"Ja, vi elsker dette landet" is the Norwegian national anthem. Originally a patriotic song, it came to be commonly regarded as the de facto national anthem of Norway in the early 20th century, after being used alongside "Sønner av Norge" since the 1860s. It was officially adopted in 2019. The lyrics were written by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson between 1859 and 1868, and the melody was written by his cousin Rikard Nordraak sometime during the winter of 1863 and 1864. It was first performed publicly on 17 May 1864 in connection with the 50th anniversary of the constitution. Usually only the first and the last two verses are sung, with the first being by far the most common.
Sissel Kyrkjebø, also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano.
Maria Viktoria Mena is a Norwegian pop singer, best known for her singles such as "You're the Only One", "Just Hold Me", "All This Time" which charted in multiple countries.
deLillos is a Norwegian poprock band formed in Oslo in 1984. They are generally regarded as one of the "Four Greats" in modern Norwegian pop music, i.e. one of the four 1980s groups that founded a new tradition for rock music with lyrics in Norwegian. The remaining three "Greats" are DumDum Boys, Raga Rockers and Jokke & Valentinerne.
Ole Paus is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, poet and author, who is widely regarded as the foremost troubadour of the contemporary Norwegian ballad tradition. During the 1970s Paus was known for his biting social commentary, especially in his ironic and sometimes libellous "musical newspapers" in the form of broadside ballads in a series of albums titled "The Paus Post". He has later become known for a softer and more lyrical style, and has written some of Norway's best known songs, such as "Innerst i sjelen" and "Engler i sneen". He has often collaborated with Ketil Bjørnstad, notably on the "modern suite" Leve Patagonia; he has later collaborated with Kirkelig Kulturverksted on several projects, and with his son, the classical composer Marcus Paus, notably on the children's opera The Witches, Requiem and several later works. One of his songs, "Mitt lille land", gained wide popularity after the 2011 Norway attacks and was described as "the new national anthem". He has been described as the Norwegian counterpart of Bob Dylan and as the "voice of the nation." Paus was discovered by artists Alf Cranner and Alf Prøysen, and was mentored by André Bjerke, Jens Bjørneboe and Henny Moan. Paus is noted for his consistent use of Norwegian and has been eager for other Norwegian musicians to switch from English to Norwegian.
Åge Aleksandersen is a Norwegian singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is one of his country's best known singer/songwriters and musicians. Some of his most well known songs are "Lys og varme", "Fire pils og en pizza" and "Rosalita".
Anita Hegerland is Norway's biggest selling solo artist. She is a singer, most known for her childhood career in Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, and subsequent vocal contributions to Mike Oldfield's work, among others. She is one of Norway's best-selling female artists in history. In 1971, she was, along with Michael Jackson, one of the world's best-selling child singers.
Hver gang vi møtes is a Norwegian reality television show broadcast on the Norwegian TV 2 television station in 2012. It is structured in similar format to the Swedish series Så mycket bättre that had been launched in 2010.
"Mitt lille land" is a song by Ole Paus, written in 1994 as a lyrical description of Norway. The song gained strong popularity following the 2011 Norway attacks, which led to it being described by the media as "the new national anthem." According to the NRK, the song "came to symbolize the sorrow many people went through." The song featured most prominently in all the memorial ceremonies following the attacks. The NRK memorial concert following the attacks was named "Mitt lille land," and the concert opened with "Mitt lille land" sung by Maria Mena. The national memorial ceremony was opened with "Mitt lille land" sung by Susanne Sundfør, followed by a speech by King Harald V. On the Norwegian Constitution Day in 2012, the NRK broadcast was opened with "Mitt lille land." The Norwegian People's Aid and Sony Music released a memorial album titled Mitt lille land and Gyldendal Norsk Forlag published a memorial book also titled Mitt lille land during the autumn of 2011. Numerous Norwegian artists have recorded cover versions of this song, among them Sondre Bratland, Christine Guldbrandsen, Maria Solheim, Thomas Dybdahl, Mari Boine, Anne Grete Preus, Haddy N'jie, Kurt Nilsen, D.D.E., Sølvguttene, Tone Damli Aaberge and Maria Mena.
Alf Cranner was a major Norwegian folk singer, lyricist and painter, considered by many to be the pioneer of the Norwegian folk music wave of the 1960s. The citation for the award of Evert Taube Memorial Fund Grant 1994, to Cranner states: «Det är motiverat att anse honom som sin tids fader för den norska viskonsten». He is known for several popular folk music interpretations and beautiful folk tunes, including these: Å, den som var en løvetann with lyrics by another great Norwegian folk singer and lyricist Alf Prøysen (1914–1970), Bare skrap and Den skamløse gamle damen with lyrics by Klaus Hagerup and Sjømannsvise with the text of Harald Sverdrup. Among Cranner folk songs with his own lyrics is Båt til lyst and Hambo i fellesferien two of the best known. The folk song Din tanke er fri, is Cranner translation of the German Die Gedanken sind frei.
Ole Amund Gjersvik is a Norwegian Jazz musician and composer, central on the Bergen jazz scene and known from a number of record releases.
Hans Mathisen is a Norwegian Jazz guitarist, educated on the Jazzprogram at Trondheim musikkonservatorium (1988–90), well known for his Pat Metheny and Wes Montgomery inspired performances. He is the brother of Jazz musicians Per Mathisen (bass), Nils Mathisen and Ole Mathisen.
Lasse Mustafa Myrvold was a Norwegian musician and composer. He was raised in Stavanger, but is first and foremost known as a part of the Bergen Wave, with the pioneering Norwegian band The Aller Værste! and their Spellemannprisen winning album Materialtretthet (1980).
Marcus Nicolay Paus is a Norwegian composer and one of the most performed contemporary Scandinavian composers. As a classical contemporary composer he is noted as a representative of a reorientation toward tradition, tonality and melody, and his works have been lauded by critics in Norway and abroad. His work includes chamber music, choral works, solo works, concerts, orchestral works, operas, symphonies and church music, as well as works for theatre, film and television. Paus is regarded as "one of the most celebrated classical composers of Norway" and "the leading Norwegian composer of his generation."
"Innerst i sjelen" is a famous Norwegian song by Norwegian artist and troubadour Ole Paus, with music by Örjan Englund and Lars Børke.
Helge Sunde is a Norwegian composer and musician, known for his compositions in contemporary music and jazz for large ensembles and for his works as music arranger for symphony orchestras in collaboration with artists.
Børge Petersen-Øverleir is a Norwegian guitarist, raised in Bergen and Bodø, early active in heavy rock, autodidact in jazz centered around in Bodø.
Hasse Rosbach is a Norwegian music producer, engineer, arranger and musician.
Sverre Knudsen is a Norwegian writer and musician. He has written for stage, television and digital media, and worked as a music producer.
The Wild Choir is a poetry collection by Nobel laureate in literature Knut Hamsun. It was published in 1904 and is his only poetry collection. The collection contains existentialist, erotic and political poems. One of the best known poems from the collection is "Letter to Byron in the Great Beyond", addressed to the late English poet Lord Byron, one of Hamsun's role models. It also includes the poem "In a hundred years, all is forgotten". The collection has been set to music by different composers and musicians, including the album Bjørnstad/Paus/Hamsun (1982) by Ole Paus and Ketil Bjørnstad, the album Det Vilde Kor (2007) by Lumsk, and the operatic song cycle Det vilde Kor (2009) by Marcus Paus.
