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0 - 15 years
Vidar Sandbeck was born 21st of July 1918 Åsta Vest, Hedmark in
Norway. His mothers name was Henny Alida Larsen and his father was Aksel Myra. Vidar had two older brothers named Arnold and Peder. He also had two sisters, Signe and Mildrid. They grew up in poor conditions. The home was poor but they had a humour that held the spirit up. From the age 3 until 15 Vidar had bronkitis during the winters. And he started to write peaceful small songs while he was in sick. He started to play the violin aged 9. He also played harmonica. He and his brothers were outside all the time jumping on skies. He went to public school in Åsta Vest, Vestre Åbo School until the age of 15. When he was 12 he had his first public violinperformance. He had dreams about becoming the new Ole Bull.
Aged 14 he became an official musician. He started to play with violinpedagog Einar Schøyen in Hamar. His last tutor was Bjarne Brustad, also a violinist, but also the first ever bratsj-player in Oslo Filharmonic Orchestra. He stopped taking lessons eventually, facing that he never would be a solo-violinist. He had become to old.
His income changed betweed foresting, farming, roadwork, sawmills and constructionlabourer.
As time went on, he wrote more and more.
20 - 40 years.
The Sandbeck trio.
Click on image for full size.
Vidar was as most 25
year old, because he was interrested in world politics, and especially the
development of World War 2.
During the war they
were afraid for the Germans, after the war Vidars father said he could have
beaten them with his bare hands.
Sandbeck
was a habil violinist, and performed works by Bach, Beethoven, Paganini and
Strauss, and one of his pridenumbers was: “Souvenir de moscau” by
Wienawskij. The conserts he did was accompagnied by organist and pianist
Eivind Veum. Fall 1944 they got joined by talented violinplayer Leif
Jørgensen. They became a trio. His conserts lasted through the war. Vidar
became a member of Oslo musikkforening. He got a flat in Torshov, Oslo, and
almost became fulltime musician. But he had rented a house in the outskirts
of his homeplace, and sold his violin and his notes and became a carpenter.
He put up houses in Åmot, in Glefsen and Bærum, for the Oslo-police and he
also did some work on the University of Oslo, and he eventually realised he
had gone from violinist to handy man.
40 – 60 years.
In
1958 he met composer and Norwegian radio personality Otto Nielsen, and was
taken to a studio in the Norwegian Broadcasting Company (NRK). He got his
own songprogram, and an agreement to make a record. It was taped in the
Universitys aula. In 1959 his record came out followed by hectic years
touring the whole of Norway. He liked the time working for the NRK, but
there were also negative sidesi egen person, og han ble da ført inn i
studio til NRK. Da han kom inn i studio, fikk han sitt første viseprogram i
NRK, og grammofonopptak i universitetets Aula. Og i 1959 kom platene hans
ut, og det førte til noen hektiske år med turneer på kryss og tvers i
hele landet. He did all sorts
of performances and also apperead as a guest in Swedish and Finnish radio
and eventually some TV-performances. While working for the NRK, he also had
conserts on festivals and fares. In 1969 his wife Gerd passed away in cancer
and his apperances and tours ended. Three years later he met Målfrid, whom
he married in 1972. Life got new meaning. He didn’t write any books and
accepted a job as violin teacher on Elverum School of Orchestra during the
years 1974-78. During these years Målfrid got sick and was on the
Rikshospitalet and had a big surgery there. During this period he wrote a
new novel where he defended them both. That was the first book about his
childhood triology. He couldn’t be both singer and author. Both of the
jobs was demanding. He chose to be a writer. He wrote several books during
1962-78. He wrote “Rundtramper og flatfele” (1962), ”Månen lo
over ravneberget” (1964), ”Kjærlighet og gråbeinsild” (1967), ”Kjærtegn
på vidvanke” (1970), and authobigraphic novelseries ”Fy skam deg”
(1977) og ”Stakkars kroken” (1978).
60 - 65years.
Sandbecks six last
works was ”Fy skam deg” (1977), ”Stakkars kroken” (1978), ”Trøste
oss” (1979) ”Husbondens røsk” (1982), ”Anitras dans” (1983) and
”Far” (1984). These are also known as the the Påsan books. Not totally
literar since they reflect a large part of Sandbecks life. During the three
first books we get to see Sandbecks childhood and early youth. We meet the
young and artistic Sandbeck and his strict father Aksel who was a dedicated
communist. In the other books about Påsan we read about Sandbecks life as a
carpenter, salesman and store-owner. The Påsanbooks have had excelent
critics.They sounded: “Full of poetry, houmour and sharp looks, prose at
it’s best. And hillerious and satiric and at the same time a bitter
document of an era.” 1980 Sandbeck got the Norwegian honor price for
musicians and he got the Åmotprize from his hometown in 1984. He got this
for the Påsan books.
65 - 70years.
When
Sandbeck rounded 65 years of age in 1993 his literary career started to fade
despite his fourth book in his autobiographic series about Påsan ”Husbondens
røst” 1982 og ”Anitas dans” in 1983 and ”Far” in 1984. The whole
series of 6 books is about his whole life from the age of 16. ”Far”, the
sixth and last book in the series is about the period fra the Spanish civil
war until World War 2 started in Norway. The “Far” or “Father” is
called “The Chief” a “Patriark of Hedmark”. His father is a
communist and very concerned about world politics. The father reads the
communist newspaper while his wife prefers to read a bout kings and queens
of Europes royal families in the local newspaper. Sandbeck is trying to show
us the distance in their reality of life. Even though “Father” is a very
dramatic book, it contains that much irony and wits that the reader will
have a laught. Sandbeck is creating a presise familyportrait, the
history catches up with the German troops marching into Norway April 9th
1940.”Father” is a
great ending of the series, or at least so its said. During these years he
also attended childrens hour in the radio reading stories for children,
among them his own. In the period of 1988-1993 he published these books.
1988:
”Kanarifuglen”
1989: ”Bryllupet i brua”
1991: ”Ingen”
1992: ”Den store viseboka”
1993:
”Påsan”
75 - 80 years.
Vidar Sandbeck is a senior
citizen. He has not written much lateley.
After
he became 60 he has just written three songs. Sandbeck is presently living
in Åsta vest and is doing wood carving as well as mending his garden.
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