Klaus Egge

Klaus Egge (Gransherad, Telemark, 19 July 1906 – 7 March 1979) was one of the most prominent Norwegian composers of the twentieth century. Trained in Oslo with teachers of piano, organ and composition, among them Valen, he then completed his composition studies with Gmeindl at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, between 1937 and 1938.

Before devoting himself entirely to composition, he worked as a singing teacher at several Oslo schools between 1933 and 1934, and edited the journal Tonekunst between 1935 and 1938. After the war his public presence was considerable: he chaired the Norwegian Society of Composers, worked as music critic for the Oslo daily Arbeiderbladet, presided over the Council of Scandinavian Composers, and served as vice-president of the Conseil International des Compositeurs. He received the Norwegian State Artist award in 1949, the Order of St Olav in 1958, and membership of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

His output is usually divided into three periods. In the 1930s he forged a personal style that combined ideas from popular music with conventional forms. Around 1939 his writing became bolder, although folk music remained the basic source, and tonal harmony gave way to a harmonic language based on fifths and fourths. After the Second World War, the Symphony No. 2 opened a third period in which the popular element carried less weight; Egge then drew closer to dodecaphony without abandoning a sense of tonality, as in the Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5, whose themes derive from twelve-note series. His work is further characterised by a constant interest in counterpoint and by a vigorous rhythm that often drives the movement forward.