Magnús Blöndal Jóhannsson (8 September 1925 - 1 January 2005)[1][2] was an Icelandic composer, pianist and conductor.
Jóhannsson studied with Franz Mixa and Victor Urbancic at the Reykjavík College of Music (1935–7, 1939–45) and with Bernard Wagenaar and Marion Bauer at the Juilliard School (1947–53).
In 1971 Jóhannsson stopped composing for almost a decade; this extended silence was eventually broken with his Adagio (1980) for strings, celesta and percussion, which marks a significant stylistic shift in his music.
Like the works which followed, it abandons his earlier experimental style for a more simple, neo-romantic lyricism.
In 1995 Jóhannson handed over his works to the National and University Library of Iceland for preservation.