Home »
Norway » The First CD: Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa
The First CD: Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa
by Ruth Marie on Monday, 1 September 2008 · 0 comments
In 1992, I purchase my very first CD of traditional Nordic folk music, "Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa". It is a release by a Norwegian recording company that has specialized in traditional music, Buen Kulturverkstad.
Looking back, I'm amazed that this was my first purchase as it was made in relative ignorance by a "newbie". To be honest, the the main reason that I decided to buy it was because of the last track, "Polkett frå Romsdalen etter Petter L. Rypdal".
Since 1988, I had been getting into the Nordic traditional dance and music scene here in the USA. I'd heard live musicians and I had taken classes that used recordings by musicians from the Nordic countries. But it wasn't easy to find recordings here in the States. And while I had already been introduced to the music of areas in Norway such as Telemark, Valdres and general gammaldans (old-time dance) music, I had never heard music from Romsdal — the area of Norway where my last name comes from and where I have family.
Today, I realize what an excellent "first CD" purchase this really was.
Sigbjørn Bernhotft Osa (1910-1990) from Voss is considered by many to be one of the greatest folk musicians in Norway's history. He was a virtuoso on vanlig fele (regular fiddle or "flat fiddle) and hardingfele (Norwegian Hardanger fiddle) and comfortable both as a folk musician and as a soloist in front of an orchestra. A master storyteller, his public appearances were popular in Norway and abroad. He was also the founder of Norway's Ole Bull Academy of Music.
I have to admit that my favorite tunes off the CD tend to be the ones where Osa is playing alone (often on hardingfele) or with a basic guitar accompaniment on gammaldans tunes.
For those who want a good general introduction to traditional Nordic music, this might be a good place to start. The CD has a variety of tunes, Norwegian and Swedish, in a variety of styles. Some are with orchestral accompaniment and some in simpler settings.
The CD was assembled as a "best of" from a series of cassette tapes Buen Kulturverkstad had released earlier. The complete set contained at least 50 recordings by Osa. I have not seen this cassette series reissued on CD by Buen Kulturverkstad, but I hope they may someday consider doing in digital form so that a new generation of listeners can hear and appreciate Osa's unique contributions.
Related Posts:
Tagged as:
*done,
acoutic guitar,
fele,
fiddle,
fiol,
guitar,
Hardanger fiddle,
hardingfele,
Hordaland,
Møre og Romsdal,
Norwegian,
Ole Bull Academy of Music,
Oppland,
Petter L. Rypdal,
rudl,
rull,
Sigbjørn Bernhotft Osa,
springar,
string instruments,
traditional folk music,
traditional folk music instruments,
United States,
violin,
Voss
