Magne Elvestrand (February 17, 1914 – July 31, 1991) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

pianist and

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

, best known as an

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

.''Store norske leksikon'': Magne Elvestrand.
/ref> Elvestrand was born in

Østre Gausdal Østre Gausdal is a former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1879 until its dissolution in 1962. The area is now part of Gausdal Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Segalstad br ...

. His father was an organist at

Østre Gausdal Church Østre Gausdal Church ( no, Østre Gausdal kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Gausdal Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Østre Gausdal, about northwest of the village of Segalstad bru. It ...

and

Follebu Church Follebu Church ( no, Follebu kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Gausdal Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Follebu. It is the church for the Follebu parish which is part of the Sør-Gudbrand ...

, and he allowed Magne to play there in 1927. Elvestrand studied organ under

Arild Sandvold Arild Edvin Sandvold (June 2, 1895 – August 12, 1984) was a Norwegian organist, composer, and choir conductor. Sandvold spent most of his career as the cathedral organist and cantor at Oslo Cathedral and as an organ teacher at the Oslo Conser ...

and

Fartein Valen Olav Fartein Valen (25 August 1887 – 14 December 1952) was a Norwegian composer, notable for his work in atonal polyphonic music. He developed a polyphony similar to Bach's counterpoint, but based on motivic working and dissonance rather th ...

, who dedicated his opus 33 to him,Grinde, Nils. 1981. ''Contemporary Norwegian Music, 1920−1980''. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, p. 23. and studied theory, harmony, and counterpoint under Gustav Fredrik Lange and

Per Steenberg Peder Steenberg (March 17, 1870 – June 28, 1947) was a Norwegian organist and composer from Nedre Eiker, best known for his church music. Life and career Steenberg graduated from the Oslo Music Conservatory and also studied abroad in Leipzig, ...

. At the age of 18 he was made cathedral organist at

Oslo Cathedral , native_name_lang = , image = Oslo Cathedral.jpg , imagesize = 230px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption = Oslo Cathedral from St ...

while

Eyvind Alnæs Eyvind Alnæs (29 April 1872 – 24 December 1932) was a Norwegian composer, pianist, organist and choir director. Personal life Alnæs was born in Fredrikstad, as the son of headmaster Johannes Jørgen Lauritz Alnæs (1835–1916) and Elise Ma ...

was ill and then continued in this function after Alnæs's death until Sandvold was appointed to the position. During the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Bach's death in 1950, Elvestrand played all of Bach's works at

Grefsen Church Grefsen Church is a long church ( no, langkirke) located in Grefsen, a neighborhood of Oslo, Norway. The church was consecrated by Bishop Eivind Berggrav on March 3, 1940 and it is the parish church of the Grefsen Parish. It is built of brick, ha ...

, where he was organist from 1940 to 1967. He debuted as a pianist in 1956, and he performed his first full harpsichord concert in Copenhagen in 1962. Elvestrand served as the organist at Trinity Church in Oslo from 1967 to 1984. As a teacher, he worked at the

Oslo Conservatory of Music Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of i ...

from 1942 to 1954 and from 1966 to 1973, at the

Norwegian Academy of Music The Norwegian Academy of Music (Norwegian: ''Norges musikkhøgskole'', NMH) is a university-level music conservatory located in Oslo, Norway, in the neighbourhood of Majorstuen, Frogner. It is the largest music academy in Norway and offers the co ...

from 1973 to 1984, and at the Huseby public school for the blind from 1952 to 1975. He retired in 1981. Elvestrand's solo album was nominated for the 1977

Spelleman Awards Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English, is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians. The award was established by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organiz ...

in the classical/contemporary music category, but the award was won by

Grex Vocalis Grex Vocalis (The Singing Band) is a Norwegian chamber choir, formed in 1971 by Carl Høgset. The repertoire spans from the renaissance to music by contemporary composers. The choir has been awarded the Norwegian Spellemannprisen prize (the Norwegi ...

. Elvestrand died in Germany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elvestrand, Magne Norwegian organists Male organists People from Gausdal 1914 births 1991 deaths Academic staff of the Oslo Conservatory of Music 20th-century organists 20th-century Norwegian male musicians