Maj Sønstevoldaus modern

Maj Sønstevold born Maj Lundén (* 9 September 1917 in Sollefteå; † 14 March 1996 in Norway, was a Swedish-Norwegian composer.

Life

She studied piano with Sven Brandel and Gottfrid Boon in Stockholm. She continued her studies with jazz, improvisation and composition with Billy Mayerl in London. In 1945 she married the composer Gunnar Sønstevold and took Norwegian citizenship, after which they settled in Norway. In 1966 she completed her composition studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.

Sønstevold was a very versatile composer. The list of her works includes art music, jazz, light music, serial music and avant-garde. She was heavily involved in film, theatre and television productions, contributing music to over 50 different dramatic productions where the musical style fitted well with the plot. The list of works includes orchestral works, chamber music, songs, popular music, works for choir and solo instruments – especially piano and harp.

Her works include the orchestral works The Strange Dreams Of The Old Major, Summerdays by the Sea and Festival Ouverture. Chamber music works include Nine Haiku for alto, flute and harp, composed in strict twelve-tone technique, and the piano piece Polytonal Blues, which expresses her interest in jazz.

Between 1971 and 1985 she taught harmony, instrumentation, counterpoint, music reading, jazz, film music and repertoire at the University of Oslo. In 1974 she and her husband founded “Gunnar og Maj Sønstevolds musikkskole” in Rakkestad in Østfold, Norway.

Source Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maj_Sønstevold