Magnus Lindberg

Born in Helsinki, Finland, Lindberg studied piano and composition (with Paavo Heininen) at the Sibelius Academy, before moving to Paris in 1981 for further studies with Vinko Globokar and Gerard Grisey. In Helsinki, Lindberg (together with Esa-Pakka Salonen) formed an experimental ensemble, Toimii, for which he composed his first major work, Kraft (1985), for ensemble and large orchestra, which proved to be a great success. The violent complexity and radical experimentalism of this work and Action-Situation-Signification (1982) have given way to a more restrained style, in which harmonic and instrumental colors are conveyed through a combination of techniques adapted from spectral principles (deriving harmonies from the natural overtone series) and serial procedures (parametrical and pitch-set combinatorials). Recent pieces include the orchestral triptych Kinetics-Marea-Joy (1988-90), Corrente (1992) and Aura (1994). Lindberg uses computer technology as part of his compositional process, and often includes electronic keyboards in his ensembles, but he composes mainly for instrumental forces.