Nordic on Tap - the podcast
Corrections
I mispronounced Linda Caspersen-Andresen’s name; this is the correct spelling. Also, it was Linda who played the ‘hardanger cello” in the hardingfele quartet (see the CD and photo below), not David Loberg Code (although he did write that clever cello line with “Se Min Kjole” worked into it).
Links and Pictures for the Hardingfele
Rachel Nesvig’s website, where you can launch her YouTube videos (rachelnesvig.com)
Lynn Berg’s website, where you can learn about the hardanger fiddle, the quartet, and the “violynn” (fiddlemaker.com).
Hardanger Fiddle Association of America to learn about hardanger fiddle workshops and events (https://www.hfaa.org/).
Did you know that it was forbidden to play a hardanger fiddle in church? Check out this article by Marcus Cederström on “the devil’s instrument” to find out why.
Watch this 30 second trailer of The Devils Instrument, an amazing documentary by Pioneer PBS, captured during a 10-day trip to Norway in August 2019. The film explores the culture surrounding the Hardanger fiddle and interviews woodworkers who make the fiddle, the musicians who play it and the dancers who spin to it against the backdrop of the gorgeous Norwegian landscape. The full film is on DVD and looks like a great program.
An album featuring the Hardanger fiddle quartet (David Loberg Code, Karin Loberg Code, Linda Caspersen-Andresen, and Tove Laila Hansen) is described at (http://homepages.wmich.edu/~code/karin/). The album also has several solo hardanger fiddle tunes that clearly differentiate the rhythms of telespringar, hallingspringar, and valdresspringar (just listen to the fiddler’s foot tapping).
Books
Paul Adam’s The Hardanger Riddle is a great read in the tradition of Nordic noir. Violin-making and famous violinists are part of the tale, including Ole Bull. The story takes place in Cremona, Italy as well as Bergen, Norway, and talks about the many places one can visit in Bergen: Mt. Fløyen, Ole Bull’s island, Lysøen; Bull’s grave (Assistentkirkegården), and Grieg’s Trollhaugen. Ibsen’s play, Peer Gynt is also mixed in. Lynn Berg and Nordic on Tap heartily recommend the book!
Photos
The hardingkvartetten in 2002, each with their instrument. From left to right, David Loberg Code, Tove Laila Hansen, Linda Caspersen-Andresen, and Karin Loberg Code. Lynn Berg, who made 3 of these 4 instruments, is at the far right.