Maj Sønstevold

Maj Sønstevold, a Norwegian composer and music teacher born in Sweden, belongs to the generation of Scandinavian creators who combined teaching with a very varied output. She was born in Soleftea in 1917 and died in Oslo in May 1996, although the exact day of her death is not known.

She studied piano in Stockholm and later in London, where she trained in jazz, improvisation and composition with Billy Mayerl. In 1945 she settled in Norway with her husband, the composer Gunnar Sønstevold. Between 1960 and 1967 she refined her technique in Vienna with Hanns Jelinek and Karl Schiske, and between 1970 and 1985 she taught at the University of Oslo.

Her ability to compose quickly opened the doors of film, radio and theatre. By around 1970 she had written music for some fifty dramatic productions, several of them together with her husband. These scores are eclectic in style and suited to the subject of each work, with a good sense of characterisation. Her concert music, by contrast, shows a personal and recognisable lyricism, with a clear fondness for jazz. Pieces such as Neun Haiku employ strict twelve-tone technique without falling into academicism.

Her legacy also extends to pedagogy. She was especially distinguished in the composition and dissemination of music for children and young people, and left writings such as the piano method ABC-jazz, published in Drammen in 1947, and the book Veien min vise vil vandre, Oslo, 1977.