Ole Bull

Ole Bull
Background information
Birth name	Ole Bornemann Bull
Born	5 February 1810(1810-02-05)
Origin	Bergen, Norway
Died	17 August 1880 (aged 70)
Genres	Classical
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Violin

Ole Bornemann Bull (5 February 1810 – 17 August 1880) was a Norwegian violinist.

Biography

Early life

Bull was born in Bergen. His father, Johan Storm Bull, 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 the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.

At eighteen, he was sent to the University of Christiania, but failed his examinations. He joined the Musical Lyceum, a musical society, and after its director, took ill, Bull became the director of Musical Lyceum and the Theater Orchestra in 1828.^[1] He also became friends with Henrik Wergeland, who later wrote a biography of Bull.^[1]

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 room with the Moravian violin virtuoso Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, who introduced Bull to the style of Paganini. He was eventually successful in becoming a high-level virtuoso, giving hundreds of thousands concerts (including 274 in England in 1837 alone^[1]). Bull became very famous and made a huge fortune. He also was a clever luthier, after studies in Paris with Vuillaume. He collected many beautiful violins and violas of Amati, Gasparo da Salò, Guarneri, Stradivari and others. He was the owner of one of the finest violin of the world, made by Gasparo da Salò about 1574 for Ferdinand II Archduke of Austria. He also played a Guarneri del Gesù. The violin, a gift of his widow to the birthplace, is now in the Bergen Vestlandske Kustindustrimuseum.

Bull was caught up in the rising tide of Norwegian romantic nationalism and acclaimed the idea of Norway as a sovereign state, separate from Sweden, an idea which would become reality in 1905. In 1850, he co-founded the first theater in which the actors spoke Norwegian, rather than Danish, namely Det Norske Theater in Bergen, which later became Den Nationale Scene.^[2]

In the summer of 1858, Bull met the 15-year-old Edvard Grieg. Bull was a friend of the Grieg family, as 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 the Leipzig Conservatory.

Robert Schumann once 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 of Franz Liszt and played with him on several occasions.

United States

Statue of Ole Bull in Bergen

Bull visited the United States several times and was met with great success. In 1853, he obtained a large tract of land in Pennsylvania and founded a colony, which was called New Norway. On May 24, 1853, he formally purchased 11,144 acres (45 km²) for $10,388. The land consisted of four communities: New Bergen, now known as Carter Camp; Oleana, named after him and his mother, six miles (10 km) south of New Bergen; New Norway, one mile south of New Bergen; and Valhalla. Bull called the highest point in Valhalla Nordjenskald, which became the location of his unfinished castle. This venture was soon given up, as there was scarcely any land to till, and Bull went back to giving concerts.

Family life

In 1836 Bull married Alexandrine Félicie Villeminot. They had six children, only two of whom survived him. Alexandrine died in 1862.^[3] Their children were:

• Ole Storm Felix Bull (1837-9)
• Alexander Ole Felix Etienne Bull (1839-1914)
• Thorvald Bull (1841-1862)
• Eleonore Felicie Bull (1843-1923)
• Ernst Bornemann Bull (1844; lived only 5 days)
• Lucie Edvardine Bull (1846-1868)

In 1868 Bull met Sara Chapman Thorp (1850-1911), the daughter of a prosperous lumber merchant, after a concert in Madison, Wisconsin. On a return visit in 1870 (and 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).

Sara traveled with Bull for the remainder of his career, sometimes accompanying him on the piano. After Bull's death, the family lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Sara became a figure in local intellectual life. In 1883 she published a memoir of Bull's life. In her later life she became interested in Indian religious thought and helped sponsor early visits to the United States by gurus.^[4]

Later years and death

Ole Bull bought the island of Lysøen in Os, south of Bergen, in 1872. He hired architect Conrad Fredrik von der Lippe to design a residence on the island. Bull died from cancer in his home on Lysøen 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 15 steamers and a large number of smaller vessels.

Legacy

The village of Oleona, in Potter County, Pennsylvania, is situated in the mountains of northern Pennsylvania at the intersection of Pennsylvania routes 44 and 144 (Ole Bull Road). Although officially known as "Oleona" today, many maps of the area--and even the official roadside village boundary signs--refer to it as "Oleana". Ole Bull State Park in the Susquehannock State Forest is on the original site chosen for Bull's colony. What is left of the unfinished Ole Bull Castle is maintained by the park and can be visited by hikers.

In Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, there is a room called Ole Bull's Concert Hall, because he actually gave performances there.

A huge bronze statue memorializing Bull is located in Loring Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In 2006, director Aslak Aarhus released a motion picture titled Ole 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.[1]

A cottage[2] originally purchased to be a school for music by Ole Bull and his wife exists at Green Acre Baha'i School [3] in Eliot, Maine and still bears his name.

Media

	Sæterjentens søndag MIDI file by Ulrich Metzner
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ole Bull

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Bull, Ole Bornemann.

• Ole Bull's New Norway
• Google Earth placemark of Lysoen
• Lysoen Museum located in Lysefjorden, outside Bergen
• Free scores by Ole Bull in the International Music Score Library Project
• Ole Bull's melodie La mélancolie arranged for violin and piano by Hurstinen Score from Sibley Music Library Digital Scores Collection
• Free scores by Ole Bull in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)