The Moment and Eternity

Dorthe Højland Group +
Einar Már Guðmundsson

A live dialogue between poetry and Nordic jazz

The Moment and Eternity brings together Icelandic poetry and Nordic jazz 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 woven into the musical fabric. Through open forms and subtle interplay, voice and ensemble respond to one another in real time, allowing atmosphere, phrasing and silence to shape the unfolding performance.

The result is an intimate and immersive concert experience, where language and sound meet in 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 stand on their own.
The music stands on its own.
Together, they create a floating and luminous expression — at once grounded and transcendent.

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

The music is composed for poems from the collection Til rette vedkommende (To whom it may concern).

The poems

from Til rette vedkommende 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. His work spans novels, poetry, essays and short stories, and has left a significant mark on contemporary Nordic literature.

Einar Már Guðmundsson is one of Iceland’s most distinctive literary voices. His work spans novels, poetry, essays and short stories, and has left a significant mark on contemporary Nordic literature.

He has received numerous awards, including the Nordic Council Literature Prize, the Karen Blixen Medal and the Swedish Academy’s Nordic Prize. His works have been translated into multiple languages and are widely read across Europe and beyond.

Audiences can expect a deeply present and sensuous concert experience. The music moves between composed and improvised passages, supporting and expanding the emotional and symbolic worlds of the poetry.

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

Dorthe Højland and Einar Már Guðmundsson first met at Nordisk Kulturuge in Rødding in 2021. The artistic connection was immediate.

Since then, Dorthe Højland has composed music inspired directly by Guðmundsson’s poetry, forming a symbiotic collaboration where music and literature merge into a unified artistic expression.

Presse