Born on 1st August 1932 in Marienwerder, West Prussia, he studied at Akademie für Musik und Theater in Hannover, 1952-1957. He studied composition with Fritz von Bloh, a pupil of Hindemith's. He also studied at the Mozarteum (Summer Academy) in Salzburg and at Accademia Chiggiana in Siena 1965. He was a viola player at the Hannover Opera 1956-1957 before joining the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, where he remained 1957-1961. He has been a viola player at the Stockholm Opera 1961 - 1993.

As a composer he has developed, apart from formal lessons, by means of independent studies, seminal publications being the composition text books of Alois Haba, Johann Mattias Hauer and Josef Rufer. Seminar studies with Iannis Xenakis, Bruno Maderna, Hermann Scherchen and Istvan Kertesz have played no less an important part. Distinctions have included 3rd prize 50thanniversery competition Prague Broadcasting Orchesra 1965, Light Music Award Stockholm 1976, the first Carl Maria von Weber Prize, Dresden (1978 for his chamber opera "Abu Said" & 1986 for "It was raining yesterday"), 1st prize Florilège Vocal de Tours/France 1990, Balearic Music Foundation Award Palma 1990, Gregynog Award Wales/Gr.Britain 1994, Oare String Orch. Award Kent/Gr.Britain 1995, Stockholm Culture Capital 1998 Award 1996.

Eyser has also written music for the concert platform. This point needs making, perhaps, since his reputation is predominantly based on operatic successes (Abu Said, Summer´s Day, King of Hearts, The Deep Water, Bermuda Triangle, The Unaccomplished Flyswatter, It Was Raining Yesterday, Charly MacDeath, Dorian Gray). In addition to his chamber operas his works - including chamber, wind, orchestral, vocal music, ballet music, electronic music - have been played in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Gr.Britain, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Canada, USA., Japan, Argentina, Belgium, Italy. Composer debut: Gaudeamus Week 1965 Holland.

His musical language is free from exaggeration, he eschews all overloading as regards both the technicalities of scoring and the atmosphere of the music itself. He prefers clarity, though not necessarily without complication. The eminent German musicologist Gerd Schönfelder has epitomised Eyser by describing one of his most successful works, the chamber opera Abu Said (1976, to a libretto by Axel Strindberg) in the following terms:

"The Swedish composer shows how the theme of individual and mass movement can be portrayed in music, even without a tremendous orchestral and choral apparatus, and in spite of this constraint there are no frustrating vacuums" (Neues Deutschland).

Hans-Gunnar Peterson (rev 2001)

Recordings:
King of Hearts - Last Voyage, chamber opera (CAP 1080)
Persistance Pays, Circus - 2 overtures (BELL 113+PSCD 48)
The Deep Water, chamber opera (CAP 1247)
Anacrón for Orchestra (VMM CD 302)
Duo 3C for violin & marimba (nosag CD 059)


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