was born in 1958, and received his musical education from, amongst others, Per Nørgård and Ib Nørholm. His originality, imagination, and technical abilities were praised long before his major breakthrough in the mid-1980s. His first string quartet Alman (1984) along with the other three quartets, Adieu (1986), Angels’ Music (1988), and Schreie und Melancholie (1994), are still considered among Sørensen’s most important works.
The vastly productive 1990s were dominated by large-scale orchestral works. The major vocal works The Echoing Garden (1992) for soloists, choir and orchestra unfolds as wandering weightless melodies in an echo chamber of many different simultaneous tempi. The violin concerto Sterbende Gärten (1993) – a concerto in the grand tradition, dramatic, graceful, and wild; the Symphony (1996) and the piano concerto La notte (1998) are surrounded by several major ensemble pieces scored for a variety of forces, for instance, the enchanting concerto Birds and Bells for trombone and 14 instruments (1995), written for Christian Lindberg.
Danish playwright Peter Asmussen was so taken by the coexistence of the past and the present in Sørensen’s violin concerto that the two artists decided to work together on an opera commission from the Royal Danish Theatre. After five years of intense work and collaboration, the composer completed Under the Sky in April 2003. Bent Sørensen and Peter Asmussen have since continued to collaborate on the work Sounds Like You (2008) for actors and symphony orchestra, which premiered at the opening of the Bergen International Festival in 2009.
In the new millennium, Bent Sørensen’s music has gained tremendous international recognition, partly due to the continuing cooperation with the Bergen International Festival, resulting in the orchestral work Exit Music (2007) and the symphonic play Sounds Like You (2008). However, in addition, the second piano concerto La mattina (2009) written for pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, not to mention Tunnels de lumière (2010) written for Ensemble intercontemporain, have helped spark an international appetite for Sørensen’s works.
Bent Sørensen received the Nordic Council Music Prize in 1996 for the violin concerto Sterbende Gärten and the Wilhelm Hansen Composer Prize in 1999. Bent Sørensen is composer-in-residence at the Danish ensemble Scenatet and held that same title at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2011.

© Karl Aage Rasmussen

Major works (since 1995): The Birds of Lament for two trombones and percussion (1995), Symphony (1995–96), Birds and Bells for trombone and large instrumental ensemble (1995), Piano Concerto La notte (1996–98), Angelus Waltz for guitar (1996), 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 the Moon for large chamber ensemble (1998–99), Sieben Sehnsuchte for violin and piano (1999), Looking on Darkness for accordion (2000), Lullabies for piano (2000), Vocalise for mezzo-soprano and violin, to words by Peter Asmussen (2001), Six Songs for mezzo-soprano and violin, to words by Ono no Komachi and Hwang Jini (2001), Cavatina for mezzo-soprano, violin and piano, to words 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 strings (2002), The Weeping White Room for orchestra (2002), Intermezzi for two mezzo-sopranos, six violins and orchestra (2003), Under the Sky, opera (2003), Phantasmagoria for violin, cello and piano (2007), Sounds Like You for two actors, choir and orchestra (2008), Piano Concerto no. 2 La mattina for piano, orchestra and live electronics ad libitum (2009), It is pain flowing down slowly on a white wall for accordion and strings (2010), Tunnels de lumière for orchestra (2010), Gondole for violin, viola and cello (2010), Schattenlinie for viola, clarinet and piano (2010), Serenidad for clarinet, orchestra and tape (2012), Doll Steps in Venice for clarinet and orchestra (2013), Rosenbad–Papillons for piano, two violins, viola and cello (2013), Trumpet Concerto (2013), Ständchen for orchestra (2013), Behind a Backyard for soprano and orchestra (2013), Pantomime–Papillons for soprano and orchestra (2014), Mignon–Papillons for piano and strings (2014).