Contemporary
Asbjørn Schaathun
b. 1961 · Norwegian composer
Asbjørn Schaathun (Norway, born 22 June 1961) is a Norwegian composer trained at the Norges Musikkhøgskole in Oslo and the Royal College of Music in London. His work belongs to the current of late twentieth-century contemporary music, in which he sought to reinterpret modernism.
Throughout his career he pursued a distinctive path: he took complex elements traditionally regarded as "modern" and extended them into larger-scale structures, combining them with a highly active performing practice. He founded the Oslo Sinfonietta to provide a stable platform for the performance of contemporary music and directed it for many years. Alongside this, he teaches and contributes regularly to music journals.
His relationship with the IRCAM centre in Paris has been a lasting one, and he has received commissions both from that institution and from other significant performing organisations. Among his awards is the Louis Vuitton prize of the Gaudeamus Foundation, awarded in 1991.
His catalogue encompasses orchestral and chamber music, including works for live electronics and tape. His legacy lies above all in the integration of electronics and compositional tradition within a contemporary language.
Notable works and achievements
- Musical Grafitti (II), Virtuoso Drawings for Amp Pf, Large Ens and Tape with Cosmic Sounds (1983, rev. 1984)
- Doubleportrait, vn concertante (1991–2)
- A Tabular System, ob, orch (1988, rev. 1994)
- Actions, Interpolations and Analyses (1987–90)
- Physis, amp pf, elecs (1986)
- Triplis, Mez, chbr ens (1995–7)