Background
Gurvin was born in Tysnes as the son of teacher Elling Olson Gurvin and Kristina Olsdatter Flugem.
conductor musicologist choir director
Gurvin was born in Tysnes as the son of teacher Elling Olson Gurvin and Kristina Olsdatter Flugem.
Gurvin studied musicology at the Universities of Heidelberg and Berlin, and graduated from the University of Oslo in 1928.
He co-edited the first Norwegian music encyclopedia in 1949, and edited the magazine Norsk Musikkliv from 1942 to 1951. Between 1930 and 1947 he was a conductor for various choirs in Oslo. He delivered his doctoral thesis in 1938, titled He lectured at the University of Oslo from 1937.
He published the complete works of Rikard Nordraak works in 1942, in cooperation with Øyvind Anker.
He edited the magazine Norsk Musikkliv from 1942 to 1951, and was a music critic for the newspaper Verdens Gang from 1945 to 1958. Together with Øyvind Anker he also co-edited the first Norwegian music encyclopedia, titled Musikkleksikon and published in His ethnomusicological studies in the 1950s resulted in the development of an electroacustical apparatus for melody analysis.
He was appointed professor in musicology from 1957. He edited the first five volumes of a series of string airs for Hardingfele, from 1958 to 1967.
In 1962 he published a biography on.
During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany he was a member of the resistance movement, and from 1943 he represented musicians in the Coordination Committee"s subgroup for culture.
