Maximus Musicus

The story and part of the music was written by Hallfríður Ólafsdóttir, principal flautist of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

The first book introduces Maximus, a mouse that finds his way into a concert hall, and enjoys many adventures as he explores the world of the symphonic orchestra rehearsing there.

The story is told to an abridged Boléro, the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth and Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man as well as Maxi’s Song, composed by author Hallfríður, and the Icelandic all-time favourite “Á Sprengisandi” by Sigvaldi Kaldalóns.

Maximus Musicus became very popular upon introduction in Iceland in 2008 and was both financially and critically successful for both authors and the ISO, as the family-concerts were uniformly sold out.

Maximus Musicus has gained international attention as the program has been translated from the Icelandic into English, German, Dutch, Portuguese (Brasil) and Korean.