Ole Bull

"Ole Bornemann Bull" redirects here. For the ophthalmologist, seeOle Bornemann Bull (physician).

Ole Bull
Born	Ole Bornemann Bull (1810-02-05)5 February 1810 Bergen,Denmark–Norway
Died	17 August 1880(1880-08-17)(aged 70) Lysøen,Sweden–Norway
Occupations	Violinist composer
Relatives	Georg Andreas Bull(brother)

Ole Bornemann Bull(Norwegian pronunciation:[ˈù:ləˈbʉlː];5 February 1810 – 17 August 1880) was a Norwegianvirtuosoviolinist and composer.According toRobert Schumann,he was on a level withNiccolò Paganinifor the speed and clarity of his playing.

Biography

Background

Bull was born inBergen,Norway. He was the eldest of ten children of Johan Storm Bull (1787–1838) and Anna Dorothea Borse Geelmuyden (1789–1875). His brother,Georg Andreas Bullbecame a noted Norwegian architect. He was also the uncle ofEdvard Hagerup Bull,Norwegian judge and politician.

His father wished for him to become a minister, but he desired a musical career. At the age of four or five, he could play all of the songs he had heard his mother play on the violin. At age nine, he played first violin in the orchestra of Bergen's theatre and was a soloist with theBergen Philharmonic Orchestra. At eighteen, he was sent to theUniversity of Christiania,but failed his examinations. He joined the Musical Lyceum, a musical society, and after its directorWaldemar Thranewas taken ill, Bull became the director of Musical Lyceum and the Theater Orchestra in 1828.He also became friends withHenrik Wergeland,who later wrote a biography of Bull.

Career

Violinist and composer Ole Bull

Ole Bull performing

Statue of Ole Bull in Bergen

After living for a while in Germany, where he pretended to study law, he went to Paris but fared badly for a year or two. In 1832 in Paris he shared rooms with the Moravian violin virtuosoHeinrich Wilhelm Ernst.He was eventually successful in becoming a high-level virtuoso, giving thousands of concerts. In England alone these included 274 in 1837,during which visit he also travelled to some of the more remote parts of Britain.Catherine Darwin toldher brotherabout aShrewsburyconcert when "the best performer was Ole Bull on the Violin, who I think very superior to Paganini".Bull became very famous and made a huge fortune. He is believed to have composed more than 70 works, but only about 10 are known today. Best known isSæterjentens søndag(The dairymaid's Sunday).

Bull was caught up in a rising tide ofNorwegian romantic nationalism,and acclaimed the idea of Norway as a sovereign state, separate fromSweden—which became a reality in 1905. In 1850, he co-founded the first theater in which actors spoke Norwegian rather than Danish, namelyDet Norske Theaterin Bergen—which later becameDen Nationale Scene.

In the summer of 1858, Bull met the 15-year-oldEdvard Grieg.Bull was a friend of the Grieg family, since Ole Bull's brother was married to the sister of Grieg's mother. Bull noticed Edvard's talent and persuaded his parents to send him to further develop his talents at theLeipzig Conservatory.During the 1860s and 1870s Bull went on several tours across the U.S., often accompanied by soprano Varian Hoffman, baritone Ignatz Pollak, and pianist Edward Hoffman.He wasconcertmasterat theNational Peace Jubilee(June 15–19, 1869) which featured an orchestra of 525 players

Robert Schumannonce wrote that Bull was among "the greatest of all," and that he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing.Bull was also a friend ofFranz Lisztand played with him on several occasions.

Instruments

Bull also was a clever luthier, after studies in Paris withJean-Baptiste Vuillaume.He collected many beautiful violins and violas ofAmati,Gasparo da Salò,Guarneri,Stradivariand others. He was the owner of one of the finest violins of the world, made by Gasparo da Salò around 1574 forFerdinand II, Archduke of Austria.The violin, a gift of his widow to Bull's birthplace, is now in the Bergen Vestlandske Kustindustrimuseum.Bull often performed withGuarneri del Gesùviolins during his career.

Ole Bull Colony

Bull visited the United States several times and was met with great success. In 1852, he obtained a large tract of land inPennsylvaniaand founded a colony he called New Norway, but that is commonly referred to as Ole Bull Colony. On 24 May 1852, he formally purchased 11,144 acres (45 km²) for $10,388. The land consisted of four communities: New Bergen, now known as Carter Camp;Oleona,named after him and his mother, six miles (10 km) south of New Bergen; New Norway, one mile south of New Bergen; and Valhalla in theKettle Creekarea.

Bull called the highest point in Valhalla, Nordjenskald, which became the location of his unfinished castle. He soon gave up on this venture, as there was scarcely any land to till, and went back to giving concerts.

Today the site is the location of theOle Bull State Park,132-acre (53 ha) state park inStewardson Township,Potter County,Pennsylvania.Norwegian citizens paid for the construction of a monument on site to honor Ole Bull. The statue was placed in the park on the 150th anniversary of New Norway in 2002.

Family life

In 1836, Bull married Alexandrine Félicie Villeminot. They had six children, only two of whom survived him. Alexandrine died in 1862. Their children were:

• Ole Storm Felix Bull (1837–39)
• Alexander Ole Felix Etienne Bull (1839–1914)
• Thorvald Bull (1841–62)
• Eleonore Felicie Bull (1843–1923)
• Ernst Bornemann Bull (1844; lived only 5 months)
• Lucie Edvardine Bull (1846–68)

Ironwell,his summer residence atWest Lebanon, Mainepurchased in 1871

Grave of Ole Bull

In 1868 Bull metSara Chapman Thorp(1850–1911), the daughter of a prosperous lumber merchant fromEau Claire,Wisconsin.On a return visit in 1870, despite their age difference (he was 60, she was 20), Bull began a courtship, and the couple was secretly married in Norway in June 1870, with a formal wedding in Madison later that year. They had one daughter, Olea (1871–1913). In 1871, he bought a summer home on a rise inWest Lebanon, Mainewhich he namedIronwell.Sara traveled with Bull for the remainder of his career, sometimes accompanying him on the piano. In 1883 she published a memoir of Bull's life.

Ole Bull villa atValestrandsfossen

Ole Bull villa atLysøen

Later years

Ole Bull bought the island ofLysøeninOs,south of Bergen, in 1872. He hired architect Conrad Fredrik von der Lippe (1833–1901) to design a residence on the island. Bull died from cancer in his home on Lysøen on 17 August 1880. He had held his last concert in Chicago the same year, despite his illness. A testament to his fame was his funeral procession, perhaps the most spectacular in Norway's history. The ship transporting his body was guided by 15steamersand a large number of smaller vessels.

Legacy

• Ole Bull's villa on the island of Lysøen was donated to the Association of Norwegian Ancient Monuments Conservation. Museet Lysøen consists of violinist Ole Bull's Villa, an old farm from the 17th century.
• OleonainPotter Countyis situated in the mountains of northernPennsylvaniaat the intersection of Routes 44 and 144 (Ole Bull Road).
• Ole Bull State Parkin theSusquehannock State Forestis on the original site chosen for Bull's colony. The unfinished Ole Bull Castle is maintained by the park and can be visited by hikers. A monument to honor Ole Bull was placed in the park on the 150th anniversary of New Norway in 2002.
• Mammoth CaveinKentuckyhas a room called Ole Bull's Concert Hall where he once gave performances.
• Loring ParkinMinneapolis, Minnesotais the site of abronze statuememorializing Ole Bull.
• Ole Bull Cottage, originally purchased to be a school for music by Ole Bull and his wife, is atGreen Acre Baháʼí SchoolinEliot, Maine.Erected in 1896, the Ole Bull Cottage currently serves as the school library building.
• Ole Bull Academy (Ole Bull Akademiet) inVoss, Norwayis a music education institution founded in 1977.
• Ole Bull Scene is a stage for cabaret, music and theater at the Ole Bull Plass in Bergen, Norway.
• Ole Bull -Gasparo da Salòviolin, a wonderful decorated masterpiece of the famous Italian maker that the virtuoso used for 40 years of world tours. Now is in the Vestlandske Kunstindustrimuseum in Bergen.
• In 1992, the Guarneri del Gesù "Ole Bull"violin of 1744, one of Bull's favorite violins and believed to be the last work of Guarneri del Gesù, was acquired for collection at theChimei MuseuminTaiwan.
• In 2006, directorAslak Aarhusreleased a motion picture titledOle Bull—The Titan,the story of Bull's exploits and the impact it had on his French wife and children, who remained neglected in Bergen.
• In 2010 the Norwegian record label 2L released world premiere recordings of Ole Bull's violin concertos and his Spanish fantasyLa Verbena de San Juanand a previously unknown version for violin and strings ofA Sæterbesøg.The performers on the disc areAnnar Follesø,violin, and theNorwegian Radio Orchestraconducted byOle Kristian Ruud.
• The violin played by Ole Bull in concert in Wilmington, DE c.1847 is in the Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford, PA. www.sandersonmuseum.org. A sworn affidavit of provenance states: After Bazel Graves of West Chester, PA. purchased it from Bull in 1847, it was inherited by Graves' stepson Jefferson Shaner in 1855. Shaner subsequently sold it to Christian Carmack Sanderson in 1922 for $125. The violin is a copy of a Stainer model and was recently restored to concert condition in 2015 by luthier Teal Wintsch in Wilmington, DE.
• Around the turn of the 20th century, a commercial signature line of Ole Bull violins was manufactured in Germany.
• TheWisconsin Historical Societyowns a posthumous, full-length portrait ofOle Bullwith violin painted by James Reeve Stuart (1834–1915).
• The subject of Chapter 24 of the Life ofRasmus Andersonis his encounter with Ole Bull.

Further reading

• Bjørnstad, Ketil (2005)Flammeslukeren Ole Bull - en livshistorie(Aschehoug)ISBN9788203188923
• Bull, Sara C.(1883)Ole Bull: A Memoir by Sara C. Bull;with Ole Bull's "Violin Notes," and Dr. A. B. Crosby'sAnatomy of the Violinist(Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1886 ed. reissued by Da Capo Press, New York, 1981)ISBN0-306-76120-3
  • Other editions: London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1886 / Boston: Longwood Press, 1978 /Ole Bull, der Geigerkönig. Ein Künstlerleben(German version by L. Ottman. Stuttgart, 1886)
• Haugen, Einar(1993)Ole Bull: Norway's Romantic Musician and Cosmopolitan Patriot(University of Wisconsin Press)ISBN978-0299132507
• Heimel, Paul W. (2002)Oleana: The Ole Bull Colony(Knox Books)ISBN978-0965582421
• Hendriksen, Knut(2000)Ole Bull(Cappelen)ISBN978-8202195472
• Indahl, Trond (2010)Ole Bull's Villa(Bodoni Forlag)ISBN9788271285647

External links

• Works by or about Ole BullatInternet Archive
• Family Genealogy(vestraat.net)
• Google Earth placemark of Lysoen
• Official Ole Bull 200 year anniversary page
• Ole Bull pictures on flickr commons by Bergen Public Library

Memorials

• Ole Bull statue in Bergen
• Ole Bull statue in Minneapolis
• Ole Bull monumentatOle Bull State Park

Music

• List of compositions by Ole Bull
• Free scores by Ole Bullat theInternational Music Score Library Project(IMSLP)
• Free scores by Ole Bullin theChoral Public Domain Library(ChoralWiki)
• Ole Bull's melodie La mélancolie arranged for violin and piano by HurstinenScore from Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection