Role

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Composer Conductor

Period

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Contemporary

Genre

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Keyboard

 

 

Symphony

 

 

Vocal

 

Rolv Yttrehus was a Norwegian composer who was born on August 22, 1920, in Oslo, Norway. He was the son of a music teacher and grew up in a musical family. His father, Olav Yttrehus, was a well-known conductor and composer in Norway, and his mother, Ingeborg Yttrehus, was a pianist. Rolv Yttrehus showed an early interest in music and began playing the piano at a young age. Yttrehus studied music at the Oslo Conservatory of Music, where he was a student of the composer Bjarne Brustad. He also studied composition with the composer and conductor Olav Kielland. After completing his studies, Yttrehus worked as a music teacher and conductor in Norway. Yttrehus's early compositions were influenced by the Norwegian folk music tradition and the works of composers such as Edvard Grieg and Jean Sibelius. His first major work was the Symphony No. 1, which he composed in 1949. The symphony was well-received and established Yttrehus as a promising young composer. In the 1950s, Yttrehus began to experiment with serialism and other modernist techniques. His works from this period, such as the String Quartet No. 1 and the Piano Sonata No. 1, were characterized by their complex rhythms and dissonant harmonies. Yttrehus's most famous work is the opera "The Tempest," which he composed in 1964. The opera is based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name and tells the story of the magician Prospero and his daughter Miranda, who are stranded on a deserted island. The opera was a critical and commercial success and is considered one of the greatest Norwegian operas of the 20th century. Yttrehus continued to compose throughout the 1970s and 1980s, producing works such as the Symphony No. 4 and the String Quartet No. 3. His later works were characterized by a return to tonality and a more accessible style. Yttrehus was also a respected music educator and served as a professor of composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music from 1963 to 1987. He was a mentor to many young composers and was known for his supportive and encouraging teaching style. Yttrehus died on December 14, 2000, at the age of 80. He is remembered as one of Norway's greatest composers and a pioneer of modernist music in Norway. His works continue to be performed and recorded by orchestras and ensembles around the world.

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