- Staircase Sonata was first released as a single from Ólafs’ debut album, Absent Minded, in 2019.
- Ólafs was inspired to write the sonata during a storm:
- “‘Staircase Sonata’ is a piano song that I wrote when there was a horrible storm in Iceland, and the lake flooded into my studio. All my instruments and microphones were in a big pool of water, and the fire department came and carried my piano into the stairwell. Although it was an unpleasant event, I really enjoyed the reverb in the stairwell – so that’s where I composed the song. It’s bittersweet, but it’s meant to capture positivity in a moment of unhappiness.”1
- In 2024, Ólafs released the album Orchestral Works featuring orchestral arrangements of works from his previous solo albums, including an orchestral arrangement of Staircase Sonata.2
Sources
- “Icelandic pianist Gabriel Ólafs shares stunning new single ‘Staircase Sonata,'” Circuit Sweet (2019), accessed October 27, 2025, https://circuitsweet.co.uk/2019/08/icelandic-pianist-gabriel-olafs-shares-stunning-new-single-staircase-sonata/.
- “GABRIEL OLAFS RELEASES NEW ALBUM ORCHESTRAL WORKS,” Universal Music Canada (2024), accessed October 27, 2025, https://www.universalmusic.ca/press-releases/gabriel-olafs-releases-new-album-orchestral-works/.
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