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Ketil Bjørnstad (born 25 April 1952) is a pianist, composer and author. Initially trained as a classical pianist, Bjørnstad discovered
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
at an early age and has embraced the emergence of "European jazz".
Store Norske Leksikon The ''Great Norwegian Encyclopedia'' (, abbreviated ''SNL'') is a Norwegian-language online encyclopedia. It has several subdivisions, including the Norsk biografisk leksikon. The online encyclopedia is among the most-read Norwegian publishe ...
(in Norwegian)
Aschehoug H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), commonly known as Aschehoug,() is one of the largest independent publishing companies in Norway, founded in 1872. Headquartered in Oslo, the publishing house has 480 employees. The Aschehoug group also comprises o ...
.no (in Norwegian)
Rockipedia.no (in Norwegian) He is an artist on the ECM record label, but has also published some twenty books, including novels, poetry, and essay collections. He has collaborated with other ECM artists, including cellists Svante Henryson and David Darling, drummer Jon Christensen, and guitarist
Terje Rypdal Terje Rypdal (born 23 August 1947) is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. He has been an important member in the Norwegian jazz community, and has also given show concerts with guitarists Ronni Le Tekrø and Mads Eriksen as "N3". Career Rypd ...
.


Biography

Ketil Bjørnstad was born in
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
. He trained as a classical pianist and studied with Amalie Christie and Robert Riefling, and also in London and Paris. He showed great talent at a young age, and won the title of "Youth Piano Master" in 1966 and 1968. When he was 16, he made his debut as a concert pianist with
Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...
's third piano concerto. Bjørnstad subsequently turned towards
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
and rock, in close cooperation with the guitarist
Terje Rypdal Terje Rypdal (born 23 August 1947) is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. He has been an important member in the Norwegian jazz community, and has also given show concerts with guitarists Ronni Le Tekrø and Mads Eriksen as "N3". Career Rypd ...
, bassist Arild Andersen, drummer Jon Christensen and the American cellist David Darling. He has recorded more than 50 albums, for labels which include Universal, Kirkelig Kulturverksted and ECM. He is particularly famous for the work ''Leve Patagonia'' (1978), which features
Cornelis Vreeswijk Cornelis Vreeswijk (8 August 1937 – 12 November 1987) was a Dutch singer-songwriter and poet who lived and worked primarily in Sweden. Born to Dutch parents in IJmuiden, Netherlands, he emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age ...
and Lill Lindfors. His most famous song is " Sommernatt ved fjorden", sung by Ellen Westberg Andersen. Bjørnstad has released discs with a range of artists including Anneli Drecker,
Kristin Asbjørnsen Kristin Asbjørnsen (born 12 May 1971) is a Norwegians, Norwegian jazz singer and composer whose focus is on improvised music. She is known for musical projects like Dadafon including with Carl Haakon Waadeland, Krøyt, Kvitretten, and Nymark Co ...
, Kari Bremnes, Lill Lindfors, Randi Stene, Lynni Treekrem, Frøydis Armand, the '' Stavangerensemblet'', Anders Wyller, Per Vollestad and Ole Paus. He is internationally known for his Universal and ECM recordings, including ''The Sea'', duo recordings with David Darling and
Terje Rypdal Terje Rypdal (born 23 August 1947) is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. He has been an important member in the Norwegian jazz community, and has also given show concerts with guitarists Ronni Le Tekrø and Mads Eriksen as "N3". Career Rypd ...
, ''Grace'', with Anneli Drecker, Bendik Hofseth and Trilok Gurtu, ''Floating'' with bassist Palle Danielsson and percussionist Marilyn Mazur, which went to the top of the jazz charts in Germany, solo triple album ''Rainbow Sessions'' and ''The Light'', with Randi Stene and Lars Anders Land. ''Gramophone'' magazine has compared Bjørnstad's songs to those of
Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...
. His ECM-album, ''Remembrance'' (2010), adds to his catalogue of his serene, meditative work. Bjørnstad has worked in recent years with the Swedish cellist Svante Henryson. In 2000 he wrote the millennium oratorio ''Himmelrand'' (''The edge of the sky''), based on texts of the poet
Stein Mehren Stein Mehren (16 May 1935 – 28 July 2017) was a Norwegian poet, essayist and playwright. He made his literary debut as poet with ''Gjennom stillheten en natt'' (1960). He wrote more than fifty books, mainly poetry.
. He wrote commissions for the Molde International Jazz Festival in 2007 and for the Bjørnson Festival in 2008. He also wrote "Coast Lines" for the Canal Street Festival in Arendal in 2007 and "Hvalenes Song" for Vestfold International Festival in 2009. His music has often been used by film directors, including
Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...
and
Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...
. As a pianist he has toured all over the world, and visited jazz festivals including those in Montreal, Shanghai, Taipei, Rome, Nancy, Frankfurt, Leipzig, London,
Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...
and
Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production and fo ...
. (in Norwegian) Bjørnstad first appeared as an author in 1972 with the poetry collection ''Alone''. He has published about 30 books in all, including poems, novels and biography. Among his earliest novels are ''Pavane'' and ''Bingo – a virtue of Essentials''. His novel ''Oda!'', which is based on the life of Oda Krohg is regarded as a reference work on the bohemian scene in Kristiania (Oslo before 1924), and sits alongside his biography of
Hans Jæger Hans Henrik Jæger (2September 18548February 1910) was a Norwegians, Norwegian writer, philosopher and anarchist activism, activist who was part of the Bohemianism, bohemian group known as the Kristiania Bohemians. Biography Hans Henrik Jæge ...
. A translation of his biographical work ''The story of
Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...
'' was published in English to coincide with a Munch retrospective exhibition. Among his other literary works are the critically acclaimed ''Villa Europa'' and the ''Victor-Alveberg'' trilogy, which consists of the novels ''Drift'', ''Dream of the Sea'' and ''Road to Dhaka ''. Bjørnstad won the Riksmål prize in 1998 with ''Spiritual''. The same year he wrote a satirical book about football, ''The journey to Gaul'' with Ole Paus. Mention must also be made of the millennium trilogy which comprises ''Fall'', ''Ludvig Hassel's Tusenårsskiftet (Ludwig Hassel's Millennium)'' and ''Tesman''. (in Norwegian) Bjørnstad wrote the psychological thrillers ''The Custom Themes'' and ''Twilight''. The events of the latter take place in the archipelago of Tvedestrand Municipality, where Bjørnstad lived in the 1970s and 80s. More recently, Bjørnstad wrote an award-winning trilogy about the young pianist Aksel Vinding. It consists of the novels ''The music'', ''The River'' and ''Damen i Dalen (The Lady in the Valley)''. Bjørnstad's literary breakthrough in Germany came in 2006 with ''Vindings Spiel'' (''To the music'') published by Suhrkamp / Insel. The influential critic Elke Heidenreich described the novel as "a perfect book" in her ''Lesen!'' program for
ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...
, and it went straight into the bestseller list of ''
Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
''. The book was also Bjørnstad's literary breakthrough in France, and was awarded the ''Prix des lecteurs'' for 2008. ''To Music'' was published in English in 2009. In 2010, the novel was longlisted for The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. The three novels ''The Immortals/De Udødelige'', ''End of the World/Verdens Ende'' and ''Loneliness/Ensomheten'', are comparable to Bjørnstads Millennium-trilogy, where the author discusses the modern mans possibilities in a contemporary setting. In ''
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...
'', the critic Klaus Birnstiel wrote that ''The Immortals'' was "a great novel, not easy to forget". ''Master of dreams/Drømmemesteren'' is a biography about the Norwegian painter Bendik Riis who lived much of his life in different institutions. ''The Road to Mozart/Veien til Mozart'' is both a
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
-biography and a story about the authors childhood in Oslo in the Sixties and Seventies. The book received unison praise by Norwegian critics, and is sold to Suhrkamp/Insel in Germany On ECM, Bjørnstad has released the albums ''Life in Leipzig'', ''Remembrance'', ''Night Song'', ''Vindings Music'' and ''La Notte''. The albums ''Soloppgang/Sunrise'' (text by Edvard Munch) and ''A Passion for John Donne'' are written for choir and soloists, as well as ''Sanger om tilhørighet'', where Bjørnstad continue his collaboration with the Norwegian singer and saxophone player Håkon Kornstad. On 3 October 2014. Bjørnstad played for more than 50,000 people, outdoor at the Jarasum International Jazz Festival in Korea, together with
Terje Rypdal Terje Rypdal (born 23 August 1947) is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. He has been an important member in the Norwegian jazz community, and has also given show concerts with guitarists Ronni Le Tekrø and Mads Eriksen as "N3". Career Rypd ...
. In 2015, Bjørnstad recorded a new album with Ole Paus, called ''Frolandia''. He also launched a new novel, called ''The Sixties/Sekstitallet'', the first of six novels about the decades from the sixties to today. ''The Seventies/Syttitallet'', and then, annually: ''The Eighties/Åttitallet'', ''The Nineties/Nittitallet'', ''2000/Tyvetallet'' and, released in August 2020: ''The Last Decade/Siste Tiåret''. The series has so far sold in total more than 175,000 copies (Aschehoug Forlag). The first books have also been translated into German. In ''ZDF'' Matthias Heineman writes that Bjørnstad is "a solid storyteller". In ''Jyllandsposten'' Lars-Ole Knippel chose ''The Nineties/Nittitallet'' as ''one of the best book of the year''(2018). ''Verdens Gang'' writes about ''The Seventies/Syttitallet'' (2016):''This is truly an adventurous journey''. (Guri Hjeltnes) In recent years, as a musician, Bjørnstad has released a number of solo piano albums, ''Shimmering'' and ''Images'' from 2015, but also ''The World I Used To Know'' (Grappa 2019), recorded in Abbey Road's famous Studio 2 in London. The album was launched at the same time as two sold-out concerts in The Norwegian Opera, which marked Bjørnstad's fiftieth anniversary as a musician. The first concert was also filmed and shown on NRK. Bjørnstad's latest ECM-release is ''A Suite of Poems'' with Anneli Drecker and Lars Saabye Christensen. The same year, Grappa released ''Hun som kjenner tristheten ved ting'' with Eva Bjerga Haugen, based on lyrics by Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold. In April 2020, Grappa launched ''The Personal Gallery'' with violinist Guro Kleven Hagen. Three months later, Lawo launched ''Lofotoratoriet'' with Marianne Beate Kielland, and in March 2021, Simax will release a dress rehearsal-recording and DVD of his new opera ''Flagstad-an Opera'', a live performance from The Norwegian Opera in Oslo, November 2020.


Bibliography

*''Alene Out'' (poems, 1972) *''Closer'' (poems, 1973) *''Nattsvermere'' (novel, 1974) *''Kråker og krigere'' (novel, 1975) *''Pavane'' (novel, 1976) *''Winter Town'' (novel, 1977) *''The Country on the Other Side'' (novel, 1979) *''Bingo! or: A Virtue of Necessity'' (novel, 1983) *'' Oda!'' (documentary novel, 1983) *''The Personal Motive'' (novel, 1985) *''We Accuse! Treholtsaken and Legal Protection'' (revised edition, 1986) *''G-moll-balladen'' (documentary novel, 1986) *''Conversations with Lill'' (portrait interview, 1986) *''Oppstigning from the Invisible'' (novel, 1988) *''Storm'' (novel, 1989) *''Twilight Possibilities'' (novel, 1990) *''Villa Europa'' (novel, 1992) *''The Story about Edvard Munch'' (documentary novel, 1993) *''Euro'' (novel, 1994) *''Game! Ole Bull and Myllarguten'' (play in five acts, 1995) *''Blåmann: Music and Lyrics by 20 years'' (1995) *''Drift'' (novel, 1996) *''Dream of the Sea'' (novel, 1996) *''The Road to Dhaka'' (novel, 1997) *''Spiritual'' (novel, 1998) *''Fall'' (novel, 1999) *''Ludvig Hassels Tusenårsskifte'' (novel, 2000) *'' Jæger'' (biography, 2001) *''The Man Who Walked on Earth'' (2002) *''Tesmann'' (2003) *''Days and Nights in Paris'' (2003) *''To Music'' (2004) *''Flammeslukeren; Ole Bull – A Life.'' (2005) *''
Liv Ullmann Liv Johanne Ullmann (born 16 December 1938) is a Norwegian actress and filmmaker. Recognised as one of the greatest European actresses of all time, Ullmann is known as the muse and frequent collaborator of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, whom she date ...
– Life Lines'' (2005) *''Stories of Vulnerability (with Catharina Jacobsen)'' (2007) *''The River'' (2007) *'' Kolbein Falkeid – A Close-up'' (2008) *''Damen i Dalen'' (novel, 2009) *''De udødelige/The Immortals'' (novel, 2011) *''Drømmemesteren – Bendik Riis'' (2011) *''Belonging'' (2011) *''Verdens Ende/End of the World'' (novel, 2012) *''Ensomheten/Loneliness'' (novel, 2013) *''Veien til Mozart/The Road to Mozart'' (2014) *''The Sixties/Sekstitallet'' (2015) *''The Seventies/Syttitallet'' (2016) *''The Eighties/Åttitallet'' (2017) *''The Nienties/Nittitallet'' (2018) *''2000/Tyvetallet'' (2019) *''The Last Decade/Siste Tiåret'' (2020)


Discography


Books

* Ketil Bjørnstad. ''The Story of Edvard Munch'', London, UK: Arcadia, 2001. * Ketil Bjørnstad. ''Villa Europa'', Oslo, Norway: Aschehoug, 1992 (Norwegian).


Awards

*
Spellemannprisen The Spellemannprisen (also referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards) is a Norwegian music award ceremony presented by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry#Local associations, IFPI Norge and :no:FONO, FONO. It was first awarded i ...
1974 in the open class for ''Berget det blå'' * Sarpsborg Prize 1978 *
Riksmål Society Literature Prize The Riksmål Society Literature Prize (''Riksmålsforbundets litteraturpris'') is awarded annually by the '' Riksmålsforbundet'' for the outstanding publication in riksmål. The prize was awarded until 2002 by the ''Oslo and Bærum Riksmål League ...
1988 * Mads Wiel Nygaard's Endowment 1989 * Gammleng Prize in the open class in 2001 * The French reader prize ''Le prix des lecteurs'' for his novel ''To Music'' in 2008


References


External links

*
Ketil Bjørnstad at AschehougBiography at Kjell Kalleklev Management
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjornstad, Ketil 1952 births Living people Norwegian jazz composers Norwegian jazz pianists Norwegian classical pianists Norwegian writers Anthroposophists Musicians from Oslo Post-bop pianists People educated at Oslo Waldorf School People from Tvedestrand ECM Records artists Grappa Music artists Hubro Music artists Spellemannprisen winners