Dark Music Days
annual festival of contemporary and new music in Reykjavík, Iceland
Dark Music Days (Myrkir músíkdagar in Icelandic) is an Icelandic festival of contemporary music held annually in January in Reykjavík. Established in 1980 and arranged by the Icelandic Composers' Society, it is the leading festival of contemporary music in Iceland and one of the country's oldest music festivals.
History
The Dark Music Days festival was first held in January 1980 under the leadership of composers Atli Heimir Sveinsson and Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson, who were then in charge of the Icelandic Composers' Society. The idea was to create a vehicle for the performance of contemporary music by local composers. The organizers already had some experience in festival administration, having organized the ISCM festival in 1973, and the Nordic Music Days in 1976. They chose the month of January for the festival, since new music might be welcome in the darkness that envelops Iceland at that time of the year. It is the second oldest music festival in Iceland, after the Skálholt Music Festival (established in 1975); the multidisciplinary Reykjavík Arts Festival is also older (established in 1970) but, unlike the others, is not an annual event.
The first concert of the inaugural festival was given at Hamrahlíð College on 17 January 1980 and featured the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paul Zukofsky in works by six composers, including Atli Heimir Sveinsson, Jón Leifs, Jón Ásgeirsson, and Jón Þórarinsson.
In its early years, the festival concerts took place at various venues throughout Reykjavík, including Hamrahlíð College, Háskólabíó Cinema, and Kjarvalsstaðir. Since the opening of Harpa Concert Hall in 2011, it has been a hub for the festival though some concerts have taken place in other locations.
The public source identifies “Dark Music Days” as annual festival of contemporary and new music in Reykjavík, Iceland. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Dark, Music and Days.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Dark Music Days”, the useful work is to connect “annual festival of contemporary and new music in Reykjavík, Iceland” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q117606016. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1980, 1973, 1976 and 1975.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Dark Music Days”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Dark Music Days primary sources, Dark Music Days archive and Dark research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Dark Music Days”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Dark Music Days” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.