Matti Bye

Matti Bye (born 25 July 1966) is a Swedish pianist and composer. He has composed music for over 30 films and TV series as well as additional scores for theatre and dance pieces. In 2014, he was nominated twice at Sweden's Guldbagge Awards in which his soundtrack for the film Faro won the award. He also won a Gudbagge in 2009 for his score for the film Everlasting Moments. He has recorded and released numerous solo and collaboration records, include Hydra's Dream, with Anna von Hausswolff; Maailma, with cult Finnish songwriter Lau Nau; and has collaborated live with producer and musician Samuli Kosminen.

Life and career

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Bye was brought up by his mother, renowned Swedish actress Birgitta Andersson, while his father was Norwegian playwright Anders Bye. At the age of 20, Stockholm's celebrated Cinematheque Theatre contacted Bye about performing live to old silent films. "Silent film music was like a blank spot on the music map, but I recognised the freedom I’d have as a musician, and the force of the poetry in these forgotten images. To play piano for these films was like a dream. So I started my own ‘university’ in the cinema, improvising directly in front of the film screen, trying new pieces and styles in front of a live audience. The beauty is that you feel the past through these beautiful films,“ he says of the style that gradually developed in this environment, “but through the music you can add a new layer of something contemporary too." As his reputation spread, Bye recognised that, thanks to the diversity of his interests, he'd stumbled on a singularly romantic style. "I started out as a piano improviser," he says, "and suddenly I realised I was composing, and that I’m a composer."