City in Norway. Founded as Nidaros in 996, it was renamed Trondhjem in the 16th century; it was again called Nidaros in 1930–31 and then became Trondheim. From the Middle Ages until the 19th century it was the main Norwegian centre of church music. In the first half of the 11th century it became an episcopal see with its own school and Benedictine monastery; in the 12th century it became an archiepiscopal see. King Olaf II Haraldsson (ruled 1016–23) was the country’s patron saint, and Nidaros Cathedral became the centre of the cult of St Olav. The ‘Olavsmusikken’ consists of sequences, antiphons and responsories, including the sequences Lux illuxit letabunda (?c1200) and Postquam calix Babilonis. (The music was lost during the Reformation but rediscovered around 1900.) As in other large European towns there was close cooperation between the cathedral and the cathedral school, and the school’s cantor and pupils were of decisive importance for the musical life of the city. Outstanding post-Reformation cantors were Jens Andersøn (1577–99), Hans Søffrensen (1627–60), J.P. Thams (1736–73) and J.C. Tellefsen (1815–39). There was an organ in the cathedral from the 14th century; organists there have included Elias Hasse (1643–63), J.D. Berlin (1740–87), J.C. Tellefsen (1807–57), Kristian Lindeman (1894–1934), Ludvig Nielsen (1934–76) and P.F. Bonsaksen. The town’s other large church, the Vår Frue Kirke (church of Our Lady), with an organ from about 1650, has had Ludvig Simonsen (1664–78), O.A. Lindeman (1799–1857), M.A. Udbye (1869–85) and P.H. Albertsen (1947–68) among its organists. The Olavsfestdagene (Olav Festival) has been an annual event since 1963, linked to the cathedral.
Apart from those of organist and cantor, the most important musical post in Trondheim (as elsewhere) was that of stadsmusikant; an instrumentalist is first mentioned in 1643. Among the town musicians were Augustus Krigsmand (1702–36), J.D. Berlin (1737–67) and Peter Eberg (1794–1815). The post was abolished in 1848. The first musical society in Trondheim was founded in 1768, but survived only a few months. More important was the Trondhjemske Musikalske Selskab (1786–1804). A Musikalsk Øvelsesselskab (Practical Musical Society) existed from 1815 to 1830, and several other societies were active later in the century. Many important musical families and individuals have worked there as organists and composers, including the Berlin, Lindeman and Tellefsen families and M.A. Udbye.
The Trondheim SO, including the Trondheim Chamber Orchestra, was founded in 1909, and among its conductors were Morten Svendsen, Håkon Hoem, Olav Kielland and Arvid Fladmoe; from 1950 to 1981 it was conducted by F.A. Oftedal, and Jíří Stárek was a regular guest conductor from 1969 to 1984. The orchestra had 62 members in 1995. The principal conductor from 1987 to 1995 was Ole Kristian Rund, and the artistic director from 1995 was the violinist Arve Tellefsen. In 1997 Daniel Harding was appointed principal conductor. Amateur groups include the Students’ Society Orchestra (1910) and its two related jazz groups, the Bodega Band and the S. Møller Band, as well as the Ila Wind Ensemble (1972) and Trondheim Handelstands Forenings Orkester (Mercantile Association Orchestra, 1947). The cathedral choir, conducted from 1976 by Bjørn Moe, consists of some 60 members, and has toured abroad. Other choirs include the Olavskor (St Olav’s Choir, 1909–72), Trondhjems Kvindelige Studentersangforening (Women Students’ Choral Society, 1930), Trondhjem Studentersangforening (1910) and the Trondheim Kammerkor. The semi-professional string orchestra Trondheimsolistene was founded in 1988 and is directed by Bjarne Fiskum. The orchestra has quickly become highly respected and had a successful European tour in the spring of 1999 with Anne Sophie Mutter as soloist.
The music department at the university was established in 1962. A course of study in folkdance was established there in 1989, and the first Nordic chair of folkdance in 1992. Trondheim cathedral school was one of the first in the country to start a separate music specialization. The Trøndelag Conservatory was founded in 1911 as the private Trondhjems Musikskole and was taken over by the municipality in 1973 and the state in 1986. It has a separate jazz specialization. Since 1995 the conservatory has formed part of the University of Trondheim. The Trondheim district music school has been an important training ground for young musicians since it was set up in 1973. The Ringve Museum, opened in 1952, has a collection that includes about 1600 musical instruments and several thousand pieces of music. It is the only specialist music museum in Norway and since 1995 has been classified as a national museum owned by a foundation. Since 1995 the museum has had a technical conservation workshop for musical instruments, the only one in the Nordic region. The director until 1993 was Jan Voigt, succeeded by Søren Hjort and in 1997 by Peter Andreas Kjeldsberg. Two music stations were established by NRK (the Norwegian Broadcasting Company) in Trondheim in 1984 and 1993 respectively.
G. Reiss: Musikken ved den middelalderlig Olavsdyrkelse i Norden [Music in the medieval worship of Olav in the Nordic region] (Christiania, 1912)
A. Øverås, A.E. Erichsen and J. Due: Trondheim katedralskoles historie 1152–1952 (Trondheim, 1952)
K. Dahlback: ‘Rokokkomusikk i trøndersk miljø’, Norsk musikkgransknings årbok 1954–55, 137–274
H. Sivertsen: Det Trondhjemske musikalske selskab [Trondheim Musical Society] (diss., U. of Trondheim, 1971)
U. Johansen: Det Musikalske øvelsesselskab i Trondheim 1815–30 [The Practical Musical Society in Trondheim] (diss., U. of Trondheim, 1972)
A. Holen: Olavsjubileum i en krisettid: musikkliv i Trondheim 1926–35 [Anniversary of St Olav in a time of crisis] (diss., U. of Trondheim, 1975)
P.A. Kjeldsberg: Musikkinstrumenter ved Ringve Museum (Trondheim, 1976)
H. Huldt-Nystrøm and others, eds.: Ringve Museum 25 år: festskrift til jubileet (Trondheim, 1977)
H. Huldt-Nystrøm: Musikkliv i Trondheim på 1600–tallet (Trondheim, 1979)
E. Rasmussen: Musikk i Trondheim ca. 1800–1815 (diss., U. of Trondheim, 1982)
T. Lysaker: Vår Frue kirke etter bybrannen i 1651 [The church of Our Lady after the city fire] (Trondheim, 1994)
T. Berg: Tidlig teater i Trondheim [Early theatre in Trondheim] (Gideå, 1994)
KARI MICHELSEN