Caput

At first Caput was primarily a holiday project, since almost all its 20 or so members lived and studied outside Iceland. During their holidays in Iceland the members of Caput met and gradually rehearsed a large repertoire, mainly of new Icelandic music, but in time also other contemporary music.

However, the international distribution of the members meant that a wealth of different inspirations were also brought home to Iceland and that an international network was built up.

In the course of just a few years Caput had made a name for itself as an ultra-professional ensemble, and this has also led to permanent support from the Icelandic Ministry of Culture and the City of Reykjavík. Recognition of the ensemble has also resulted in two previous nominations for the Nordic Council’s Music Prize (1997 and 1999).

Caput has travelled extensively to important festivals in Europe and the USA, but since it is expensive and difficult to transport such a large ensemble, CD recordings are a major element in Caput's activities.

The ensemble has appeared on many important releases, such as the landmark recording of Haukur Tómassons Guðrún's Fourth Song in 1997. For this work Haukur Tómasson won the Nordic Council's Music Prize in 2004.

Besides this CD Caput has recorded works by among others Jón Leifs, Snorri S. Birgisson, Hjálmar Ragnarsson, Atli Ingólfsson (Iceland), Sunleif Rasmussen (the Faroe Islands), Lars Graugaard (Denmark) and Nikos Skalkottas (Greece).

The early years of the ensemble are described in an article in Nordic Sounds No. 1/1995.