ABSTRACT
The advancement of choral music in Iceland was closely tied to the project of forging a national identity in the early twentieth century. This chapter traces the development of the country’s choral tradition from its tentative beginnings in the 1920s to the present day. Particular attention is given to events that featured choral music as a national symbol, such as the 1930 Alþingi festival and the celebration of independence in 1944. Despite this emphasis on local nation-building, the rise of Nazism in Germany and Austria resulted in the arrival of talented musicians who had a significant impact on the development of choral music in Iceland, lending it a more cosmopolitan, international outlook than might be assumed.
