Harald Saeverud

Norwegian composer Harald Saeverud (1897-1992).
He began composing music at an extraordinarily early age. In 1920 he attended the Berlin Hochschule für Musik, after which he returned to his home-town Bergen and earned his living playing music and teaching. The works that Saeverud composed at this time showed the influence of Brahms and Bruckner, but by 1926 he had begun to experiment with other musical styles. After the Nazi invasion of Norway Saeverud was driven to begin composing music that was characteristically Norwegian. His focus on the Norwegian style of music earned him great praise. In 1957 he was granted knighthood in the order of Saint Olaf, first-class.