Hans-Jørgen Holman
Encyclopedia
Hans-Jørgen Holman (also Hans-Jorgen Holmen-Guttormsen) was a Norwegian-American musicologist and educationalist. Holman spent the larger part of his life teaching and researching at Andrews University
, Berrien Springs, Michigan
—specializing in Medieval
and Renaissance music
. His 1961 Indiana University
doctoral dissertation The responsoria prolixa of the Codex Worcester F 160 is considered one of the principal authoritative works on the vocal music of the Medieval church.
in Buskerud
County, Norway
. He was the only child of Hans and Kirsten Halvorsen Guttormsen. His father was a successful businessman, and had a large estate called Holmen at nearby Konnerud
, where he farmed minks, a weasel yielding precious fur. The family’s affluence meant that Holman enjoyed a relatively comfortable upbringing—a contrast to the economic hardship endured by most Norwegians at that time. An illustrative curiosity is the fact that Holman’s mother, Kirsten Halvorsen, was the first woman in the city to have a driver’s licence. Holman came from a family of profoundly religious Christians, and it possibly imbued him with an acute spiritual awareness. Holman displayed early on that he was fitted with a powerful intellect and an inquisitive mind; he took a deep interest in music, but also pursued studies in mathematics
, physics
and chemistry
. Holman was only 15 years old when Hitler’s troops invaded Norway
. Even though he was a mere teenager focusing on his education, it did not prevent him from becoming an active member of the underground resistance movement
.
. Possibly disillusioned with the limited professional opportunities in post-war Norway, the Holmans decided to emigrate to the United States the same year. They settled at Takoma Park in Maryland
, near Washington DC. Later they changed their surname from Guttormsen to Holman (an anglification of the name of Hans-Jorgen's family estate Holmen) to make their names easier on English speakers. In Maryland, Holman was attracted to Washington Adventist University. Holman enrolled at the college’s music department, where he graduated the following year with a Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance. Holman was then offered the position of Chairman to the Indiana Academy of Music, and he moved to Cicero, IN. Yet, Holman thirsted for more education, and developed his life-long infatuation with Medieval and Renaissance church music through studies at the Catholic University of America, Washington DC. The university awarded him a Master’s Degree in 1954.
, Bloomington, with a proposal for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He wanted to conduct a musicological study of the Worcester Antiphoner - a collection of Old-Roman antiphones held at the Worcester Cathedral Library
, England
. This 13th century manuscript - also known as Worcester F 160 - is often considered a unique and rare example of its genre. Holman, inspired by his profound affinity with the vocal tradition of the church, had taken the trouble of acquiring an intimate knowledge of Greek
and Latin
. Now he was determined to employ all his extraordinary knowledge and his insights in the tradition not only to do a scholarly study, but also a personal study. In 1961, Holman was awarded a PhD in paleography and musicology for his dissertation on the antiphoner entitled The Responsoria Prolixa of the Codex Worcester F 160. The dissertation, which comprises two large volumes and 855 pages, is widely quoted and by many considered an authoritative work in its field.
— perhaps the most renowned educational institution of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
— and offered to join its staff. Holman accepted, and worked as Associate Professor to the Department of Music. The Holmans moved to Berrien Springs, MI looking to a prosperous future on the shores of Lake Michigan
.
Holman had a remarkable professional career at Andrews University. He taught the piano and the harpsichord and continued researching. In 1963 he married Rae Constantine, a music graduate of the university. The following year he became Professor of Music at age 39. From 1965 to 67 he directed the Andrews University Orchestra—an unusual capacity, he was involved in up to 200 musical performances yearly. Furthermore, he developed and taught a competitive Master’s program, producing several brilliant scholars, including Dr. Carlos Flores, the current Chairman of the School of Music at the university. A recognized authority in his field, Holman gave papers at numerous musicology conferences and published widely—contributing to the Harvard Dictionary of Music and the Michigan Academician. He traveled extensively and taught at various universities around the world. He also produced special programs for several American and European broadcasting companies, including the Norwegian National Broadcasting (NRK). Dr. Paul E. Hamel of Andrews University stated that Holman "was one of our most productive, loyal, and esteemed professors of music."
Following a lingering illness, he died in 1986. The day before he died, he was presented with the John Nevis Andrews Medallion 'in recognition of his significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge and education' ("Focus," Andrews University Alumni Magazine, Winter, 1986/87). The medallion is the university’s highest award. After Holman's death his family together with Andrews University inaugurated a scholarship in his name. The scholarship is awarded annually.
, Norway. Other relatives of Holman in Norway includes Lisbeth Borge, Lene Borge, Toril Azora Borge Kielland and their families.
Andrews University
Andrews University is a Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College in Battle Creek, Michigan, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists, and is the flagship university of the Seventh-day...
, Berrien Springs, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
—specializing in Medieval
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
and Renaissance music
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
. His 1961 Indiana University
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
doctoral dissertation The responsoria prolixa of the Codex Worcester F 160 is considered one of the principal authoritative works on the vocal music of the Medieval church.
Early years
Holman was born in DrammenDrammen
Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...
in Buskerud
Buskerud
is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.-Geography:...
County, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. He was the only child of Hans and Kirsten Halvorsen Guttormsen. His father was a successful businessman, and had a large estate called Holmen at nearby Konnerud
Konnerud
Konnerud is an affluent residential area south in the city of Drammen in Buskerud county, Norway, known for snowy winters and hosting the FIS Cross-Country World Cup on several occasions.-Name:...
, where he farmed minks, a weasel yielding precious fur. The family’s affluence meant that Holman enjoyed a relatively comfortable upbringing—a contrast to the economic hardship endured by most Norwegians at that time. An illustrative curiosity is the fact that Holman’s mother, Kirsten Halvorsen, was the first woman in the city to have a driver’s licence. Holman came from a family of profoundly religious Christians, and it possibly imbued him with an acute spiritual awareness. Holman displayed early on that he was fitted with a powerful intellect and an inquisitive mind; he took a deep interest in music, but also pursued studies in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
. Holman was only 15 years old when Hitler’s troops invaded Norway
Norwegian Campaign
The Norwegian Campaign was a military campaign that was fought in Norway during the Second World War between the Allies and Germany, after the latter's invasion of the country. In April 1940, the United Kingdom and France came to Norway's aid with an expeditionary force...
. Even though he was a mere teenager focusing on his education, it did not prevent him from becoming an active member of the underground resistance movement
Milorg
Milorg was the main Norwegian resistance movement in World War II....
.
Emigrating to America
In 1950, Holman passed the Piano Teacher’s Examination at the Conservatory of Music in Oslo. Not long after he also received his Diploma in Pharmacology from the University of OsloUniversity of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
. Possibly disillusioned with the limited professional opportunities in post-war Norway, the Holmans decided to emigrate to the United States the same year. They settled at Takoma Park in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, near Washington DC. Later they changed their surname from Guttormsen to Holman (an anglification of the name of Hans-Jorgen's family estate Holmen) to make their names easier on English speakers. In Maryland, Holman was attracted to Washington Adventist University. Holman enrolled at the college’s music department, where he graduated the following year with a Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance. Holman was then offered the position of Chairman to the Indiana Academy of Music, and he moved to Cicero, IN. Yet, Holman thirsted for more education, and developed his life-long infatuation with Medieval and Renaissance church music through studies at the Catholic University of America, Washington DC. The university awarded him a Master’s Degree in 1954.
A Musicological Tour-de-Force
Holman had become one of the better educated Norwegians of his time. Furthermore he had devoted much time developing his spirituality at the Christian universities and elsewhere. After Holman had graduated from the Catholic University of America, he then approached the Indiana UniversityIndiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, Bloomington, with a proposal for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He wanted to conduct a musicological study of the Worcester Antiphoner - a collection of Old-Roman antiphones held at the Worcester Cathedral Library
Worcester Cathedral
Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. This 13th century manuscript - also known as Worcester F 160 - is often considered a unique and rare example of its genre. Holman, inspired by his profound affinity with the vocal tradition of the church, had taken the trouble of acquiring an intimate knowledge of Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
. Now he was determined to employ all his extraordinary knowledge and his insights in the tradition not only to do a scholarly study, but also a personal study. In 1961, Holman was awarded a PhD in paleography and musicology for his dissertation on the antiphoner entitled The Responsoria Prolixa of the Codex Worcester F 160. The dissertation, which comprises two large volumes and 855 pages, is widely quoted and by many considered an authoritative work in its field.
At Andrews University
Rumors were heard of the results of the hard-working Norwegian while he still was writing his doctoral thesis. In 1957, Holman was approached by Andrews UniversityAndrews University
Andrews University is a Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College in Battle Creek, Michigan, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists, and is the flagship university of the Seventh-day...
— perhaps the most renowned educational institution of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
— and offered to join its staff. Holman accepted, and worked as Associate Professor to the Department of Music. The Holmans moved to Berrien Springs, MI looking to a prosperous future on the shores of Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
.
Holman had a remarkable professional career at Andrews University. He taught the piano and the harpsichord and continued researching. In 1963 he married Rae Constantine, a music graduate of the university. The following year he became Professor of Music at age 39. From 1965 to 67 he directed the Andrews University Orchestra—an unusual capacity, he was involved in up to 200 musical performances yearly. Furthermore, he developed and taught a competitive Master’s program, producing several brilliant scholars, including Dr. Carlos Flores, the current Chairman of the School of Music at the university. A recognized authority in his field, Holman gave papers at numerous musicology conferences and published widely—contributing to the Harvard Dictionary of Music and the Michigan Academician. He traveled extensively and taught at various universities around the world. He also produced special programs for several American and European broadcasting companies, including the Norwegian National Broadcasting (NRK). Dr. Paul E. Hamel of Andrews University stated that Holman "was one of our most productive, loyal, and esteemed professors of music."
Following a lingering illness, he died in 1986. The day before he died, he was presented with the John Nevis Andrews Medallion 'in recognition of his significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge and education' ("Focus," Andrews University Alumni Magazine, Winter, 1986/87). The medallion is the university’s highest award. After Holman's death his family together with Andrews University inaugurated a scholarship in his name. The scholarship is awarded annually.
Relations in Norway
Holman's family were already declining before he emigrated from Norway in 1950. Holman's mother, Kirsten Halvorsen Guttormsen, lost her husband, remarried - only to lose her second husband as well. Her niece, Ella Azora Borge, who had survived her mother (Kirsten's sister Alvilde who died at age 22) then died just after the age of 30. Ella A. Borge left behind two young boys - one of whom was Erik Borge (b. 1935). It was Erik Borge and his wife Laila who later would look after the aging Kirsten Guttormsen. She died of extreme old age in 1981. Whenever Hans-Jorgen Holman occasionally visited Norway he would often stay with the Borge family. Laila and Erik Borge live in LarvikLarvik
is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. Larvik kommune - has about 41 364 inhabitants and covers 530 km2....
, Norway. Other relatives of Holman in Norway includes Lisbeth Borge, Lene Borge, Toril Azora Borge Kielland and their families.
Other source
- Named Scholarship Database (http://www.andrews.edu/development/Sdatabase.php3, 5 February 2007).
- Music Theory at Indiana University: Alumni Locator, (http://theory.music.indiana.edu/people/alumni_location.html, 5 February 2007).
- Interviews with Erik and Laila Borge and Toril Azora Borge Kielland in Norway, September 2006 and January 2007.