Gurvin was born in Tysnes Municipality as the son of teacher Elling Olson Gurvin and Kristina Olsdatter Flugem. He married Dagny Siqveland in 1947.[2]
Career
Gurvin studied musicology at the Universities of Heidelberg and Berlin, and graduated from the University of Oslo in 1928.[2] Between 1930 and 1947 he was a conductor for various choirs in Oslo.[3] He delivered his doctoral thesis in 1938, titled Frå tonalitet til atonalitet. He lectured at the University of Oslo from 1937. He published the complete works of Rikard Nordraak works in 1942, in cooperation with Øyvind Anker.[2]
During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany he was a member of the resistance movement, and from 1943 he represented musicians in the Coordination Committee's subgroup for culture.[4]
He edited the magazine Norsk Musikkliv from 1942 to 1951, and was a music critic for the newspaper Verdens Gang from 1945 to 1958. Together with Øyvind Anker he also co-edited the first Norwegian music encyclopedia, titled Musikkleksikon and published in 1949.[2]
