It’s February 2018. The headlines read that the established Icelandic composer, Jóhann Jóhannsson had died in Berlin, aged only 48. Hearing the news, I listened to his works, now tinged with an unshakable melancholy (more so than normal) and bitterly reflected on how we have lost one of the great, genre defying composers of our times. Years later, his works continue to be admired.

Jóhannsson fit nicely into the radical gang of contemporary European neo-classical composers of the 2000 through to the 2010’s, along with the likes of Max Richter, Hauschka, Nils Frahm and Olafur Arnalds. Jóhannsson leaned into his literary knowledge, taking much inspiration from the novels he grew up reading and studying. Musically, the muse that is Brian Eno can seem obvious in hindsight when looking at Jóhannsson’s work, wherein the cultivation of classical with digital elements vis-à-vis reduction, which led him down a path of merging the acoustic and electronic in a beautiful symbiosis. This stylistic adoption permeates throughout Jóhannsson’s works until his death, and brought him acclaim in the area prior.

Throughout his youth he gradually established his reputation in Reykjavik’s music scene of the late 80’s. From shoegaze to alt-rock, he had an ability to jump genres and ended up being the glue that brought other popular Icelandic bands together like Múm, Sigor Rós and more. A sense of duty towards collaboration helped establish Jóhannsson as a grounded, reliable composer.

On the melancholy tone that permeates most of his later works he notes,

“’I think melancholy is kind of a misunderstood emotion. I don’t think it’s necessarily an unpleasant or bad emotion. There’s an emphasis, especially these days with social media, that everyone has to be this ecstatically happy person living this amazing life. Melancholy is a state that I very much enjoy being in, actually. It’s not the same as feeling sad. It’s a more complex emotion; it derives from a tragic view of the world, a tragic view of art.’”

— Jóhann Jóhannsson

Jóhannsson’s first real swing into the mainstream was with The Theory of Everything but the real magic started with his long-term collaborations with Denis Villeneuve. Death. Working on Arrival, Sicario, Mandy and Mary Magdalene, in tandem with personal projects and solo projects, Jóhannsson was just getting started.

His style was contemporary, but his works never feel patronising or bombastic. They are of an other worldly nature, speaking directly, translating music into an emotional rhetoric. Jóhannsson had an acute ability in understanding silence, or when and how to apply it. Combining these elements with live electronics to create a blended experience. His restraint and delicate approach was only trumped by his keen voice for speaking to the soul.

It’s easy to be drawn to Jóhannsson works, which clearly speak in an emotional language but one not trying to ‘wow’ the listener, but rather lure them in and speak to the back of their mind - there is no need for coaxing an emotional response, you would be hard done by trying to hold one back. This resonance, in tandem with his aptitude in understanding communication, is what made Jóhannsson ’s music so moreish, visionary and emotive.

Ultimately, it becomes apparent that Jóhannsson’s approach comes from a conceptual place, where ideas and abstract currents are weaved in thorough his work. Iceland, his birthplace, was to set the stage for what was to inspire much of his work. Expansive but with a sense of community, love and appreciation for the stoically beautiful.

Jóhann Jóhannsson: Emotional Resonance

SD