Vilhelm Dybwad

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Vilhelm Dybwad (1882)

Vilhelm Dybwad (born February 12, 1863 in Christiania , † March 16, 1950 in Oslo ) was a Norwegian lawyer and writer who stood out primarily as a playwright and songwriter .

Life

Training as a lawyer

Vilhelm Dybwad grew up as the son of the bookseller Jacob Dybwad (1823–1899) and his wife Anne Margrethe Grøntvedt Aabel (1831–1873) in the Norwegian capital Christiania (now Oslo). After graduating from high school in 1881, he began studying law , which he completed in 1886 with the academic degree of candidatus juris . Further studies took him to Berlin and Paris . He worked for two years in the office of a well-known lawyer in Christiania before he went into business for himself in 1890. In 1892 Dybwad was admitted to the bar at the Supreme Court of Norway (Høyesterett).

Comedy writer

Hauk Aabel as Ola Lia in the play of the same name by Vilhelm Dybwad

Even during his student days he showed great interest in revue and theater . He appeared as an actor and pianist on theater evenings of the Norwegian Student Union , for which he wrote a few comedies with musical interludes. He has translated dramas and operettas for the Christiania Theater and the Nationaltheatret , such as Johann Strauss ' classic Die Fledermaus .

After the turn of the century, Vilhelm Dybwad had great success with some revue-like comedies. Together with the cartoonist Olaf Krohn, he wrote the play Ola Lia, which premiered on September 30, 1905 . The title character of the comedy is a naive peasant lad who wins an eight-day stay in the capital in a lottery and in the meantime falls under the robbers. Ola was portrayed at Centralteatret by Dybwad's cousin Hauk Aabel , an established actor who celebrated one of his greatest triumphs with this role. The music, to which composers like Sigurd Lie contributed, was based partly on Jacques Offenbach and partly on folk songs. His next play, the Farce Verdens Undergang (1906; The Decline of the World), was criticized for its thin plot; but some of the interspersed songs, also from the pen of Dybwad, were even more popular. In particular, the couplet Akerselva, du gamle og graa about the river of the same name in Oslo , polluted by industrial sewage , developed into an evergreen despite its ironic-satirical content and is still considered the Oslo anthem to this day. The melody comes from Leopold Sprowacker .

In 1907, again at Centralteatret, the play Sterke Mænd (Strong Men) followed, which satirized the enthusiasm of the time for martial arts and strength athletes in circus performances. The operetta Mod Nordpolen (Direction North Pole) had its premiere at the Nationaltheatret, Norway's most prestigious stage, in 1911, which questioned the media hype surrounding the Arctic and Antarctic expeditions in a similarly critical manner. Dybwad was able to win the renowned chief conductor at the Nationaltheatret, Johan Halvorsen , as composer .

Revue and songwriter

At the suggestion of the painter Frits Thaulow and his wife Alexandra, Vilhelm Dybwad and the singer Bokken Lasson began to work out a concept for a Norwegian revue theater modeled on the Parisian Le Chat Noir in late 1911 . As early as March 1, 1912, the bar, which was quickly found in the Tivoli entertainment district and also named Chat Noir, was first introduced. At the premiere, Vilhelm Dybwad contributed most of the lyrics to the lyric poet Herman Wildenvey , who also appeared as an emcee . In 1913 the revue 1913 - en nytaarsspøg i 1 akt (1913 - New Year's fun in one act), written by Dybwad alone, was on the program of the new house.

Shortly afterwards, the popular Swedish actor and singer Ernst Rolf made a guest appearance at the Chat Noir for the first time , who at that time had already released several gramophone records . Bokken Lasson and Ernst Rolf, alongside Jens Hetland, were among the most important interpreters of Vilhelm Dybwad's songs, which were now written in rapid succession. Some of the works of this time achieved classic status in Norway. A text about Hovedøya , an island in the Oslofjord , was set to music in the 1950s, after Dybwad's death, and became a bestseller as a record . In 1967 the young Wencke Myhre recorded his song Tuppen og Lillemor (Tuppen und Lillemor); today it is one of the most famous Norwegian children's songs. As early as 1920 Bokken Lasson published the book 67 viser fra det gamle Chat Noir (67 songs from the old Chat Noir), which contains a lot of material by Dybwad.

Memory books

Vilhelm Dybwad (approx. 1935)

During his artistically productive years, Dybwad continued to work in his main profession as a lawyer. In the 1930s he published a number of memory books that focused on interesting cases and curious anecdotes from the courtrooms. The cartoonist Olaf Gulbransson illustrated two of these books: På anklagebenken (1933; In the dock ) and Retten er full (1937; The trial is open).

In his book Venner og kjenninger fra 80-årene (Friends and Acquaintances from the 1980s) he portrays the painter Ludvig Skramstad, among others .

Private

From 1891 to 1916 Vilhelm Dybwad was married to the actress Johanne Dybwad , née Juell. On August 17, 1916, he married his long-time partner from chat noir times, Bokken Lasson.

The German-Norwegian architect Peter Dybwad is an older brother of Vilhelm Dybwad.

Works (selection)

  • 1883 En paa planets (on the face), comedy
  • 1883 Splendid, "Student Operetta in Two Acts"
  • 1905 Ola Lia, comedy
  • 1906 Verdens undergang (The fall of the world), farce
  • 1907 Sterke mænd (Strong Men), comedy
  • 1909 Taterblod (Tartar Blood), operetta
  • 1911 Mod nordpolen (towards the North Pole), operetta
  • 1933 På anklagebenken. Små hverdagshistorier fra rettssalen (In the dock. Small everyday stories from the courtroom), memory book
  • 1937 He's fed up with saving (the trial is open), memory book
  • 1941 Venner og kjenninger fra 80-årene (friends and acquaintances from the eighties), memoirs

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Mentz Schulerud, Vilhelm Dybwad . In: Norsk Biografisk Leksikon . Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  2. ↑ Vilhelm Dybwad . In: Jan Eggum / Jon Vidar Bergan (eds.), Norsk pop- og rockleksikon , Oslo 2013 ( online version )
  3. ↑ Paul Gjesdahl, Centralteatrets history , Oslo 1964, p. 33
  4. ↑ Akerselva, you gamle og grå! , industrimuseum.no. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  5. ↑ Budstikka , April 24, 2013.
  6. ↑ Paul Gjesdahl, Centralteatrets history , Oslo 1964, p. 37
  7. ^ Alfred Loewenberg , Annals of Opera 1597-1940 , Cambridge 1943, p. 684.
  8. ↑ Widar Fossum, Bokken Lassons Chat Noir . In: Byminner , 2012, H. 1, S. 19 f., ( Online version ( Memento of the original from February 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and Archive link according to instructions and then remove this note. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oslomuseum.no
  9. ↑ Widar Fossum, Bokken Lassons Chat Noir . In: Byminner , 2012, H. 1, S. 20, ( online version ( Memento of the original dated February 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link accordingly Instructions and then remove this notice. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oslomuseum.no
  10. ↑ See Det hender så mangt på Hovedøen . In: Visearkivaren . Retrieved February 13, 2017
  11. ↑ First published on the album Sanger fra den gang mor var liten (1967). See overview in the Discogs online database .
  12. ↑ Bokken Lasson, 67 viser fra det gamle Chat Noir , Kristiania 1920.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Dybwad, Vilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian lawyer and writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 12, 1863
PLACE OF BIRTH Christiania
DATE OF DEATH March 16, 1950
Place of death Oslo