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Ansgar Beste

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Composer Ansgar Beste, born 1981 in Malmö / Sweden, studied composition at 7 music academies in 4 countries, with Michael Obst, Luca Francesconi, Adriana Hölszky, Wolfgang Rihm, Hanspeter Kyburz and Beat Furrer.
His music has been programmed/played in 20 countries, by 19 radio stations and at 44 festivals like Venice Biennale (Ita) 2009, ECLAT Stuttgart (Ger) 2011 / 2016, Darmstadt Summer Course (Ger) 2012 / 2016, Donaueschingen Festival (Ger) 2012, Nordic Music Days (Fin/Isl/Gbr) 2013 / 2016 / 2017, Wien Modern (Aut) 2013, ISCM World (New) Music Days (Aut/Slo) 2013 / 2015, MATA New York (USA) 2014, Lucerne Festival (Sui) 2015, Ultima Oslo (Nor) 2015, Borealis Bergen (Nor) 2016, Gaudeamus Muziekweek (Ned) 2016, Ilios Harstad (Nor) 2017, Klang Copenhagen (Den) 2018, Ars Musica Brussels (Bel) 2018.
His commissioners include prominent ensembles, both at home and abroad. He has been awarded several major international prizes, such as the Stuttgart Composition Prize 2010 and the Delz Prize 2015, in addition to scholarships/grants from Villa Concordia Bamberg 2011 (Ger), Darmstadt Summer Course 2012 (Ger), Künstlerhaus Lukas Ahrenshoop 2012 (Ger), Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation (Ger) 2013 / 2015 / 2016, Akademie Schloss Solitude Stuttgart 2015 (Ger) and Künstlerdorf Schöppingen 2015 (Ger).
Ansgar Beste's three main concerns in composing are: innovative sounds, structure and theatricality. He is focusing his musical material on complex sounds and noise elements produced on conventional musical instruments in an unconventional, purely acoustic (non-electronic) way: By de-familiarizing the instruments' familiar sound world with a wide array of extended playing and vocal techniques and newly discovered preparations, he likes to play with the listeners' expectation, perception, experience and comprehension.
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Featured Pieces

Rituel Bizarre
'Bizarre Ritual' for prepared string orchestra / 13 prepared solo strings (12') (2008-10 / 2014)

18 E Instrumentation
Ordered by year. Most recent works appears first

Chamber Group ( 2 - 4 instruments )

Danse Canonique 'Canonical Dance' for two optional string instruments (6') (2007-09 / 2019) (2019)
Sandrose 'Sand Rose' for prepared quartet (cl in Bb, pc, pf, va) (12') (2012-15) (2015)
Transe-Formation 'Trance-Formation' for prepared electric guitar trio (12') (2013) (2014)
Pèlerinage Fantastique 'Fantastic Pilgrimage' for prepared string quartet (12') (2010/12) (2012)
Incontro Concertante 'Concertante Encounter' for prepared piano and prepared trio (fl, cl in Bb, vc) (12') (2010-12) (2012)

Mixed Ensemble

Newborn for prepared sextet (cl in Bb, trb, pc, hp, pf, vc) (8') (2016-18) (2018)

Solo Instrument

Dialogues Rêvants 'Dreaming Dialogues' for prepared (electroacoustic) harp (16') (2014-17) (2017)
Dialogues Sauvages 'Wild Dialogues' for prepared Paetzold square bass recorder in F or C (12') (2013-14) (2014)
Dialogues Fragiles 'Fragile Dialogues' for prepared violin (8') (2011) (2011)
Etude Théâtrale de l’Exploration du Timbre 'Theatrical Study on the Exploration of Sound' for prepared piano (10’10”) (2008-09) (2009)
Trois Impromptus 'Three Impromptus' for solo viola (11') (2005) (2005)

Percussion Ensemble

Mascarade Macabre 'Macabre Masquerade' for extended percussion trio (8') (2015-17) (2017)

Woodwind Quintet

Mascarade Obscure 'Obscure Masquerade' for prepared wind quintet mouthpieces (8') (2010-16) (2016)

Vocal Ensemble

Mascarade Nocturne 'Nocturnal Masquerade' for (prepared) (female/male/mixed) vocal sextet a cappella (10') (2016) (2016)
Poème Parodique (women choir) 'Parodistic Poem' for prepared women's choir (4'15") (2010-11) (2010)

Chamber Ensemble (5 - 9 instruments)

Newborn for prepared sextet (cl in Bb, trb, pc, hp, pf, vc) (8') (2016-18) (2018)
Mascarade Macabre 'Macabre Masquerade' for extended percussion trio (8') (2015-17) (2017)
Mascarade Obscure 'Obscure Masquerade' for prepared wind quintet mouthpieces (8') (2010-16) (2016)
Le carnaval des animaux 'The Carnival of the Animals' for prepared brass quintet (12') (2016) (2016)

Choral Ensemble

In the steppes of Sápmi (6 min) for (prepared) vocal sextet / mixed choir (SMezATBarB) a cappella (2014-15) - version 1 (6') (2015)
In the steppes of Sápmi (11 min) for (prepared) vocal sextet / mixed choir (SMezATBarB) a cappella (2014-15) - version 2 (11') (2015)
In the steppes of Sápmi (18 min) for (prepared) vocal sextet / mixed choir (SMezATBarB) a cappella (2014-15) - version 3 (18') (2015)
In the steppes of Sápmi (21 min) for (prepared) vocal sextet / mixed choir (SMezATBarB) a cappella (2014-15) - version 4 (21') (2015)
Poème Parodique (mixed choir) 'Parodistic Poem' for prepared mixed choir (5') (2010-11) (2010)

String Quartet

Pèlerinage Fantastique 'Fantastic Pilgrimage' for prepared string quartet (12') (2010/12) (2012)

String Orchestra

Rituel Bizarre 'Bizarre Ritual' for prepared string orchestra / 13 prepared solo strings (12') (2008-10 / 2014) (2010)
Danse Canonique 'Canonical Dance' for two optional string instruments (6') (2007-09 / 2019) (2019)
Dialogues Fragiles 'Fragile Dialogues' for prepared violin (8') (2011) (2011)
Dialogues Rêvants 'Dreaming Dialogues' for prepared (electroacoustic) harp (16') (2014-17) (2017)
Dialogues Sauvages 'Wild Dialogues' for prepared Paetzold square bass recorder in F or C (12') (2013-14) (2014)
Etude Théâtrale de l’Exploration du Timbre 'Theatrical Study on the Exploration of Sound' for prepared piano (10’10”) (2008-09) (2009)
In the steppes of Sápmi (11 min) for (prepared) vocal sextet / mixed choir (SMezATBarB) a cappella (2014-15) - version 2 (11') (2015)
In the steppes of Sápmi (18 min) for (prepared) vocal sextet / mixed choir (SMezATBarB) a cappella (2014-15) - version 3 (18') (2015)
In the steppes of Sápmi (21 min) for (prepared) vocal sextet / mixed choir (SMezATBarB) a cappella (2014-15) - version 4 (21') (2015)
In the steppes of Sápmi (6 min) for (prepared) vocal sextet / mixed choir (SMezATBarB) a cappella (2014-15) - version 1 (6') (2015)
Incontro Concertante 'Concertante Encounter' for prepared piano and prepared trio (fl, cl in Bb, vc) (12') (2010-12) (2012)
Le carnaval des animaux 'The Carnival of the Animals' for prepared brass quintet (12') (2016) (2016)
Mascarade Macabre 'Macabre Masquerade' for extended percussion trio (8') (2015-17) (2017)
Mascarade Nocturne 'Nocturnal Masquerade' for (prepared) (female/male/mixed) vocal sextet a cappella (10') (2016) (2016)
Mascarade Obscure 'Obscure Masquerade' for prepared wind quintet mouthpieces (8') (2010-16) (2016)
Newborn for prepared sextet (cl in Bb, trb, pc, hp, pf, vc) (8') (2016-18) (2018)
Pèlerinage Fantastique 'Fantastic Pilgrimage' for prepared string quartet (12') (2010/12) (2012)
Poème Parodique (mixed choir) 'Parodistic Poem' for prepared mixed choir (5') (2010-11) (2010)
Poème Parodique (women choir) 'Parodistic Poem' for prepared women's choir (4'15") (2010-11) (2010)
Rituel Bizarre 'Bizarre Ritual' for prepared string orchestra / 13 prepared solo strings (12') (2008-10 / 2014) (2010)
Sandrose 'Sand Rose' for prepared quartet (cl in Bb, pc, pf, va) (12') (2012-15) (2015)
Transe-Formation 'Trance-Formation' for prepared electric guitar trio (12') (2013) (2014)
Trois Impromptus 'Three Impromptus' for solo viola (11') (2005) (2005)