"More original than Grieg!" was the emphatic verdict made by one of his teachers at the Berlin State School of Music, where Fartein Valentin studied from 1909 to 1911 under Max Bruch (composition) and Karl Leopold Wolf (theory). Son to a missionary couple, he grew up in Madascar and Stavanger and began studying music in 1906 in Copenhagen and Kristiania. Later he became head of the music archives at the University of Oslo. But the longest period in his life was spent in Valevåg near Haugesund, where he established himself as a composer of atonal music of European rank, composing symphonies, chamber music and works for piano and organ. In his homeland, however, he was considered somewhat controversial. Especially in the 1930s his atonal compositions conflicted with the nationalist zeitgeist and he was subject to harsh criticism. "One must be made of iron and concrete to endure it in the long run," is one of the citations from Valen's many letters, which are quoted in this film. Furthermore, numerous filmic documents, interviews and reenacted passages convey a comprehensive impression of Valen's personality and his musical oeuvre.