Olaus Andreas Grøndahl (4 November 1847 — 31 December 1923) was a Norwegian conductor,

singing teacher A voice teacher or singing teacher is a musical instructor who assists adults and children in the development of their abilities in singing. Typical work A voice teacher works with a student singer to improve the various skills involved in sing ...

and composer. The music journalist Cecilie Dahm described him as "... a central figure in Norway's choral movement". His best known work was ''Foran Sydens Kloster'' (''Ung Magnus og Foran sydens kloster''), a

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

for male choir. He also conducted the first performances of several choral works by

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

.Haselmann, Lena (2011)
"The relationship between Olaus and Agathe Backer Grøndahl and Edvard and Nina Grieg"
, paper presented at the Grieg Society conference ''Edvard Grieg and Denmark'' (Copenhagen 11 – 13 August 2011)

Life

He was born in Christiana (

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

), the son of the book printer Anders Grøndahl and Ingeborg Marie, née Wullum. His father's family was from

Romerike Romerike is a Districts of Norway, traditional district located north-east of Oslo, in what is today south-eastern Norway. It consists of the Akershus municipalities Lillestrøm, Lørenskog, Nittedal, Rælingen and Aurskog-Høland in the southern ...

, and his great-grandfather settled in Christiania at the end of 18th century. He took an examination in 1867 and originally studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

in university where he also directed the ''Studentersangforeningen'' (Student Song Society). In 1870, he gave up his theology studies to study singing. He studied in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

under Oscar Lindhult (1873) and at the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest music ...

. In 1878 he founded a mixed choir. He was the husband of the pianist and composer Agathe Backer-Grøndahl, whom he married in June 1875, having met in Germany. In the early 1900s, he was conductor for the Norwegian Royal University Male Chorus of Oslo with 45 singers, and in 1905, they visited the United States touring, and performed at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

for President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

. He served as a music teacher at the

University of Christiania The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...

. He died in Tonsberg on 31 December 1923.

References

External links

Images of Olaus Andreas Grøndahl
at the website of the Oslo Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Grondahl, Olaus Andreas 1847 births 1923 deaths Musicians from Oslo Norwegian classical composers Norwegian conductors (music) Norwegian male conductors (music) Norwegian music educators Norwegian male classical composers

Life

References

Further reading

External links