Mats Ulf Stefan Björlin (21 May 1933 – 23 October 1993) was a Swedish

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 def ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. Bjorlin was known for being one of the most active opera composers in the 20th century.

Biography

Björlin was born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 1933. He studied music with conductor

Igor Markevitch Igor Borisovich Markevitch (, ''Igor Borisovich Markevich'', , ''Ihor Borysovych Markevych''; 27 July 1912 – 7 March 1983) was a Russian composer and conductor who studied and worked in Paris and became a naturalized Italian and French citi ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, Austria at age 19 and later continued his studies at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

, with teacher

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

. After completing his military service, he worked at the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera () is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm (borough), Norrmalm, on the eastern si ...

in Stockholm and at the Malmö College of Music. From 1962, he was employed as musical producer at

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...

and wrote music for several movies and television productions, including the series of films and TV series about the children on the island Saltkråkan (Seacrow Island), based on

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil i Lönneberga, Emil of Lönneberga, ...

's scripts. He also worked as music director for many years under

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

at the

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre (, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The theatre has been at its present lo ...

in Stockholm. Bjorlin came to the United States in 1977. He served as guest conductor for the London Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He worked with

Evert Taube Axel Evert Taube (; 12 March 1890 – 31 January 1976) was a Swedish author, artist, composer and singer. He is widely regarded as one of Sweden's most respected musicians and the foremost troubadour of the Swedish ballad tradition in the 20th c ...

, his neighbor from a very young age. Later, together with

Sven-Bertil Taube Sven-Bertil Gunnar Evert Taube (24 November 1934 – 11 November 2022) was a Swedish singer and actor. Internationally, he was perhaps better known for his acting career. Taube played Henrik Vanger in the film ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' ...

, he also produced a number of recordings of songs by Carl Michael Bellman,

and Ulf Peder Olrog. He conducted several recordings of orchestral music by fellow Swedes Johan Helmich Roman and

Franz Berwald Franz Adolf Berwald (23 July 1796 – 3 April 1868) was a Swedish Romantic composer and violinist. He made his living as an orthopedist and later as the manager of a saw mill and glass factory, and became more appreciated as a composer after ...

. Björlin received among other prizes the Fritz Gustaf Grafström Prize in 1961, and shared the Evert Taube Prize with Sven-Bertil Taube in 1975. He received the Swedish Music Achievement prize, In 1980, he received the 'Golden key' to the city of Newport, Rhode Island for his musical achievements and for bringing culture to their town. The 7th (?) of September was declared 'Maestro Ulf Bjorlin Day' by the Mayor of Newport. During his last years he worked in Florida mostly, where he was conductor of the Greater Palm Beach Symphony (since 1987) and the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra. He recorded several albums for the

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

label. He died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...

at the age of 60. He was survived by his wife, Fary; three daughters: Nadia, of Palm Beach, Katja Salen of Stockholm, and Kamilla Pariser of Marblehead, Mass.; three sons: Ulf Jr and Jean-Paul, both of Palm Beach, and Kaj, of Stockholm; two brothers, and two grandchildren. He had composed important work such as the "Musical Portrait of Raoul Wallenberg" and several operas in the years before his death. He was known to be the most active opera composer in the world in the 20th century. He is the father of actress Nadia Bjorlin, musicians Ulf Bjorlin Jr., and Jean-Paul Bjorlin, and of Henrik Björlin and Fredrik Björlin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorlin, Ulf 1933 births 1993 deaths Swedish composers Swedish male composers Swedish male conductors (music) 20th-century Swedish conductors (music) 20th-century Swedish composers Burials at Norra begravningsplatsen 20th-century Swedish male musicians Musicians from Stockholm