Lars-Gunnar Bodin (15 July 1935 – 10 May 2021) was a Swedish pioneer in the field of electronic music during the 1960s, especially in the Scandinavian scene.Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, ''All music guide: the definitive guide to popular music''; pp.1078-9, Hal Leonard Corporation, 2001, , .

Education and early career

Bodin was born 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 ...

, and studied

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

and traditional compositions under Lennart Wenström. Bodin joined the art group

Fylkingen Fylkingen - New Music and Intermedia Art is an artist-run venue and member based organisation committed to contemporary experimental performing arts. Over 300 artists from various disciplines use the space to develop and present new work. Today Fy ...

in 1962. With growing notoriety, Bodin made a point to increase the interest in Swedish artistic electronic music. In 1967, Bodin and his friend Bengt-Emil Johnson directed the Stockholm festivals of text-sound composition. In 1969, Bodin was appointed the chairman of Fylkingen, a position he held until 1972. He visited the United States as a Composer in Residence at Mills College, California, in 1972. In 1979 Bodin was made Director of the Electronic Music Studio (EMS) in

, and he was a prime mover in its transfer from Kungsgatan 8 to new, purpose-designed facilities in the Munich Brewery on Södermalm.

Death

On 10 May 2021, Bodin died in his home in

Gnesta Gnesta () is a bimunicipal locality and the seat of Gnesta Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 5,562 inhabitants in 2010. Gnesta is located in Södermanland, on the border to Stockholm County. As situated near the county boundary Gn ...

, surrounded by friends and loved ones.

Works

Two of Bodin’s most famous works are "Clouds" LP and "En Face". In Bodin’s work he has devoted himself to many different fields of contemporary music: instrumental theatre, text-sound composition, multi-media works and interaction between instrumentalists and tape recordings. The encounter between language and music has inspired him with several works, and his compositions frequently include phonetic elements. Concern for detail is one aspect of his working methods which is frequently mentioned by his colleagues. This concentration on the micro level does not impede him from building up large-scale, block-like, multi-layer processes.

Notes

External links

Ode To Gravity:A Visit with Lars Gunnar Bodin, 1971

Interviewed by Charles Amirkhanian in 1982

L-G Bodin´s Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bodin, Lars Gunnar Swedish composers Swedish male composers Litteris et Artibus recipients 1935 births 2021 deaths Musicians from Stockholm