Arne Nordheim was born in 1931 in Larvik, Norway, and died in 2010 in Oslo. He studied organ, piano, music theory, and composition at the Oslo Conservatory and was a significant Norwegian composer. He became famous for Aftonland (1959) and Canzona for Orchestra (1961). Nordheim has been honored several times, and from 1997 he was an honorary member of the International Society for Contemporary Music.