Musical Artists of Norway

 

To the casual observer
this ornate string instrument looks like a violin.
Many people might call it just a fiddle,
which is closer to the truth.
But a closer look
reveals some important differences
that are not part of classical violin construction.

The first thing to notice
is that the elongated string box on the end
has twice as many pegs as a violin.

 

 

 

 

The pair of cutout curves or F-holes
that center the bridge
are longer and straighter than a violin's.
And of course few violins are as embellished
with fancy geometric patterned inlay
on the fingerboard and tailpiece. 

 

Though this instrument is played with a bow
and fingered like other members of the string family,
it is actually a special Norwegian cousin of the violin.

It is the Hardanger fiddle
or in Norwegian, the Hardingfele.

 

Hardangerfele, 1651
by Ola Jonson Jaastad (1621–1694)
University Museum of Bergen
Source: Wikimedia

The Hardanger fiddle is folk instrument that was first credited to Ole Jonsen Jaastad (1621–1694) of Hardanger, Norway who made one in 1651. His instrument is contemporary with those of the famous luthier, Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737), who was making violins in Cremona, Italy at the same time. Unlike the violin, a Hardanger has extra sympathetic strings running under the decorative fingerboard which add resonance to the fiddle's sound giving it a ringing quality. There are four principal strings to play the music but they are tuned differently from the violin as the Hardanger fiddle is a transposing instrument, meaning the written music for it is different from its sounding pitch. The strings are also tuned according to a Norwegian player's native region which could be one of several different combinations of pitches. 

 

But the most distinguishing feature of the Hardangerfele is the fine inlay work on the fingerboard and tailpiece. Though the patterns follow traditional Norwegian folk designs, each maker had their own style. The craftsmanship and artistry of the instrument are as much a part of the Hardanger fiddle's heritage as its music. This next images show the strings as they pass over and under the bridge of another fiddle with a closeup of the top's floral design.

 

 

Detail of a Hardanger fiddle made by Knut Gunnarsson Helland.
Source: Wikipedia

 

 

 

Here's a demonstration of the Hardanger fiddle
in an appropriate folk setting
at the Telemark museum in Norway.
The fiddler is Annika Westgård
playing the tune Fanitullen at the Brekkeparken.
She uses a special left hand technique of plucking the strings without the bow
and she is also tapping (stomping) her foot in time to the dance tune.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first Hardanger fiddle image came from a postcard that names the player in a printed caption. He is Sjur Larsson Helgeland (1858−1924), born at Voss in Hordaland, Norway. He was a celebrated fiddler and composer who won the first annual Norwegian folk music and dance competition in 1896 at Bergen. This postcard was sent to someone in Bergen on the day before Christmas, 24 December 1910.

 

 

 

Sjur Larsson Helgeland (1858−1924)
Norwegian hardingfele fiddler
Source: Wikipedia

The postcard was printed for the photographer, Hulda Marie Bentzen (1858–1930) who was an early professional female Norwegian photographer with studios in Bergen and Voss. The original image is on Helgeland's Wikipedia page. The ghostly background was likely painted on by a newspaper's print shop to isolate the image in order to make a half-tone copy. Sjur Helgeland came from Voss which is a district around the village of Vossevangen. Wikimedia provides several images of this picturesque place, and I chose one because it was taken in the 1890s, so this is Voss as Sjur Helgeland would have known it. It was also colorized and printed in Detroit.

 

Vossevangen, general view c. 1890
(Lake Vangsvatnet, Norway)
Source: Wikimedia

 

 

 

 

 

 

Voss is situated in the rugged landscape of western Norway and is one of nine traditional districts of the Vestland county. Voss lies in the center and is adjacent to the Hardanger district. But recently in 2019 a merger of Voss with another community required designing a new coat of arms. The result is an outline of a Hardanger fiddle on a bright red shield. It's a symbol of how Norwegian folk music heritage is still cherished in this part of the country.

Voss, Norway
Coat of Arms since 2020
Source: Wikipedia

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The second image shows a young man dressed in his Sunday best and seated on a bench in a photographer's studio. He holds his Hardanger fiddle upright on his leg to show off its intricate inlay. I don't think he is smiling, but by Norwegian standards, maybe he is. 

 

The photo is mounted on a small carte de visite card, the same size as two other photos of Hardanger fiddlers which I featured in my story from January 2015, Isn't it good, Norwegian wood?. The photographer's name is Per Braaten of Gol, located about 150 miles east of Vossevangen. It's a very nice clear image that I initially mistook for an occupational or folk photo. Unfortunately there is nothing on the back to identify the young man or date the photo.

 

But as soon as I searched for the photographer's name, Google instantly directed me to a website with examples of the Braaten family's work. Embrik Torkjellson Braaten Braaten (1866–1906) and his wife, Henriette H. Olsgaard (née Kierulf), were photographers as was their son, Per Bratten (1893–1944), who took over his father's studio in Gol in 1909. And the photo used as an example of his work is an identical CdV of the same fiddler! But on this website he is named, "Master fiddler Olav Sataslåtten photographed at Per Braaten probably around 1914." And to my surprise this was no ordinary musician but another champion fiddler who went on to great success as a player and composer.

 

 

 

Olav Sataslåtten (1891–1971)
Norwegian fiddler
Source: Wikimedia

Olav Sataslåtten (1891–1971) was from Hallingdal, Norway, abut 8 miles south of Gol, and he began his musical career around 1904 by playing for dances. If the date for my photo's twin on the Braaten family website is correct then he would be age 23 and already a respected musician in his region. He is credited with being a major influence for later fiddlers and helping to preserve the old tradition tunes, which like most folk music, was rarely written down but instead learned by ear. From 1939 to 1971, the year of his death, he made over 366 recordings that have survived.

 

Courtesy of Orchard Enterprises, which has remastered his recordings,
we can still listen to Olav Sataslåtten on YouTube.
Here is his rendition of a Springar, a Norwegian folk dance,
called Krullafuru ~ Curlew Pine.

 

 

But to really appreciate
the sound of a Handanger fiddle
we should listen to one
in the context of a Norwegian dance.
Here's a short video of one from 2019
entitled Fela Flott - Hamborgar etter Sjur Helgeland,
which I believe is the band's cover of a tune
composed by Sjur Helgeland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where everyone is on spring break.