A short masterpiece from the Icelandic composer Jón Leifs! One of the few of Iceland. He has written four such orchestral pieces, all relatively short, rumbly and nature-derived:
- Hekla, for the volcano Hekla in Iceland
- Geysir, for, well, Geysir! The thing that shoots water from the ground hindreds of meters up.
- Hafis, which means drift ice
- Dettifoss, a waterfall in Iceland and the second most powerful in Europe, after the Rhine falls.
They are all very loud, grandiose and powerful pieces, with Hekla being the loudest in my opinion. It has musical elements derived from Norse music tradition and interesting instrument choices, like an anvil banged by hammers or literal rocks taken from Hekla itself! Jón Leifs would be especially protective of that reportedly. Check out this video for an explanation of all the pieces:
https://vid.puffyan.us/watch?v=HNdutACsIT8
Time was when an American about to go abroad would be warned by his friends or the guidebooks not to drink the water. But times have changed, and now a foreigner coming to this country might be offered the following advice:
If you visit American city,
You will find it very prett
Just two things of which you must beware
Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air!
Pollution, pollution!
They got smog and sewage and mud.
Turn on your tap
And get hot and cold running crud!