Christian Cappelen (26 January 1845 – 11 May 1916) was a Norwegian organist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Biography

Cappelen was born in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

, Norway. He studied under Ludvig Mathias Lindeman and at the Leipzig Conservatoire. In 1887, after 20 years as organist in Drammen (

Strømsø Strømsø is a borough of Drammen, Buskerud, Norway. Strømsø is located at the southern side of the river Drammenselva. Until about 1600, Strømsø was an island surrounded by the Drammenselva, but was later made landfast. In 1728 Strømsø ...

and Bragernes), he became organist at Vår Frelsers kirke (

Oslo Cathedral Oslo Cathedral () — formerly Our Savior's Church () — is the main church for the Church of Norway Diocese of Oslo, as well as the parish church for downtown Oslo. The present building dates from 1694 to 1697. The Norwegian royal family and th ...

), a position he held until his death in 1916. He gained a prominent position of the Norwegian Church music. He was also teacher at the practical-theological seminary at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

from 1890 until 1916. Cappelen was known as a highly skilled organ player and improviser, and he gave concerts all over Norway. As a composer he is within the

romantic era Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

, and was influenced by

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

and

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

. He published some songs, piano pieces, organ works, cantatas, and more. Especially known is his melody to the hymn "Min lodd falt mig liflig", which was part of the cantata for the 25-year anniversary of (Oslo Deacon Hospital) in 1894. In the Norwegian hymn book (1986), it was called "Min Herre har kalt meg". This hymn is missing from the Norwegian hymn book of 2013, but the melody is passed on to the hymn "Mer hellighet gi meg". Cappelen also prepared for the ''Messebog for den norske Kirke'' (1891). Cappelen died in Oslo.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cappelen, Christian 1845 births 1916 deaths 19th-century Norwegian classical composers 19th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Norwegian classical composers 20th-century Norwegian conductors (music) 20th-century Norwegian male musicians Norwegian male conductors (music) Norwegian male classical composers Norwegian Romantic composers Musicians from Drammen