Gustav Fredrik Lange

Gustav Fredrik Lange (February 22, 1861 – February 11, 1939) was a Norwegian violinist, violin teacher, theory teacher, and composer. During his time, was considered one of Norway's best in his field.

Lange was born in Halden.^[1] He was the second concertmaster of the Oslo Philharmonic from its beginning in 1919, and for a time he served as first concertmaster at the Christiania Theatre and National Theatre.^[1] With Ole Olsen and Edvard Grieg, he created music for Henrik Ibsen's comedy The League of Youth (premiere at the Swedish Theatre, 1901). Like Ole Olsen, Lange was a Freemason and worked as a conductor and arranger for the Freemasons Orchestra (1921–1936). In Halden he was a member of a chamber quartet together with Oscar Borg (his violin teacher in his youth),^[1] Markus Boberg, and the cellist Dupery Hamilton.^[2]

Together with Peter Brynie Lindeman, Lange edited the periodical Orkestertidende—blad for musikere og musikervenner (The Orchestra Times: A Paper for Musicians and Their Friends; 1892–1894). Lange was a cofounder of the Oslo Music Teachers Association, the Norwegian Music Teachers' National Federation, and the National Federation of Norwegian Musical Artists (Norwegian: Norsk Tonekunstnersamfund). He also taught violin, theory, and harmony at the Oslo Conservatory of Music (1889–1937).

Lange died in Oslo.^[1]

Selected students

Prominent students that Gustav Fredrik Lange taught during his career include:

• Anne-Marie Ørbeck (1911–1996), pianist and composer
• Henrik Adam Due (1891–1966), violinist
• Magne Elvestrand (1914–1991), organist
• Johan Stanley Simonsen (1904–2003), violinist
• Gunnar Knudsen (1907–2003), violinist
• Bjarne Brustad (1895–1978), composer
• Arild Sandvold (1895–1984), organist
• Ludvig Nielsen (1906–2001), composer
• Frithjof Spalder (1896–1985), composer
• Reidar Thommessen (1889–1986), composer

Awards

• King's Medal of Merit in gold, 1921
• Litteris et Artibus, a Swedish royal medal
• Ordre des Palmes Académiques, a French national order

Works

• Moderne Violinmusik. Samling af nyere Komponisters Værker udsatte for Violin med Piano (Modern Violin Music. A Collection of Recent Composers' Works Arranged for Violin with Piano, 1896)
• Praktisk harmonilære (Practical Harmony, 1897)
• Praktisk violinskole I–III (Practical Violin Course 1–3, 1899)
• Melodier til Margrethe Munthes Kom, skal vi synge (Melodies to Margrethe Munthe's Come Shall We Sing, 1907)

References

1. Norsk biografisk leksikon: Gustav Lange.
2. Engelstad, Eivind Stenersen. 1959. Storgårder i Østfold. Oslo: Aschehoug, p. 43.