Eivind Buene - Personal Best (Trio Accanto)

Information

Composer: Eivind Buene

1. Personal Best: No. 1, Christian's collage
2. Personal Best: No. 2, I Saw Him Bring People to Tears
3. Personal Best: No. 3, Marcus' collage
4. Personal Best: No. 4, The Body is Not a Mistake
5. Personal Best: No. 5, Nic's collage
6. Personal Best: No. 6, It's Already Quite a Long Time
7. Serious Songs: No. 1, We Try
8. Interlude I
9. Serious Songs: No. 2, Under the Sun
10. Interlude II
11. Serious Songs: No. 3, O Death
12. Interlude III
13. Serious Songs: No. 4, Riddles, Mirrors, Silent Rooms

Eivind Buene, speaking voice

Trio Accanto

    Nicolas Hodges, piano

    Marcus Weiss, saxophone

    Christian Dierstein, percussion

Date: 2026

Label: LAWO Classics

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Eivind Buene’s Personal Best presents a work for Trio Accanto that dissolves boundaries between composition, performance, and reflection. Rather than emphasizing conventional virtuosity, the piece turns inward, exploring artistic, physical, and mental limits through contrasting textures and fluid interactions of sound, text, and presence. The album also features Serious Songs, Buene’s adaptation of Johannes Brahms’ Four Serious Songs, with the composer himself as vocalist, embracing vulnerability and imperfection. Performed by Trio Accanto, featuring Nicolas Hodges, Marcus Weiss, and Christian Dierstein, the recording highlights Buene’s exploration of music as a dynamic, reflective, and socially engaged practice.

Eivind Buene (b. 1973 in Oslo) is a prominent Norwegian contemporary composer and academic. Educated at the Norwegian Academy of Music, he later served as composer-in-residence with the Oslo Sinfonietta and is now a professor of composition. Buene has received commissions from leading international ensembles and festivals and has built an extensive, award-winning discography. His work often bridges notated composition and improvisation, reflecting a broad artistic scope. In addition to music, he is an accomplished writer, having published novels and essay collections since his literary debut in 2010.

Trio Accanto is an internationally acclaimed chamber ensemble consisting of saxophonist Marcus Weiss, pianist Stefan Wirth, and percussionist Christian Dierstein. Founded in 1994 by Weiss, Dierstein, and Yukiko Sugawara, the group later included Nicolas Hodges from 2013 to 2025. Renowned for its distinctive instrumentation—rare in classical music but common in jazz—the trio has significantly expanded the contemporary repertoire, inspiring nearly one hundred composers to write new works. Celebrated for its precision and interpretive depth, Trio Accanto has collaborated with leading composers such as Helmut Lachenmann, Wolfgang Rihm, and Rebecca Saunders. The ensemble performs regularly at major international festivals and maintains an extensive discography, reflecting its central role in advancing innovative contemporary chamber music.

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