David Monrad Johansen

David Monrad Johansen was a Norwegian composer who was born in Vefsn and grew up near Mosjøen, where he received his first piano lessons. He came to Christiania (Oslo) in 1904 to study at the conservatory there, and he continued taking lessons with Catharinus Elling, Iver Holter and others until he went to Berlin in 1915 for further studies. In 1920, he went for a study trip to Paris, where he was influenced by Stravinsky and Fartein Valen. He composed many works in various genres, such as orchestral, chamber, vocal, choral, and piano music. He was also a music critic, a biographer of Edvard Grieg, and a leader of the Norwegian Composer's Association. He was a member of the Nazi party Nasjonal Samling during World War II, and was sentenced to five and a half years of forced labor after the war. He died in 1974 at the age of 85.