From the composers:

On August 18, 2019, a small group of scientists, activists, and international leaders gathered on a peak outside Reykjavik, Iceland, to mourn the loss of Okjökull, the first Icelandic glacier to be declared dead due to the toxic impact of climate change. Rapidly rising global levels of CO₂ due to human activity spelled the demise of this 700-year-old natural wonder. Unless humans change their ways, all of Iceland’s four hundred glaciers are expected to disappear for the same reason.

“Elegy for a Glacier” tells Okjökull’s story against the backdrop of human expansion, invention, and discovery, quietly punctuated by reports of steadily escalating CO₂ levels. The piece concludes with the words of acclaimed Icelandic author Andri Snær Magnason’s “A Letter to the Future,” read at the memorial ceremony and engraved on a plaque at the site: “Okjökull is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next two hundred years, all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it.” The plaque concludes with the August 2019 global CO₂ level: 415 ppm (parts per million.)

It is our hope that “Elegy for a Glacier” will amplify the urgency of this message, compelling us to act before it is too late.