Biography

Trygve Madsen (born 15 February 1940 in Fredrikstad) is a Norwegian composer and pianist. His music ranges from solo pieces and chamber works to concertos, symphonies, songs and opera. Across this catalogue runs a lifetime of collaboration with performers, students, writers and friends.

From Fredrikstad to Vienna

Madsen grew up in a musical family. He began playing the piano at six and writing short piano pieces at seven. He studied composition with Egil Hovland and piano with Ivar Johnsen, and later continued his studies with Erik Werba in Vienna. His first concert as a composer took place in Fredrikstad in 1956; his debut as a pianist followed in 1958, with an all-Bach programme.^[1]

Alongside his classical studies, he developed a lasting interest in jazz. The 2010 anniversary catalogue names Art Tatum, Erroll Garner and Oscar Peterson among the pianists who inspired him, alongside a wider musical world that includes Bach, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Ravel.^[2]

Music and the people who play it

Musicians including Frøydis Ree Wekre, Brynjar Hoff, Guy Dangain, Roger Bobo and Michael Lind have performed and recorded Madsen’s works. His music for wind and brass instruments includes the Sonata for Horn and Piano, Op. 24, and Sonata for Tuba and Piano, Op. 34. The French government commissioned his horn concerto, subsequently recorded by Wekre with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.^{[1] [2]}

His collaborations also extend to the stage. Both Circus Terra and Aurora have librettos by Jon Bing. Circus Terra received its first performance at the Prague State Opera in 2002; Aurora followed in Halden in 2005, marking the centenary of the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden.^[2]

The recordings offer several ways into this musical life: Jens Harald Bratlie’s 24 Preludes & Fugues, for example, or the 51 songs on Sanger og romanser, released in 2023.

Teaching and a life shared through music

Teaching has been an important part of Madsen’s career, including his years as senior lecturer in composition at the University of Oslo from 1995 to 2006. In the anniversary catalogue, former students recall a teacher who encouraged them to develop their own musical language.^[3]

Pianist and composer Wolfgang Plagge describes the combination of “rock-solid formal expertise” and “effervescent playfulness” in Madsen’s musicianship. His 2010 tribute is one of the personal recollections collected in the Archive.

Madsen stopped assigning opus numbers at Op. 156. He calls his works without opus numbers Handwristexercises. Both groups can be explored in the Complete List of Works, alongside a separate recordings catalogue with programmes and listening links.