Ole Mørk Sandvik (9 May 1875 – 5 August 1976) was a Norwegian educator, musicologist and folk-song collector.

Background

Sandvik was born on the island of Helgøya in

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

, Norway. He was a son of school inspector

Paul Knutsen Barstad Sandvik Paul Knutsen Barstad Sandvik (9 April 1847 – 24 December 1936) was a Norwegian educator and musician. Biography He was born at Ørsta Municipality in Møre og Romsdal, Romsdalen county, Norway. He was a son of Knut Barstad and his wife Ragnhild, ...

(1847–1936) and his wife Nikoline Petrine Mørk (1847–1927). His parents hailed from

Ørsta Ørsta may refer to: Places * Ørsta (village), an urban village area within Ørsta Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway *Ørsta Municipality is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, ...

and

Volda Volda may refer to: Places *Volda Municipality Volda is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre i ...

. Three years later, his family moved to

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

where he grew up. He graduated

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1893. He then began studying at the University of Kristiania. In 1897 he undertook theology studies. He graduated

cand.theol. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

in 1902. He also graduated from the seminary at Hamar (''Hamar lærerskole'') in 1895.

Career

Sandvik spent most of his career at the two schools; Vestheim (''Vestheim høyere skole'') from 1898 to 1913 and Hegdehaugen (''Hegdehaugen skole'') from 1913 to 1945. He also worked part-time as a singing teacher 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 ...

and the

MF Norwegian School of Theology MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society (MF for short) is a Norwegian private specialized university. MF focuses on education, research and dissemination of their fields of expertise. The specialized university is located at Majorstu ...

, from 1916. He remained at the university until 1947 and at MF until 1952. He took his doctorate in 1921 with the thesis ''Norsk folkemusik, særlig Østlandsmusikken''. This was the first thesis on

Norwegian folk music Much has been learned about early music in Norway from physical artifacts found during archaeological digs. These include instruments such as the lur. Viking and medieval sagas also describe musical activity, as do the accounts of priests and ...

. The thesis was built on several travels in Norway, especially the

Gudbrandsdal Gudbrandsdalen (; ) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending toward the Romsdalen vall ...

region, where he collected this music. A polemic took place between Sandvik and colleague Catharinus Elling. Elling held that folk music pieces had to be polished by professionals, whereas Sandvik argued that the music should be played in the tradition of the country folk. Sandvik became vice president of the

International Folk Music Council The International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) is a scholarly non-governmental organization which focuses on the study, practice, documentation, preservation, and dissemination of traditional music and dance of all countries. Founded in L ...

at its inception in 1947. President at the time was

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

. In Norway Sandvik founded the

Norwegian Folk Music Research Association Norwegian Folk Music Research Association () is a folk music society based in Trondheim, Norway. It was founded in 1948. The first president was Ole Mørk Sandvik, who sat until 1965. It organizes annual seminars and publishes the yearbook ''Musikk ...

in 1948, and chaired the organization from 1948 to 1965. Sandvik also wrote books on church music and

choral music A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

. He was a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

from 1939.

Personal life

In July 1906, he married pianist Nanna Rønneberg Munthe-Kaas (1880–1965). He was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

in 1949. In 1966 he was awarded honorary membership in the

Norwegian National Association for Traditional Music and Dance Norwegian National Association for Traditional Music and Dance(''Norsk Folkemusikk- og Danselag'') is a nationwide organization that aims to support the folk music and rural dance tradition in Norway. The organization (NFD) was founded in 1987 as ...

. He died in Oslo, having reached the age of 101 and was buried at the cemetery of

Ris Church Ris Church (''Ris kirke'') is a church in Oslo, Norway. The Romanesque Revival style church is situated in a neighborhood of Ris in the borough of Vestre Aker in Oslo. The church was built in the spring of 1932 and was consecrated on 12 June 19 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandvik, Ole Moerk 1875 births 1976 deaths Musicians from Hamar University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Academic staff of the MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society Norwegian educators Norwegian folk-song collectors Norwegian men centenarians Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal