Professor

“I teach not only facts but also experiences.”

Erik Förare, Jukka Rekola, Thomas Jennefelt, Gunnar Bucht, Pär Lindgren (standing), Staffan Hedin, Anders Hillborg, Ingvar Karkoff, about 1978.

As early as 1963 Bucht taught musicology at Stockholm University. In 1975 he was appointed Professor of composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, a position he held until 1985. His educational work has been of utmost importance for the growth of the new generation of Swedish composers and three of his former pupils are now Professors of Composition themselves: Pär Lindgren at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Ole Lützow-Holm at the School of Music and Music Education, Göteborg University and Jan Sandström at the College of Music in Piteå.

Apart from individual teaching Gunnar Bucht focused on seminars and invited many guest teachers. György Ligeti, Henri Pousseur, Klaus Huber, Luigi Nono and Isang Yung visited the department of composition and Brian Ferneyhough was a regular guest professor. Bucht says: “One important task for a teacher in composition is to create an environment favourable for discussions, curiosity of mind, broad orientation. The ideal form is the seminar.“

Some of Bucht’s former pupils:

• Peter Bengtson
• Dror Feiler
• Erik Förare
• Staffan Hedin
• Anders Hillborg
• Madeleine Isaksson
• Thomas Jennefelt
• Ingvar Karkoff
• Pär Lindgren
• Ole Lützow-Holm
• Sten Melin
• Anders Nilsson
• Karin Rehnqvist
• Jukka Rekola
• Stellan Sagvik
• Lars Sandberg
• Jan Sandström
• Henrik Strindberg
• Tommy Zwedberg

From the magazine “Tonfallet“, 1984