Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Norwegian composer Ole Bull, BBC Radio 3 will feature a series of programmes on Bull in mid-September.
Ole Bull was born in Bergen 200 years ago. His father, Johan Storm Bull, wanted him to become a minister, but he preferred a musical career, and at the age of five he could play all of the songs he had heard his mother play on the violin. At the age of nine, he played first violin in the Bergen Theatre Orchestra and was a soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Bull made a fortune as an international violinist and composer in the mid-1800s, but unfortunately lost it all in a doomed attempt to establish a Norwegian colony in Pennsylvania.
Bull retains a special place in Norwegian history - not only as a fairy-tale figure of legend, but also because of his struggle to promote a national culture and political freedom. Publicly celebrated in his lifetime, and with a controversial private life, it is easy for the Ole Bull biography to get in the way of the music-making itself. But through extensive research during the last ten years, it has been possible to find and restore several of Ole Bull’s compositions. This may therefore create a new interest in a composer and musician, who in his time managed to captivate thousands of people with his improvisations and spontaneous way of performing his own music.
Composer of the Week: Ole Bull and the Norwegian Romantics
13-17 September
BBC Radio 3 12pm and 10pm
Listen live at www.bbc.co.uk/radio3