the prize for best composer (shared with Peyman Yazdanian) at the Golden Horse Awards in Taipei for his score for Lou Ye’s film Mystery
The New Yorker’s classical music critic Alex Ross has named The Miners’ Hymns as his best film score of the year.
Back to Back Theatre’s Ganesh vs. the Third Reich, which features a score by Jóhann Jóhannsson, is one of the 10 best theatre pieces of 2012 in the Guardian.
Hey Friends,
I’m really pleased to be a part of this amazing compilation that Headphone Commute put together to help benefit all those affected by Hurricane Sandy.
One of my tracks, “Melodia (IV)”, is on there, and 100% of all proceeds will be donated to two charitable organizations: Doctors Without Borders and The Humane Society.
Please donate whatever you can afford… we thank you all in advance for helping to heal the planet.
Sincerely,
Jóhann
Jóhann´s score for Phie Ambo´s feature documentary, Free The Mind, is now available from all major digital retailers.
Buy Free The Mind (Soundtrack) by clicking here.
The score is written for a 60 piece orchestra, piano, percussion and electronics. It was recorded in Studio 22, Hungarian Radio in Budapest and was conducted by Peter Pejtsik.
The film follows a group of veterans from the war in Afghanistan suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder who undergo treatment involving yoga and meditation, overseen by the world-renowned psychiatrist, Richard Davidson. By studying Buddhist monks, Davidson has found that it is possible to rewire your brain through meditation. Some of the effects are that you become more altruistic, compassionate and happy. Davidson also wants to study how early in life you can start, using the same methods of meditation and yoga in an experiment with children with ADHD. Through the film, we experience what meditation does to human beings and we investigate, if we, by using other methods than taking medicine to ease our pain, can lead less stressful and happier lives.
LP & Digital Download: NTOV5
Buy Copenhagen Dreams by clicking here.
A:
Eleven Thousand Six Hundred and Sixty-Nine Died of Natural Causes
They Leave Everything Behind
They Fed the Sparrows Leftovers and Offered Grass to Scherfig’s Turtle
An Eiffel Tower by the Lakes
Three Thousand Five Hundred and Ninety One Benches
The Jewish Cemetery on Møllegade
They Dream They´ll Get There
A Memorial Garden on Enghavevej
A Six-Lane Highway
He Hit Her on the Head with “The Wind in the Willows”
B:
He Says it´s the Future
There’s No Harm Done
They Had to Work it Out Between Them
The Song about the Hyacinths
It Will Take Some Time
She Loves to Ride the Port Ferry When it Rains
A French School on Værnedamsvej
Here, They Used to Build Ships
They Imagine the City Growing out Into the Ocean
The soundtrack to COPENHAGEN DREAMS features music for string quartet, clarinet, celeste, keyboards and electronics and was recorded with some of Jóhann’s favorite Icelandic musicians. The album is avialble on viny in a deluxe gatefold sleeve and as digital download on Jóhann’s own NTOV label, distributed by Cobraside. The album was also available as a limited edition CD release in a hand-made sleeve.
COPENHAGEN DREAMS is director Max Kestner’s documentary film portrait of Denmark’s capital. It’s a film about the physical surroundings that are part of shaping our lives. About the buildings we wake up in, the front doors we walk out of, the streets we traverse. It is also a film about how the way we live our lives affects our physical surroundings. About the places we dream of and the walls onto which we scratch the names of our loved ones, before it’s too late.
COPENHAGEN DREAMS focuses on the city as a physical entity – quite literally. The people are usually out of focus or on the periphery of the framework that constitutes a central part of the film’s aesthetic. This is to establish that Copenhagen is the main character of the film; the people are just passing bit players whose job it is to draw out the distinctive features of the protagonist.
Music plays a big part in the film. According to Jóhann: “Max Kestner approached me about writing the music for his documentary about Copenhagen. For me the project echoed the silent “city symphonies”, like Ruttman’s Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt, Vigo’s A Propos De Nice, or Vertov’s Man With a Movie Camera. Kestner’s film shares with those films a desire to capture the spirit, uniqueness, and poetry of a city by assembling images of everyday life in that city. It is documentary in the poetic mode and I tried to capture this mode in the music. The tone of Kestner’s film constantly shifts from the mundane to the lyrical, from the technocratic jargon of architects to the everyday banter of commuters and coffee house guests, from dry factual inventories to poetic meditations. I tried to reflect this in the music and to make the music the poetic voice of the city, so the music becomes a character of its own which binds the various levels of the film together.”
The film premiered at Danmarks Radio Concert Hall in 2009 as the opening film of the CPH:DOX festival with the score performed by a live orchestra and choir.
Jóhann will release his soundtrack to Max Kestner’s “city symphony”, Copenhagen Dreams, on June 18th. The album features music for string quartet, clarinet, celeste, keyboards and electronics and was recorded with some of Jóhann’s favorite Icelandic musicians. It will be available on vinyl only in a deluxe gatefold sleeve on Jóhann’s own NTOV label, distributed by Cobraside. The album will also be available as a limited edition CD release in a hand-made sleeve. This limited edition of 150 will only be sold on Jóhann´s European tour in May.
You can buy the gatefold vinyl record by clicking here.
UPDATE: The album is now also available from all major digital download retailers.
COPENHAGEN DREAMS is director Max Kestner’s documentary film portrait of Denmark’s capital. It’s a film about the physical surroundings that are part of shaping our lives. About the buildings we wake up in, the front doors we walk out of, the streets we traverse. It is also a film about how the way we live our lives affects our physical surroundings. About the places we dream of and the walls onto which we scratch the names of our loved ones, before it’s too late.
COPENHAGEN DREAMS focuses on the city as a physical entity – quite literally. The people are usually out of focus or on the periphery of the framework that constitutes a central part of the film’s aesthetic. This is to establish that Copenhagen is the main character of the film; the people are just passing bit players whose job it is to draw out the distinctive features of the protagonist.
Music plays a big part in the film. According to Jóhann: “Max Kestner approached me about writing the music for his documentary about Copenhagen. For me the project echoed the silent “city symphonies”, like Ruttman’s Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt, Vigo’s A Propos De Nice, or Vertov’s Man With a Movie Camera. Kestner’s film shares with those films a desire to capture the spirit, uniqueness, and poetry of a city by assembling images of everyday life in that city. It is documentary in the poetic mode and I tried to capture this mode in the music. The tone of Kestner’s film constantly shifts from the mundane to the lyrical, from the technocratic jargon of architects to the everyday banter of commuters and coffee house guests, from dry factual inventories to poetic meditations. I tried to reflect this in the music and to make the music the poetic voice of the city, so the music becomes a character of its own which binds the various levels of the film together.”
The film premiered at Danmarks Radio Concert Hall in 2009 as the opening film of the CPH:DOX festival with the score performed by a live orchestra and choir.
The Transcendentalism EP – released as a highly limited white-label 12” and as digital download – accompanies the triple-headline Transcendentalists European tour. Featuring brand new, exclusive works from all three artists, backed with specially-selected live recordings of special versions and new arrangements of existing pieces, Transcendentalism represents a musical snapshot of Dustin O’Halloran, Hauschka and Jóhann Jóhannsson as the tour approaches. Hauschka performs with touring partner Samuli Kosminen (aka múm’s masterful, Finnish-Icelandic percussionist), O’Halloran and Jóhannsson both realign previously-recorded material to string quartet arrangements in keeping with their respective live sets for the tour.
Available to buy at: http://fatcat.sandbaghq.com/index.php/transcendentalism-ep.html
Tour Dates:
15 May – De Duif, Amsterdam, Netherlands – BUY (http://www.paradiso.nl/web/show)
16 May – Heimathafen Neukölln, Berlin, Germany – BUY (http://www.heimathafen-neukoelln.de/)
17 May – Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium – BUY (http://www.abconcerts.be/en/concerts)
18 May – The Barbican Hall, London, UK – BUY (http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=12895)
19 May – Cork Opera House, Cork, Ireland – BUY (http://www.corkoperahouse.ie/events/j%C3%B3hann-j%C3%B3hannsson-hauschka-dustin-ohalloran)
20 May – Sugar Club, Dublin, Ireland – BUY (http://www.ticketmaster.ie/Johann-Johannsson-Dustin-OHalloran-Hauschka-tickets/artist/5033082)
21 May – Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, UK
22 May – Cafe De La Danse, Paris, France
Jóhann´s score for Back to Back Theatre’s Ganesh vs. the Third Reich has been nominated for Best Sound Composition at the Green Room Awards, Melbourne’s premier arts award. “From artistic excellence to technical innovation, a Green Room Award is the most revered accolade an artist can receive in Australia’s cultural capital.”
The Miners’ Hymns, Jóhann’s collaboration with the filmmaker Bill Morrison, has been getting excellent reviews both for its live screening with the Wordless Orchestra in the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden and during its run at NYC’s Film Forum. Read them here:
New York Times: Live concert review
Artforum
New York Times
The Onion
Popmatters Live concert review
Film Journal International
Popmatters.com
Variety
Village Voice
Spectrumculture.com
L Magazine
About.com
Jóhann is making landfall in North America for three exciting and unique performances. The first stop is New York City. Jóhann will perform in its entirety his most recent release: the haunting soundtrack to Bill Morrison’s film The Miners’ Hymns.. This performance features the Wordless Music Orchestra, a 22 piece brass and string ensemble and will be accompanied by a screening of the film. The event will take place at the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden. on January 31st as part of WNYC’s New Sounds Live Concert Series, hosted by John Schaefer – Admission is free; no tickets or reservations needed!
Next stop is Winnipeg, Manitoba, where, on February 3rd, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra will perform the world premiere of Jóhann’s A Prayer to the Dynamo, a new 40 minute piece commissioned by the WSO for the Winnipeg New Music Festival.. The piece takes its title from Henry Adams’ poem inspired by his mystical experience in the Great Hall of Dynamos at the World´s Fair in Paris in the year 1900.
Finally, Jóhann goes west to Los Angeles, where he’ll be joined by the Formalist Quartet for a retrospective concert at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. on February 8th. This will follow a performance on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic,” which airs on Tuesday, Feb. 7th at 11:15 PST.
In May Jóhann will tour Europe co-headlining with his labelmates and fellow composers, American pianist Dustin O’Halloran and German prepared-piano maestro Hauschka. The Transcendentalists Tour will visit The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and the UK.
15 May – De Duif, Amsterdam, NL
16 May – Heimathafen Neukölln, Berlin, DE
17 May – Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, BE
18 May – The Barbican Hall, London, UK
19 May – Cork Opera House, Cork, EIR
See an updated list of upcoming concerts here.
Jóhann has written the original score for American filmmaker and Sundance winner So Yong Kim’s feature For Ellen. The film is in competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and Jóhann will be present at the world premiere screening.
Jóhann has also started writing a new score for the documentary feature Free Your Mind by Danish director Phie Ambo (Family, Mechanical Love).
And another film related piece of news for now is the combined DVD/CD release of Copenhagen Dreams.(Drømme i København, 2010). Danish filmmaker Max Kestner made his ambitious Copenhagen city symphony to an original score by Jóhann, which has been released in a limited edition – and is available to buy here.