Magnus Lindberg (born June 27, 1958) is a Finnish composer.

Lindberg was born in Helsinki. He studied music at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki under Einojuhani Rautavaara and Paavo Heininen, graduating in 1981. He attended summer courses in Siena (with Franco Donatoni) and Darmstadt (with Brian Ferneyhough) and private studies in Paris with Vinko Globokar and Gérard Grisey.

"Quintetto dell’Estate" (1979) is generally held to be Lindberg's first opus. His first great breakthrough came with "Action-Situation-Signification" (1982), the first work in explored musique concrète. This piece led to the founding, with Esa-Pekka Salonen--a classmate of Lindberg and now a famous conductor--of the experimental ensemble Toimii ("It Works" in the Finnish language). Lindberg is a trained pianist and has performed several of his works as part of Toimii.

"Kraft" (1983-85), written for Tomii, was Lindberg's greatest work to date, with over 70 harmonies and a meter-high score. It uses not only traditional instrumentation, but percussion on scrap metal and spoken word. Lindberg found this large work difficult to follow, and with the exception of 1986's "Ur", he entered an extensive creative hiatus.

After two years, Lindberg returned with an orchestral trilogy consisting of "Kinetics" (1988), "Marea" (1989-90) and "Joy" (1990). These inaugurated a new style in which emphasis was placed on well-managed harmonic structure. Though Lindberg became less interested in electronic manipulation of sound, he still explored the possibilities of compositional software, and "Engine" displays complex counterpoint generated by computer.

Among the many prizes his music has won are the Prix Italia (1986), the UNESCO Rostrum (1986), the Nordic Music Prize (1988) and the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for large-scale composition (1992).

Works

• Arabesques (1978)
• Quintetto dell' estate for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (1979)
• Linea d'ombra (1981)
• Action-Situation-Signification (1982)
• Tendenza for 21 players (1982)
• Ablauf (1983)
• Ground for harpsichord (1983)
• Kraft (1983-85)
• Metal Work (1984)
• Stroke for cello (1984)
• UR (1986)
• Twine for solo piano (1988)
• Kinetics (1988-89)
• Marea (1989-90)
• Joy (1989-90)
• Moto (1990)
• Steamboat Bill Jr. (1990)
• Jeux d'anches for solo accordian (1990)
• Clarinet Quintet (1992)
• Duo Concertante for solo clarinet and cello (1992)
• Corrente for chamber orchestra (1992)
• Corrente II for symphony orchestra (1992)
• Decorrente (1992)
• Kiri (1993)
• Songs from North and South" for chorus a cappella (1993)
• Coyote Blues for large chamber ensemble (1993)
• Away for solo clarinet (1994)
• Aura (in memoriam Witold Lutoslawki) for orchestra (1994)
• Concerto for piano and orchestra (1994)
• Zungenstimmen (1994)
• Arena for orchestra (1995)
• Arena II for orchestra (1996)
• Engine (1996)
• Related Rocks (1997)
• Feria
• Cantigas
• Concerto for cello
• Parada
• Fresco
• Corrente - China Version (2000)
• Jubilees for piano (2000)
• Partia for cello solo (2001)
• Two Coyotes (2002)
• Bubo bubo (2002)
• Concerto for orchestra (2003)
• Mano a mano for guitar (2004)
• Ottoni for brass ensemble (2005)