Egil Hovland's life and range of activities can be viewed as a long journey through ever-changing musical landscapes. He was born into a musical family with ties to Seiersten bedehus, a religious meetinghouse. Thus Hovland's earliest musical impulses were revival hymns. From there, his path led to an education in church music. When he had attained the highest level his country could offer, and with excellent marks, he continued his journey with composition studies in Norway, Denmark, Italy, and the U.S. Hovland wrote large works - symphonies, concertos, operas, choral works, organ music, and much more - and composed smaller-scale works, such as chorales and biblical hymns. In some aspects of his compositional activity, Hovland was someone who sought out new paths and broke new ground.