SFist Interviews Magnus Lindberg

The SFS is playing Seht die Sonne, which borrows its name from Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder. What is the influence of Schoenberg on the piece?

Magnus: The title is about the opening phrase of the last section of Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder, about the demons of the night, after partying, when they sing an ode to the sun as morning begins. I think this is such an interesting time in music history, when Schoenberg came back to conclude Gurre-Lieder after setting it aside for a period of time and he still wanted to finish it in a tonal manner, even though he was moving on from there. It was the farewell to tonality from Schoenberg. There is no other such contrast in music history. This is particularly fascinating for me. Seht die Sonne was written for Berlin last year and the second half of the concert was scheduled to be Mahler 9. I used a quote from Mahler 9 at the very beginning of this piece that is also connected to Schoenberg. I am more fascinated by Schoenberg’s tonal period than atonal. My favorite work of his is Five Pieces for Orchestra where tonality is still present but has gotten strange. I work with atonal music that is allowed to have tonal elements – the opposite of Schoenberg’s approach. I came to tonality from atonality. I am an atonal composer even if I use tonal elements.

By referring to Schoenberg in his still Romantic phase, prior to his atonal revolution, are you saying, maybe 12-tone music was not the right turn, maybe 20th century music did not have to go in that direction, let's go back to what came before it?

Magnus: Schoenberg structured atonal music. It would’ve been interesting to come to atonal music without a 12 tone structure. Think about Ligeti, Xenakis – they have done it this way now. Henry Cowell and Harry Partch worked on non-tonal music that was not based on 12 tone. I am not going back to the way it was before.

Any other influences that we would recognize in Seht die Sonne, or on your composition in general? In a review of Seht die Sonne, we found references to Debussy or Ravel. You have been called a "latter-day Sibelius", is Sibelius important to you?

Magnus: Yes, Debussy, Ravel and Sibelius are all important to me – especially Sibelius. Sibelius is mainly so due to his modal ways of working. I like large modalities with a rigid system. In this way you can compare me to Sibelius. However I’m not objective about Sibelius because I grew up with his music.

What music convinced you that you wanted to write your own? For which composer or piece did you go: man, that's cool, I want to do that?

Magnus: I started as a composer very early. I did not grow up in a musical family, and there was no classical music in our home, but my father bought me an accordion at age 6 and by the age of 7 I began writing music. I can’t say what my first influence was. The first orchestral scores I purchased were Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra and Beethoven’s Eroica. These I remember well, and both have been important to me ever since.

How do you explain that there is such a rich Finnish music writing scene, with you and Salonen and Saariaho? Why in the world sleepy little Finland would be a fertile ground for modern music?

[Answered by Ilkka Oramo, conductor Sakari Oramo’s father and one of Finland’s leading musicologists, who will give “Inside Music” talks one hour prior to each SFS concert. (Professor Oramo is a specialist on the music of Magnus Lindberg and will be interviewing the composer for part of the lecture)]:

I am very often asked this question. Our music school system in Finland has a lot to do with it. We have a network that makes sure that all interested and talented children have their tuition provided for from a very early age. This means that by age 15 or 16 there are many virtuosos already.

A more general answer would be to remind you that classical music has been a constant since the establishment of Finland as an independent state in 1917. (For 100 years before that we were under Russia’s control, and for 600 years before that we were part of Sweden.) Sibelius’s music has always been synonymous with Finland’s identity. Everyone in our country knows his “Finlandia.”

Magnus: In school we have kept the good elements of what the Soviets did for the arts.

Ilkka: Because education is free, at the Sibelius Academy we have many international students. There are very few places in the world where this education can be accessed for free.

Since we mentioned Saariaho, she's gained lots of attention for her operas, and you seem more focused on orchestral works. We're not aware of much vocal work from you. Are you tempted by the opera form?

Magnus: I will turn 50 next week and I have not yet done any vocal work. Actually the piece I’m working on right now utilizes choir so perhaps I will in the second half of my life. In 1991 Bernard Fouccrolle, the Brussels opera chef (who is now running the festival in Aix-en-Provence), asked me to write an opera, and now, 17 years later, I’m still digesting this opportunity to write for the stage.

The local prides here in the SF Bay Area for modern music, that's Berkeley's John Adams, or Mason Bates, right now composer-in-residence in Walnut Creek, and the big new commission of the SF Symphony next season . Do you know each other? Do you exchange composing tips? Do you follow his current works and the like?

Magnus: Yes, I know John Adams and like him and his music both very much. He is a good man. I know Mason and he is fantastic. I’ve checked out his dj approach on the web. I like electronic music very much. I worked with electronics in Paris from 1986-1996 and at the Electronic Music Studio in Stockholm in the late 1970s. I’ve done a lot with electronics, but not so much recently. There’s no reason I wouldn’t use it if an approach came to mind.

You title your work in many languages. I ran into some Spanish, French, German, English. As a Finn, you must speak Swedish and Finnish too. That's a lot! Are you that polyglot? How do you pick a name?

Magnus: Picking a name is always tricky. Sometimes the title comes easily like “Kraft” was for me in the mid-80s and other times it’s a real headache to find a proper title. A title is never neutral. I admire painters who don’t create a title. You can always number your compositions, but I find this boring, and then many accrue nicknames later.

I use language to place exotic references in my pieces. My Spanish titles such as “Cantigas,” “Parada,” and “Feria” don’t refer to Spain directly but on some level there is a connection to the spirit of Spain. I’ve been in Spain a lot in recent years, and this year already I’ve been in Portugal 3 times and plan to return, however I don’t actually speak Spanish or Portuguese – so I guess I’m not a polyglot!

Happy birthday for next week, and thank you so much!