Jón Leifs

Jón Leifs (May 1, 1899 - July 30, 1968), was an Icelandic composer.

Leifs was born in Sólheimar. He left Iceland in 1916 to study in Germany at the Leipzig Conservatory. He graduated in 1921 having studied piano, and then devoted his time to conducting and composing. He became successful as a conductor, and also as a writer.

He married Jewish pianist Annie Riethof. They had two daughters, Snót and Líf, and lived in Wernigerode and subsequently in Baden-Baden. His family was harassed by the Nazis. In 1944 he moved to Sweden, and in 1945 he moved back to Iceland. After returning to Iceland he eventually divorced his wife. One of his daughters, Líf, drowned in a swimming accident off the coast of Sweden, and he wrote his string quartet Vita et Mors in her memory.

Most of his works are about Icelandic natural phenomena. In the piece Hekla he depicts the eruption of the volcano Hekla which he witnessed. Dettifoss (Op. 57) was inspired by the Dettifoss waterfall, the most powerful in Europe. In the Saga Symphony he musically portrays five characters of famous Icelandic sagas. His last work, Consolation, Intermezzo for string orchestra was written as he was dying. He died of lung cancer in Reykjavík in 1968.

Leifs and his wife are the subjects of the film Tears of Stone / Tár úr steini (1995), directed by the Icelandic director Hilmar Oddsson.

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