He was son of the composer Anna Severine Lindeman (1859-1938). After one year of university studies in Trondheim he turned to music and studied cello, organ and music theory at the conservatory in Oslo (1911-1915 and 1917-18). Gustav Lange in Kristiania (Oslo) as well as Carl Nielsen and Knud Jeppesen in Copenhagen were among his teachers. With regard to his pedagogical ambition he preferred teaching and became the director of the Oslo conservatory for more than 40 years.
