Magnus Lindberg (Finland）

• Internationally famous composer

Magnus lindberg was born in Helinki in 1958. Following piano studies he entered the Sibelius Academy where his composition teachersincluded Einojuhani Rautavaara and Paavo Heininen, The latter encouraged his pupils to look beyond the prevailing finnish conservativeand nationalist aesthetics, and to explore the works of the European avant-garde. This led around 1980 to the founding of the informagrouping known as the Ears Open Society including lindberg and his contemporaries Hameeniemi, Kaipainen, Saarigho and Salonen,which aimed to encourage a greater awareness of mainstream modernism, lindberg made a decisive move in 1981, traveling to Parifor studies with Globokar and Grisey. During this time he also attended Donatoni's classes in Siena, and made contact with Ferneyhough,Lachenmann and Holler.
His compositional breakthrough came with two large-scale works, Acion-Situation-Signification (1982) and Kraft (1983-85, which wereinextricably linked with his founding with Salonen of the experimental Toimi Ensemble. This group, in which lindberg plays piano andpercussion, has provided the composer with a laboratory for his sonic development. His works at this time combined experimentalismcomplexity and primitivism, working with extremes of musical material. During the late 1980s his music transformed itself towards a newmodernist dassicism,in(harmony,rhythm,counterpointmelody)were re-interpreted afresh for the post-serial era.Key scores in this stylistic evolution were the orchestral/ensemble triptychKinetics (1988), Marea (1989-90) and Joy (1989-90), reaching fulfilment in Aura (1993-94) and Arena (1994-95).
Lindberg's output has positioned him at the foreront of orchestral composition, including the concertopener feria (1997), large-scalestatements such as Fresco (1997), Cantigas (1999), Concerto for Orchestra (2002-3) and Sculpture (2005), and concertos for clarinet12002), two for violin (2006 and 2015) and two for cello (1999 and 2013). Works also include Seht die Sonne (2007, commissioned bythe Beriner Philharmoniker under Simon Rattle and the San Francisco Symphony, his first choral-orchestral work GRAFfITl, premiered inHelsinki in May 2009 and Era (2012) for the 125th anniversary of the Concertgebouw.
Lindberg was Composer-in-Residence of the New York Philhamonic between 2009 and 2012, with new works including Al Largo fororchestra and Piano Concerto No.2 premiered by Yefim Bronfman. Further residencies followed with the SWR Radio Symphony Orches.tra Stuttgart in 2011-12, and the London Phihamonic Orchestra in 2014-17, with commissions including Violin Concerto No.2 for FrankPeter Zimmermann. Recent works have included TEMPUS FUGlT, commissioned by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra to celebrate thecentenary of finnish lndependence in 2017, Serenades for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Piano Concerto No.3 premiered byYuja Wang and the San Francisco Symphony under Esa-Pekka Salonen in October 2022.
Lindberg's music has been recorded on the Deutsche Grammophon, Sony, Ondine, Da Capo and finlandia labels. Awards have includedthe Prix ltalia (1986), Nordic Music Prize1988), Koussevitzky Prize(1988), Royal philharmonic Society Prizel1992) and Wihuri sibeliusPrize (20 03).
Reprinted by kind permission of Boosey & Hawke