Edvard Sylou-Creutz
Encyclopedia
Edvard Sylou-Creutz was a Norwegian
classical pianist, composer and radio personality, who was especially active in Nazi-controlled radio in Germany
and occupied Norway
between March 1940 and the autumn of 1942.
He studied with Agathe Backer-Grøndahl and also several years abroad. He made his concert debut in 1910, and was a music critic for the newspaper Morgenbladet
from 1919. Before World War II he worked as a pianist and composer. He had been involved in the pioneer years of Norwegian radio in the 1920s. He accompanied the vocals of Dagny Schelderup in one of the earliest broadcasts of Kristiania Broadcasting on 12 April 1923. He was also a member of the Fascist party Nasjonal Samling. In March 1940 he applied for a job in radio broadcasts from Germany to Norway, and he was hired as program presenter and news reader. These broadcasts were propagandistic, and started on 1 April 1940, having been preceded by German broadcasts to Sweden
from 20 November 1939 and to Denmark
from January 1940. Sylou-Creutz worked anonymously in this job.
Syloud-Creutz continued his broadcasts after the German invasion of Norway
on 9 April 1940. In the second half of April, the broadcasts switched from conveying German views on Norway (and often omitting Norway altogether, in favor of other war news) to being responses to English propaganda news. This shift was especially caused by the speech made by J. H. Marshall-Cornwall on 13 April, which called for Norwegian sabotage against the Germans. Sylou-Creutz also lamented the absence of German-friendly Victor Mogens
as a foreign news commentator in Norwegian radio. Mogens had been pressured to resign in 1936.
By late April and early May 1940, preparations were made to close the German-based broadcasts to Norway, and instead make use of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Sylou-Creutz moved to Norway in early June after his last broadcast on German soil, and continued his career in Norway. Via contacts in the Reichskommissariat Norwegen
(which was the highest authority over the Broadcasting Corporation), Sylou-Creutz also managed to see his music get a lot of airtime.
On 28 September 1940, the Nazis took more control over the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation; the pre-war director Olav Midttun
was fired, and Edvard Sylou-Creutz and Eyvind Mehle
were installed as program directors. Sylou-Creutz was also responsible for music. While being program directors, Mehle and Sylou-Creutz were subordinates of commissary president Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie
. There was a considerable rivalry and antagonism between Christie and Mehle, Christie and administrative director Carl Bødtker
, and to a lesser degree between Mehle and Sylou-Creutz. Among others, Mehle and Sylou-Creutz bickered over the right to the largest office. More importantly however, Mehle and Sylou-Creutz were on the same side in that they were German-friendly. In 1940 Sylou-Creutz made announcements stating that Jewish music
should be banned from Norwegian airwaves and all performers should also be members of Nasjonal Samling.
Sylou-Creutz, having failed in his attempt at making performing in the radio a legal obligation for Norwegian artists, on 27 August 1942 banned six artists belonging to the concert company Brødrene Hals' Konsertbyrå from renting the Aulaen Hall of the University of Oslo. The artists banned were Robert Riefling
, Jan Wølner, Frithjof Backer-Grøndahl, Amalie Christie
, Rolf Størseth and Kari Glaser. The ban attracted great controversy, with the national music consultant Geirr Tveitt
resigning in a 18-page protest letter to minister Gulbrand Lunde. Tveitt called Sylou-Creutz' actions "... madness... for it can lead to nothing but the destruction of all musical life." Voksø 1994: p. 260
The ban was reversed on 26 September 1942. Amidst towering intrigue, Sylou-Creutz was let go from the Broadcasting Corporation on 28 October 1942.
In connection with the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg
on 15 June 1943 Sylou-Creutz was to hold the official Grieg concert in Stavanger
. The city's orchestra had been offered in public funds to perform with him, but declined. Sylou-Creutz ended up playing alone for an audience of 48 people, 40 of whom had been given free tickets. The paying members of the audience were asked to move from the gallery to the front benches. In comparison non-Nazi artist Ivar Johnsen performed a single piece of Grieg's music in the park Fornøyelsesparken in Stavanger in storming rain with an audience of between 1,000 and 2,000 people the same day.
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...
classical pianist, composer and radio personality, who was especially active in Nazi-controlled radio in Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and occupied Norway
Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...
between March 1940 and the autumn of 1942.
He studied with Agathe Backer-Grøndahl and also several years abroad. He made his concert debut in 1910, and was a music critic for the newspaper Morgenbladet
Morgenbladet
Morgenbladet is a Norwegian weekly newspaper. It was founded in 1819 by the book printer Niels Wulfsberg, and was the country's first daily newspaper. For a long time, it was also the country's biggest newspaper. It was closed down by the German Wehrmacht during World War II...
from 1919. Before World War II he worked as a pianist and composer. He had been involved in the pioneer years of Norwegian radio in the 1920s. He accompanied the vocals of Dagny Schelderup in one of the earliest broadcasts of Kristiania Broadcasting on 12 April 1923. He was also a member of the Fascist party Nasjonal Samling. In March 1940 he applied for a job in radio broadcasts from Germany to Norway, and he was hired as program presenter and news reader. These broadcasts were propagandistic, and started on 1 April 1940, having been preceded by German broadcasts to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
from 20 November 1939 and to Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
from January 1940. Sylou-Creutz worked anonymously in this job.
Syloud-Creutz continued his broadcasts after the German invasion of Norway
Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
on 9 April 1940. In the second half of April, the broadcasts switched from conveying German views on Norway (and often omitting Norway altogether, in favor of other war news) to being responses to English propaganda news. This shift was especially caused by the speech made by J. H. Marshall-Cornwall on 13 April, which called for Norwegian sabotage against the Germans. Sylou-Creutz also lamented the absence of German-friendly Victor Mogens
Victor Mogens
Victor Andreas Emanuel Mogens was a Norwegian journalist, editor and politician for Fedrelandslaget.-Pre-war life and career:...
as a foreign news commentator in Norwegian radio. Mogens had been pressured to resign in 1936.
By late April and early May 1940, preparations were made to close the German-based broadcasts to Norway, and instead make use of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Sylou-Creutz moved to Norway in early June after his last broadcast on German soil, and continued his career in Norway. Via contacts in the Reichskommissariat Norwegen
Reichskommissariat Norwegen
The Reichskommissariat Norwegen, literally "Reich Commissariat of Norway", was the civilian occupation regime set up by Nazi Germany in German-occupied Norway during World War II. Its full title in German was the Reichskommissariat für die besetzten norwegischen Gebiete...
(which was the highest authority over the Broadcasting Corporation), Sylou-Creutz also managed to see his music get a lot of airtime.
On 28 September 1940, the Nazis took more control over the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation; the pre-war director Olav Midttun
Olav Midttun
Olav Midttun was a Norwegian philologist, biographer, magazine editor, and the first national program director of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation ....
was fired, and Edvard Sylou-Creutz and Eyvind Mehle
Eyvind Mehle
Eyvind Mehle was a Norwegian radio personality, media professor and Nazi collaborator.He was born as Eyvind Mæhle, but changed his last name in 1930. He was hired in 1925 in Kringkastingsselskapet, the first broadcaster of Norwegian radio. One of his specialities were half-hour lectures in the...
were installed as program directors. Sylou-Creutz was also responsible for music. While being program directors, Mehle and Sylou-Creutz were subordinates of commissary president Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie
Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie (Nazi)
Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie was a Norwegian jurist and Nazi collaborator. He is best known as director of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation for some time during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany....
. There was a considerable rivalry and antagonism between Christie and Mehle, Christie and administrative director Carl Bødtker
Carl Bødtker
Carl Fredrik Johannes Bødtker was a Norwegian engineer and radio personality.-Early and personal life:He was born at Oscarsborg Fortress as a son of Major General Carl Fredrik Johannes Bødtker and Karen Agathe Falck...
, and to a lesser degree between Mehle and Sylou-Creutz. Among others, Mehle and Sylou-Creutz bickered over the right to the largest office. More importantly however, Mehle and Sylou-Creutz were on the same side in that they were German-friendly. In 1940 Sylou-Creutz made announcements stating that Jewish music
Jewish music
Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish People which have evolved over time throughout the long course of Jewish History. In some instances Jewish Music is of a religious nature, spiritual songs and refrains are common in Jewish Services throughout the world, while other times, it is...
should be banned from Norwegian airwaves and all performers should also be members of Nasjonal Samling.
Sylou-Creutz, having failed in his attempt at making performing in the radio a legal obligation for Norwegian artists, on 27 August 1942 banned six artists belonging to the concert company Brødrene Hals' Konsertbyrå from renting the Aulaen Hall of the University of Oslo. The artists banned were Robert Riefling
Robert Riefling
Robert Dankwart Leo Riefling was a Norwegian classical pianist and pedagogist. He was regarded among Scandinavia's leading pianists, and toured all over the western world...
, Jan Wølner, Frithjof Backer-Grøndahl, Amalie Christie
Amalie Christie
-Personal life:She was born in Vang, Hedmark as a daughter of professor Werner Hosewinckel Christie. She was a sister of officers Johan and Werner Christie, a grandniece of politician Hans Langsted Christie and Christian Christie, an aunt of Werner Christie and a second cousin of Jacob Christie...
, Rolf Størseth and Kari Glaser. The ban attracted great controversy, with the national music consultant Geirr Tveitt
Geirr Tveitt
Geirr Tveitt, born Nils Tveit was a Norwegian composer and pianist. Tveitt was a central figure of the national movement in Norwegian cultural life during the 1930s.-Early years:...
resigning in a 18-page protest letter to minister Gulbrand Lunde. Tveitt called Sylou-Creutz' actions "... madness... for it can lead to nothing but the destruction of all musical life." Voksø 1994: p. 260
The ban was reversed on 26 September 1942. Amidst towering intrigue, Sylou-Creutz was let go from the Broadcasting Corporation on 28 October 1942.
In connection with the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
on 15 June 1943 Sylou-Creutz was to hold the official Grieg concert in Stavanger
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
. The city's orchestra had been offered in public funds to perform with him, but declined. Sylou-Creutz ended up playing alone for an audience of 48 people, 40 of whom had been given free tickets. The paying members of the audience were asked to move from the gallery to the front benches. In comparison non-Nazi artist Ivar Johnsen performed a single piece of Grieg's music in the park Fornøyelsesparken in Stavanger in storming rain with an audience of between 1,000 and 2,000 people the same day.