Sorrow March

Sorrow March is the third and final novella in Gyrðir Elíasson’s “Artist Trilogy,” which additionally includes the prior novellas Sand River Sketches and South Window. While the earlier protagonists were a painter and a writer, respectively, this third story features a composer—although he would never refer to himself as such. His job is in fact in advertising, writing copy to sell anything from coffee to cars, but his passion, or compulsion rather, is music. Jónas has the unique gift of being able to hear music in the everyday sounds and noises all around, whether it be birdsong or the hum of a refrigerator. And he is constantly jotting down what he hears in a notebook he carries with him at all times.

While each story in the cycle is independant and stands on its own, the three viewed as a whole reveal the trilogy as an attempt to address similar themes through the lens of three different artists. Each is dealing with some kind of personal difficulty in life, typically an estrangement from a spouse or their children. Each seeks an escape into solitude somewhere remote, a cabin or house in a woods or small village, where they attempt to regain some sense of control in their lives by tackling the challenge in their chosen art form.