Marcus Paus

Marcus Nicolay Paus (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈmɑɾ.kʉs ˈpæʉs]; born 14 October 1979) is a Norwegian composer and one of the most performed contemporary Scandinavian composers. As a classical contemporary composer he is noted as a representative of a reorientation toward tradition, tonality and melody, and his works have been lauded by critics in Norway and abroad. His work includes chamber music, choral works, solo works, concerts, orchestral works, operas, symphonies and church music, as well as works for theatre, film and television. Paus is regarded as "one of the most celebrated classical composers of Norway" and "the leading Norwegian composer of his generation."Although often tonal and melodically driven, Paus's music employs a wide range of both traditional and modernist techniques, and several of Paus's works have been influenced by folk music and non-Western classical music. Paus has referred to himself as a "melodist," "anarcho-traditionalist" or a humanist composer, and is known for advocating musical pluralism. He has "garnered a reputation as a prolific, versatile, and highly communicative contemporary composer" whose "works revolve around a strong appreciation for the functional use of traditional harmonies and form, combined with his uniquely idiosyncratic contemporary expressive language." He has also been described as a lyrical modernist or a postmodern composer. In 2022 Paus was commissioned by the Norwegian Armed Forces to write a major "identity-building and unifying" work for the armed forces.

Marcus Paus has set to music poets and writers such as Dorothy Parker, W.B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde, Siegfried Sassoon, Richard Wilbur, William Shakespeare, Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson and Anne Frank, and Norwegians André Bjerke, Jens Bjørneboe, Arne Garborg, Knut Hamsun, Johan Falkberget, Harald Sverdrup and Ole Paus. His church music works include O Magnum Mysterium and Requiem. He is one of the few Norwegian contemporary opera composers and has written several operas for children in cooperation with Ole Paus. He co-hosts the podcast series Paus og Castle blir kloke på musikklivet (Paus and Castle Figure Out Music Life) with punk and rap musician Kim Morten Mohn.