Sven Libaek

Sven Erik Libaek (born 20 September 1938) is a Norwegian-Australian composer, record producer and musician. He composes film and TV soundtrack music and, as the staff producer for the Australian division of CBS Records, influenced the Australian popular music scene in the mid-1960s. In 1982, an album titled Endless Love peaked at number 71 in Australia; his only top 100 charting release.

Biography Libaek was born in Norway on 20 September 1938, trained as both a pianist and an actor and is a graduate of the Juilliard School in New York. He first achieved international recognition with a role in the Louis de Rochemont film Windjammer in which he both acted and performed as piano soloist with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Libaek first came to Australia in 1960 as a member of the band the Windjammers, which toured the United States and Australia to promote the film. Shortly after the group broke up, Libaek and his wife returned to Australia to live.

Libaek lived and worked in Los Angeles from 1977 to 1994 where he orchestrated more than 300 popular songs for US radio stations and artists including Lionel Richie and Neil Diamond, and he also worked for the Hanna-Barbera company, composing the scores for all of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 animated TV movies. For the Australian Centenary of Federation in 2001 he was commissioned by the Sutherland Shire Council to compose a work for symphony orchestra, choir and brass band, with words by his wife, Lolita Rivera. The First Shire was performed at Cronulla Beach in front of 10,000 people in January 2001.

Libaek's soundtrack music has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years following its use in the 2004 film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou; thanks to the influence of the film's Australian co-star, Noah Taylor. Its director, Wes Anderson, selected five Libaek compositions (originally written for Inner Space and Boney) as part of its score.

Filmography Films Year Title Director(s) Studio(s) Notes 1970 Nickel Queen John McCallum 1971 The SetFrank Brittain 1984 The Settlement Howard Rubie 1987 Yogi's Great Escape Paul SommerBob GoeRudy ZamoraHanna-Barbera Productions The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones Don Lusk Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers Paul SommerCarl Urbano Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce GooseRay PattersonArthur DavisOscar Dufau 1988 Top Cat and the Beverly Hills CatsPaul SommerCharles A. NicholsRay Patterson Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears Don LuskRay Patterson Rockin' with Judy Jetson Paul Sommer The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound Bob GoeJohn KimballCharles A. NicholsJay Sarbry Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School Charles A. Nichols Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf Ray Patterson