Anders Erik Birger Eliasson (3 April 1947 – 20 May 2013) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Life

Eliasson was born in

Borlänge Borlänge is a locality in Dalarna County, Sweden with 44,898 inhabitants as of 2020. It is the seat of the Borlänge Municipality with a total population of 51,604 inhabitants as of 2017. History Originally Borlänge was the name of a tin ...

. His "earliest musical experiences originated from within myself: they were my own singing, and familiar tunes I heard on the radio. No classical music." Marching his toy soldiers up and down, he used to imagine sounds, learning only later to describe them as an orchestra. Aged 9, he began the trumpet, started up a small jazz orchestra (two clarinets, trombone, rhythm section, guitar, trumpet), and aged 10 he was writing arrangements. A jazz bass-player, "an unbelievable musician", taught him chords. Aged 14, he went to an organist, Uno Sandén, to learn

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

and

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

. Aged 16 he went for private study in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

to "the wonderful Valdemar Söderholm", who "confronted me once more with real music" – music such as he had first heard aged about 12. "The first real piece of music" which Eliasson heard "on a gramophone record was Haydn’s Symphony No. 104." Under Söderholm, he studied counterpoint: there followed five years’ intensive work on

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pren ...

Orlando di Lasso Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palest ...

and above all

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

, "the highest form of energy with which it’s possible to come into contact." From 1966 he was a student under Ingvar Lidholm at the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music ( sv, Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. At the time of its foundation, only one of its co-founder was a professional musician, Ferdin ...

, and until 1973 a member of the artistic committee of the Electronic Music Foundation, Stockholm. His first major successes were a choral work, ''Canto del vagabondo'' (1979), and his First Symphony (1989), for whose "originality, authenticity and musical clarity" Eliasson was awarded the

Nordic Council Music Prize The Nordic Council Music Prize is awarded annually by NOMUS, the Nordic Music Committee. Every two years it is awarded for a work by a living composer. In the intervening years it is awarded to a performing musician or ensemble. The Nordic ...

. In 1991 he was

composer in residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

at the Lapland Festival in Arjeplog and visiting professor at

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It als ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

in the academic year 1993/94. 37 works of Eliasson's were performed at the "1996 International Composer´s Festival Stockholm". From 2000 Eliasson had performed a

monodrama A monodrama is a theatrical or operatic piece played by a single actor or singer, usually portraying one character. In opera In opera, a monodrama was originally a melodrama with one role such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau's ''Pygmalion'', which wa ...

for soprano and 27 instrumentalists (''Karolinas sömn'' / ''Karolina´s Sleep'', premiered in 2012), a great number of chamber music as well as five large-scale concertos: a ''Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra'' (written for Christian Lindberg), a ''Concerto for Alto Saxophone and String Orchestra'' (for

John-Edward Kelly John-Edward Kelly (October 7, 1958 – February 12, 2015) was an American conductor and saxophonist. Born in Fairfield, California, Kelly began music studies in Belleville, Illinois studying clarinet, saxophone, flute and voice. Kelly focused o ...

, the dedicatee of Eliasson's 3rd Symphony), a ''Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra'' (for

Roland Pöntinen Roland Peter Pöntinen (born 1963 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish pianist and composer. Pöntinen was born to an Ingrian Finnish father and Swedish mother. He studied at the Adolf Fredrik's Music School and the Royal Swedish Academy of Musi ...

and Ulf Wallin), a ''Double Concerto for Violin, Viola and Chamber Orchestra'' as well as a ''Concerto for Violin and Orchestra'' (''Solitary Journey'', original title in German, ''Einsame Fahrt''). Together with the composers

Kalevi Aho Kalevi Ensio Aho (born 9 March 1949) is a Finnish composer. Early years Aho began his interest in music at the age of ten, when he discovered a mandolin in his home and began to teach himself how to play it. He soon was taken under the tutelag ...

, who was chairman of the jury, and

Magnus Lindberg Magnus Gustaf Adolf Lindberg (born 27 June 1958) is a Finnish composer and pianist. He was the New York Philharmonic's composer-in-residence from 2009 to 2012 and has been the London Philharmonic Orchestra's composer-in-residence since the begin ...

, Eliasson was juror in the ''2nd International

Uuno Klami Uuno (Kalervo) Klami (20 September 1900, Virolahti – 29 May 1961, Virolahti) was a Finnish composer of the modern period. He is widely recognized as one of the most significant Finnish composers to emerge from the generation that followed J ...

Composer Competition 2008/09''. From 2005 until his death, Anders Eliasson was composer-in-residence of the New York-based Arcos Chamber Ensemble. He died in

, aged 66. 'The International Anders Eliasson Society' was registered on 7 March 2016 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

; its inaugural meeting took place on 11 March 2016 at Stockholm's

Konserthuset The Stockholm Concert Hall ( sv, Stockholms konserthus) is the main hall for orchestral music in Stockholm, Sweden. With a design by Ivar Tengbom chosen in competition, inaugurated in 1926, the Hall is home to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic ...

Aesthetics

Eliasson became familiar with classical and

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

while still a student. "I was initially happy to be allowed to be a student in the proper way. But when I compared what was then fashionable to the classical period, the latter seemed so much better!" When he was accepted for Ingvar Lidholm's composition class, he was, he says, shocked, because "when I came into contact with luminaries such as Karl ic!Karkoschka (actually

Erhard Karkoschka Erhard Karkoschka (March 6, 1923 – June 26, 2009), was a German composer, scholar and conductor. Karkoschka was born in the German linguistic enclave of Moravská Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, and subsequent to World War II became a violinist for th ...

) or

Roman Haubenstock-Ramati Roman Haubenstock-Ramati ( he, רוֹמן האובּנשׁטוֹק-רָמָתִי; 27 February 1919 – 3 March 1994) was a composer and music editor who worked in Kraków, Tel Aviv and Vienna. Life Haubenstock-Ramati was born in Kraków. He stud ...

– who were delightful people – I suddenly lost all contact with the music I had inside myself." At that time, Stockholm was "a modernist fortress:

dodecaphony The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...

serialism In music, serialism is a method of Musical composition, composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other elements of music, musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, thou ...

aleatoric Aleatoricism or aleatorism, the noun associated with the adjectival aleatory and aleatoric, is a term popularised by the musical composer Pierre Boulez, but also Witold Lutosławski and Franco Evangelisti, for compositions resulting from "action ...

music,

musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, ...

– there was every technique and trend and fashion.

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

and

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for it ...

all taught in Stockholm. It was no big deal to master all that – it was only a question of techniques, not of music, nothing about it was authentic. ...It was a time of unbearable self-denial. Metrical rhythms, melodies, even particular intervals were all taboo in contemporary music. This was a catastrophe for the human voice and the human ear – was then, and still is." Anyone stepping out of line, he said, was immediately banished. He mentioned an example from Sweden,

Allan Pettersson Gustaf Allan Pettersson (19 September 1911 – 20 June 1980) was a Swedish composer and violist. He is considered one of the 20th century's most important Swedish composers, he was described as one of the last great symphonists, ...

Selected works

Orchestra

*1968: ''Exposition'' för kammarorkester (''Exposition'' for Chamber Orchestra) *1977: ''Canti in lontananza'' för liten orkester (''Songs from a Distance'' for Small Orchestra) *1978: ''Impronta'' för orkester *1978: ''Turnings'' för orkester (''Turnings'' for Orchestra) *1988: ''Fantasia per orchestra'' för orkester

Symphonies

*1984: ''Sinfonia da camera'' för kammarorkester (''Sinfonia di camera'' for Chamber Orchestra *1986: Symfoni nr 1 för orkester (Symphony No. 1 for Orchestra) *1987: Symfonie nr 2 (fragment; unpublished) *1989: ''Sinfonia concertante'': Symfoni nr 3 för altsaxofon och orkester (Sinfonia concertante: Symphony No. 3 for Alto-Saxophone and Orchestra 010: version for Soprano Saxophone and Orchestra *2005: Symphony No. 4 for Orchestra *2013: Symphony No. 5 (commissioned by Helsinki Philharmonic in 2016; to be premièred 29 May 2013; the composer talked about it, but never started work on it.)

Concerti

*1982: ''Concerto per fagotto ed archi'' för fagott och stråkorkester (''Concerto for Bassoon and Strings'') *1992: Klarinettkonsert – ''Sette passaggi'' för klarinett och orkester (Clarinet Concerto – ''Seven Paths'' for Clarinet and Orchestra) *1992: ''Concerto per violino ed orchestra d´archi'' för violin och stråkorkester (Concerto for Violin and Strings) *1992: ''Farfalle e ferro'': Concerto per corno ed archi för horn och stråkorkester (''Butterflies and Iron'': Concerto for Horn and Strings) *1996: Konsert för basklarinett och orkester (Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Orchestra) *2000: ''Concerto per trombone'' för trombon och orkester (Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra) *2002: Konsert för altsaxofon och stråkorkester (Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Strings 009: version for Soprano Saxophone and Strings *2005 ''Concerto per violino, piano ed orchestra'': dubbelkonsert för violin, piano och orkester (Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra: Double concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra) *2009: ''Concerto per violino, viola ed orchestra da camera'': dubbelkonsert för violin, viola och kammarorkester (Concerto for Violin, Viola and Orchestra: Double Concerto for Violin, Viola and Chamber Orchestra Horns, 2 Oboes und Strings *2010: ''Einsame Fahrt'' / ''Solitary Journey'' - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (original title in German)

Choral

*1979: "Canto del Vagabondo in memoriam di Carolus Linnaeus per orchestra, coro femminile e voce bianca" (''Canto del vagabondo in memoriam di

Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

'' for boy soprano, ladies choir and orchestra, in three movements: ''Conflitto'', ''Mezzogiorno'' (attaca) ''Infinito'') *1998: ''

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

anarca'': oratorium för sopran, alt, tenor, bas, blandad kör och orkester (''Dante Anarca'':

Oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass, Mixed Choir and Orchestra). Text: Giacomo Oreglia: ''Dante Anarca e i suoi sei maestri'' / ''Dante Anarca and his Six Masters'') *2007: ''Quo vadis'' för tenor, blandad kör och orkester (Quo Vadis for Tenor, Mixed Choir and Orchestra)

Works for string orchestra

*1981: ''Desert point'' för stråkorkester (''Desert point'' for String Orchestra) *1987: ''Ostacoli'' för stråkorkester (''Ostacoli''/''Obstacles'' for String Orchestra) *2001: ''Sinfonia per archi'' infonia da camera IIför stråkorkester (''Sinfonia per archi'' for String Orchestra hamber Symphony No. II *2003: ''Ein schneller Blick ... ein kurzes Aufscheinen'' (''A Brief Glance ... a Fleeting Vision'') för stråkorkester (for String Orchestra)

Selected chamber music

*1970/1992: ''In medias'' för soloviolin (''In medias'' for solo violin). Durata: 6 *1986: ''Poem'' (1986/1988) för altsaxofon och piano (''Poem'' for alto saxophone and piano ersion for alto saxophone and piano of ''Längs radien'', 1986 Durata: 10´ *1987: ''Sotto il Segno del Sole'' för slagverkare, 3 flöjter, 3 oboer, 3 klarinetter, 3 fagotter, 3 horn och kontrabas (''Under the Sign of the Sun'' for percussion, 3 flutes, 3 oboes, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 3 horns and double bass). Durata: 15´ *1991: ''Quartetto d'archi'' för stråkkvartett (''Quartetto d'archi'' for String Quartet). Durata: 20´ *2003: ''Pentagramm'' för oboe, klarinett, fagott, horn och piano (''Pentagramm'' for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn and piano). Durata: 16´ *2010: ''Fantasia per sei strumenti'' (''Fantasia for Six Instruments'': for flute iccolo and Alto clarinet, piano, violin, viola and cello). Durata: 10´ *2010: ''Trio för violin, vibrafon och piano'' (Trio for Violin, Vibraphone and Piano). Durata. 17´ *2012: ''Trio d´archi'' `Ahnungen´(''String Trio'' `Intuitions´; [for violin, viola and violoncello). Durata: 26´

Music drama

*2011: ''Karolinas sömn'' för sopran och kammarensemble (''Karolina´s Sleep'' for Soprano and Chamber ensemble). Libretto: Bengt Emil Johnson. Durata: 48´; premiered June 4, 2012 at Konsthallen Artipelag, Hålludden, Värmdön. Commissioned by the Royal Swedish Opera, Soloist: Lena Hoel; Kungliga Hovkapellet; Conductor: Daniel Blendulf; production: Christina Ouzounidis.http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/scen/varmdos-nya-konsthall-invigs-i-juni-med-nyskrivet-operaverk?rm=printkammaropera; . Retrieved October 31, 2012.

References

External links

*
Page on Eliasson
at the publisher Musikproduktion Jürgen Höflich
The International Anders Eliasson Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eliasson, Anders 1947 births 2013 deaths 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers People from Borlänge Municipality Swedish classical composers Swedish male classical composers 20th-century Swedish male musicians 20th-century Swedish musicians 21st-century Swedish male musicians Musikförläggarnas pris winners