The Moment and Eternity

Dorthe Højland Group
with Einar Már Guðmundsson

A live dialogue between poetry and Nordic jazz.

In The Moment and Eternity, Icelandic poetry and Nordic jazz meet in a live dialogue shaped by improvisation and attentive listening. The project is built around poems by Einar Már Guðmundsson, set to original compositions by saxophonist and composer Dorthe Højland.

On stage, the spoken word is not an accompaniment to the music — it is part of the musical fabric. Through open forms and subtle interplay, voice and ensemble respond to each other in real time, allowing atmosphere, phrasing and silence to shape the unfolding performance.

The result is an intimate concert experience where language and sound unfold together, inviting the audience into a shared and concentrated listening space.

English

Words have always been there.
Music has always been there.
It begins in language — and it begins in sound.

The poems can stand on their own.
The music can stand on its own.
Together, they create an expression that feels almost weightless —
almost luminous.

The Moment and Eternity is a meeting between music and poetry — between a Danish saxophonist and an Icelandic poet who were immediately drawn to each other’s artistic expression.

The music is composed for poems from the collection To Whom It May Concern.

The Poems

from To Whom It May Concern revolve around endings and beginnings, eternity and the present moment, light and darkness, memory and forgetting.

As one of the poems puts it:
“about time and words, the words and the world and everything in between.”


The music

supports, challenges and expands the emotional and symbolic landscapes of the poetry.

Einar Már Guðmundsson

is one of Iceland’s most distinctive literary voices. Over the years, he has received numerous awards, including the Nordic Council Literature Prize, the Karen Blixen Medal and the Swedish Academy’s Nordic Prize.

His work spans novels, short stories, poetry and essays. In 2016, his collected works were published in Danish. He is widely regarded as a significant voice in contemporary Nordic literature.

He has also collaborated with musicians in various artistic contexts.

The concert unfolds as an intimate and sensuous experience.
The music moves between composed and improvised passages, in close dialogue with the poetry and its shifting worlds.

A meeting of literature and music — between presence and resonance, moment and eternity.

Einar Már Guðmundsson and Dorthe Højland first met at Nordic Culture Week in Rødding in 2021. The connection was immediate.

Since then, Dorthe Højland has composed music inspired by Guðmundsson’s poetry. Together, they developed The Moment & Eternity — a project where music and poetry meet as equal voices.

Presse