Egil Hovland (1924-2013) is considered one of Norway's significant composers in the second half of the 20th century. His concertos, symphonic music and chamber music are central to post-war Norwegian music history, but it is in the field of church music that he has made his greatest mark. Hymns played a central role in Hovland's life. As an organist and as a member of committees tasked with revising and renewing the Norwegian Church's singing tradition, he created hymn melodies that have become an indispensable part of the Norwegian hymnal treasury. From the 1970s, he used hymn melodies and texts as a source of inspiration and thematic material in almost everything he composed.