Born in 1958, he studied composition with Ib Nørholm at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen (1983-87), and subsequently with Per Nørgård at the Jutland Academy of Music in Aarhus. He has received many commissions from distinguished musicians and ensembles, including the London Sinfonietta, for which he wrote Shadowland. His Violin Concerto Sterbende Gärten received a recommendation of the unesco International Composers' Rostrum in Paris (1995) and the prestigious Nordic Music Prize (1996).

Selected works: Trotto for violin, cello, oboe and horn (1983), Lacrymae for orchestra (1984), Mädelein for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn (1985), Lacrimosa for choir (1985), Les Tuchins for two cellos, two trombones and two electric guitars (1986), Adieu for string quartet (1986), Clairobscur for large chamber ensemble (1987), The Lady of Shalott for viola (or violin, 1987), Minnewater for large chamber ensemble (1988), Angel's Music for string quartet 1988), Shadowland for large chamber ensemble (1988-89), Funeral Procession for violin, viola and chamber ensemble (1989), The Masque of the Red Death for piano (1990), The Echoing Garden for soprano, tenor, choir and orchestra with words by Cohen, Shakespeare and Rilke (1990-92), The Deserted Churchyard for six instruments (1990), Violin Concerto Sterbende Gärten (1992-93), The Lady of Shalott for string quartet (1993), Plainte d'un troubadour for oboe (1993), In Paradisum for two sopranos, choir and large chamber ensemble (1994-95), Schreie und Melancholie for string quartet (1994), Minnelieder - Zweites Minnewater for large chamber ensemble (1994), Sirenengesang for chamber ensemble and string quartet (1994), The Birds of Lament for two trombones and percussion (1995), Symphony (1995-96), La Notte. Piano Concerto (1996-98), Sinful Songs for large chamber ensemble (1997-98), Shadow Siciliano for guitar (1997), The Wings of the Night for string quartet and trombone (1997), The Lady and the Lark for viola and large instrumental ensemble (1997), The Night of no Moon for large chamber ensemble (1998-99), Sieben Sehnsźchte for violin and piano (1999), Looking of Darkness for accordion (2000), Lullaby for piano (2000), Vocalise for mezzo-soprano and violin, to a text by Peter Asmussen (2001), Six Songs for mezzo-soprano and violin, to texts by Ono no Komachi and Hwang Chin-i (2001), Cavatina for mezzo-soprano, violin and piano, to a text by Peter Asmussen (2001), Nocturnal for string quartet and trombone (2001), The Hill of the Heartless Giant for double-bass (2001), The Weeping White Room for flute, oboe, percussion, piano and string instruments (2002).

The Lady of Shalott. In February 1997, at the Tate Gallery in London, I saw a picture by the English Victorian painter John William Waterhouse. It kept haunting my memory, and since at the same time I had decided to write a piece for solo viola, the ideas for the music and the memories of the picture began to merge more and more together. I decided to borrow the title from Waterhouse's picture: The Lady of Shalott. The picture of an insane-looking, pale woman, perhaps singing, in a boat without oars, quietly gliding out from the reeds of the river bank, is an illustration of the end of Tennyson's poem of the same name, which in turn has its origins in the old legends of King Arthur.
My piece attempts to wind - like the river at Camelot - between these sources. The version for violin was composed in 1992.

Bent Sørensen