Norse Fiddle at the Wedding

Collection Contents

#		Title	Length
1		Telemark Bridal March	2:26	Play
2		Girl with the Farm	2:19	Play
3		I Corinthians 13:4-8 / Valdres Bridal March	2:19	Play
4		Now It Is Done	1:31	Play
5		Lohengrin Bridal March Medley	4:28	Play
6		Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring / Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee	3:20	Play
7		Herding Girls Sunday (vocal)	3:30	Play
8		Nordfjord Bridal March	2:05	Play
9		Myllargutens Bridal March	3:06	Play
10		Ancient Bridal Tune from Sogn	2:21	Play
11		Three Fiskestigen Bridal Marches	4:53	Play
12		Bestemors Waltz in Pachelbel Cannon style	3:17	Play
13		Hallingdal Traveling Tune	1:36	Play
14		Trndelag Bridal Waltz	1:34	Play
15		Saturday Waltz	2:12	Play
16		Herding Girls Sunday (fiddle)	1:39	Play

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Description

Historically, Norwegian country weddings were elaborate affairs that lasted up to a week. Music of the Hardanger fiddle featured prominently at each point in the festivities, beginning with the inital church procession from the bride's home to the feasting and dancing afterwards.

In thirty years of playing for weddings, Karen Torkelson Solgrd regularly encounters couples who want an element of the wedding to acknowledge their national origin, even when everything else is characteristic of an "American" ceremony. Norwegian-American wedding couples may use the Hardanger fiddle to express to those in attendance that their heritage is important to them.

After a year researching Norwegian wedding music for fiddle--reviewing over 100 bridal marches and wedding tunes in books and recordings--Karen released "Norse Fiddle at the Wedding" with a selection of favorite Norwegian bridal marches, prelude, recessional, and reception music. It includes her own composition and arrangements.

Hardanger fiddle is Norway's national instrument. Instead of a scroll, as on a violin, a lion's head sits at the top of the peg box. The instrument is decorated with black ink flowers and mother-of-pearl inlay. It has eight strings, four of which are strung under the fingerboard and cannot be touched by the bow; the understrings resonate as the top four are played.

Karen Torkelson Solgrd was recently featured on "Live from Studio One" on KUNI Iowa Public Radio. She has appeared on many radio and television programs both in the United States and Norway. Currently she is interim Hardanger fiddle instructor at St. Olaf College 2004-2005.

A Minneapolis resident for nearly thirty years, she grew up on a farm near Crookston, Minnesota, and learned Norwegian folk songs from her mother and grandmother. First a cellist, she began to play Hardanger fiddle more than 20 years ago. Ever curious about the Norwegian violin in the family, Karen traveled to Norway in 1986 where she heard Hardanger fiddle played by Norwegian masters for the first time.

Karen has studied with Telemark fiddlers Hauk Buen, Alf Tveit, Tarjei Romtveit; Setesdal fiddler Vidar Lande; Valdres Hardanger fiddler Olav Jrgen Hegge; and American fiddler Andrea Een who plays in the Vestland style.