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Magnus Lindberg




Lindberg was born in Helsinki . He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki under Einojuhani Rautavaara and Paavo Heininen , beginning with piano.

He attended summer courses in Siena (with Franco Donatoni) and Darmstadt (with Brian Ferneyhough). After graduating from the Sibelius Academy in 1981 he travelled widely in Europe, attending private studies with Vinko Globokar and Gérard Grisey in Paris , and observing Japanese drumming and Punk Rock in Berlin.

While at 16 Lindberg wrote a large orchestral work called ''Donor'', this was considered impossible to perform. ''Quintetto dell’Estate'' ( 1979 ) is generally held to be Lindberg's first opus. His first piece performed by a professional orchestra was ''Sculpture II'' in 1982, the second part of a trilogy whose first and third sections were never written. His first great success came with "Action-Situation-Signification" ( 1982 ), the first work in explored musique concrète. This piece was written for and premiered by the new-music ensemble Toimii ("It Works" in the Finnish Language ), which Lindberg founded during the summer of 1980 . Lindberg is a trained pianist and has performed several of his works as part of Toimii.

''Kraft'' ( 1983 - 85 ), another piece written for Toimii, was Lindberg's largest work to date, with over 70 harmonies and a meter-high score. It uses not only traditional instrumentation, but percussion on scrap metal and spoken word. Lindberg found this large work difficult to follow, and with the exception of 1986 's "Ur", he entered an extensive creative hiatus which was the last for over two years.

''Kraft'' made use of a Chaconne -type structure where the progression of the piece is based on a repeated chain of chords. It was this idea that served as the basis for Lindberg's next style. He returned with an orchestral trilogy consisting of ''Kinetics'' ( 1988 ), ''Marea'' ( 1989 - 90 ) and ''Joy'' (1990). Though Lindberg became less interested in electronic manipulation of sound, he still explored the possibilities of compositional software, and ''Engine'' displays complex counterpoint generated by computer.

Among the many prizes his music has won are the Prix Italia ( 1986 ), the UNESCO Rostrum (1986), the Nordic Music Prize ( 1988 ) for ''Kraft'', and the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for large-scale composition ( 1992 ).


WORKS

  • ''Arabesques'' ( 1978 )

  • ''Quintetto dell' estate'' for Flute , Clarinet , Violin , Cello and Piano (1979)

  • ''Linea d'ombra'' ( 1981 )

  • ''Action-Situation-Signification'' (1982)

  • ''Tendenza'' for 21 players (1982)

  • ''Ablauf'' (1983)

  • ''Ground'' for Harpsichord (1983)

  • ''Kraft'' (1983-85)

  • ''Metal Work'' ( 1984 )

  • ''Stroke'' for cello (1984)

  • ''UR'' (1986)

  • ''Twine'' for solo piano (1988)

  • ''Kinetics'' (1988-89)

  • ''Marea'' ( 1989 -90)

  • ''Joy'' (1989-90)

  • ''Moto'' (1990)

  • ''Steamboat Bill Jr.'' (1990)

  • ''Jeux d'anches'' for solo Accordian (1990)

  • Clarinet Quintet ( 1992 )

  • ''Duo Concertante'' for solo clarinet and cello (1992)

  • ''Corrente'' for chamber Orchestra (1992)

  • ''Corrente II'' for symphony orchestra (1992)

  • ''Decorrente'' (1992)

  • ''Kiri'' ( 1993 )

  • ''Songs from North and South" for chorus A Cappella (1993)

  • ''Coyote Blues'' for large chamber ensemble (1993)

  • ''Away'' for solo clarinet ( 1994 )

  • ''Aura (in memoriam Witold Lutoslawki)'' for orchestra (1994)

  • Concerto for piano and orchestra (1994)

  • ''Zungenstimmen (1994)''

  • ''Arena'' for orchestra ( 1995 )

  • ''Arena II'' for orchestra ( 1996 )

  • ''Engine'' (1996)

  • ''Related Rocks'' ( 1997 )

  • ''Feria''

  • ''Cantigas'' (1997-1999)

  • Concerto for cello and orchestra

  • ''Parada''

  • ''Fresco''

  • ''Corrente - China Version'' ( 2000 )

  • ''Jubilees'' for piano (2000)

  • ''Partia'' for cello solo ( 2001 )

  • ''Two Coyotes'' ( 2002 )

  • ''Bubo bubo'' (2002)

  • ''Bright Cecilia: Variations on a Theme by Purcell'' for orchestra (2002)

  • ''Chorale'' for orchestra (2002)

  • Concerto for orchestra ( 2003 )

  • ''Mano a mano'' for Guitar ( 2004 )

  • ''Ottoni'' for brass ensemble ( 2005 )

  • ''Sculpture'' for orchestra (2005)

  • Concerto for violin and orchestra (2006)



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