Elementa Pro Organo – Organ Works by Egil Hovland

Egil Hovland’s life and range of activities can be viewed as a long journey through ever-changing musical landscapes. He was born into a musical family with ties to Seiersten bedehus, a religious meetinghouse. Thus Hovland’s earliest musical impulses were revival hymns. From there, his path led to an education in church music. When he had attained the highest level our country could offer, and with excellent marks, he continued his journey with composition studies in Norway, Denmark, Italy and the USA.
Hovland wrote large works — symphonies, concertos, operas, choral works, organ music, and much more — and he composed smaller-scale works, such as chorales and biblical hymns. In some aspects of his compositional activity, Hovland was someone who sought out new paths and broke new ground. Anyone looking for something in our national music that can be called “modernist” by twentieth-century standards will necessarily end up with Hov- land, among others. His experimental works often led to intense debates.
This shows that he emerged as one of the leading composers in our musical life. In the online edition of Store Norske Leksikon his achievements are summed up as follows: “Egil Hovland was one of the most distinguished, most versatile, most productive, and most frequently performed Norwegian composers of mod- ern times.” To this can be added that he is among those with the most works registered by the music copyright organization TONO, and he contributed the most melodies to the 2013 edi- tion of the Norwegian hymnal.
Hovland eventually concluded that he had reached the end of his path of experimentation. From the beginning of the 1970s, his activities are characterized by a strong determination to communicate with his audience, or, in a church context, with everyone participating in the music. Both the distinctive quali- ties of his melodics and harmonizing developed during this peri- od, as well as things he said himself, can lead to the view that he had returned to his point of departure. But compared with the beginning of his journey, he had returned with a wealth of expe- rience and a unique desire and ability to refine his compositions.
Egil Hovland was a performing church musician over the course of his active career, serving Glemmen Church the entire time, from 1949-94, a total of 45 years. It gave Glemmen’s musical life, especially its church choir, a distinctive reputation throughout Norway. And Hovland’s close contact with the musical life of the church as it unfolded in the midst of the congregation doubtless had an important reciprocal influence on this facet of his com- positional activity, one that left its mark on his compositions.
But the unique quality of Hovland’s profile does not emerge until we add the second observation, namely, that this towering fig- ure of Norwegian musical life used a great deal of his time and creative power in his efforts to shape and organise the music for worship service in all its forms. He generously put his boundless capacity for work at the disposal of various church projects over the course of two decades. In 1975 he became musical consultant of the Liturgy Commission and a member of the Hymnal Commit- tee. He also led the work on the Norwegian Chorale Book and the Norwegian Church Choir Book.
These efforts entailed his active participation in countless meetings for 20 years. He always arrived on time, cheerful and focused. For him the work was of utmost importance, and thus it had to be done, and meetings had to be scheduled. Characteris- tically for Hovland, the only excuse for not attending a meeting was if it was planned for the same time as one of his choir re- hearsals in Glemmen.
In retrospect, one can conclude that Hovland’s participation in these commissions and committees represented a conscious choice in the investment of his time and energy. His intense involvement in the renewal of the church music repertoire was distinguished by his commitment to quality, user-friendliness, and a pleasing sound. For this he deserves our sincere gratitude.
And the third observation? It is the beauty of Hovland’s written scores, so clear and decorative that they could be printed directly. For this reason they are known to all Norwegian church musicians. Hovland has, by virtue of the diligence and precision of his work in the early morning hours, indelibly impressed himself on the eyes and minds of a large generation of musicians of all ages. Do what you can, those who can — let the scores be heard!