Norse Fiddle: People say...

Thank you so much for your music and beautiful explanation of the instrument Karen. I heard so many wonderful comments from people, who not only liked the music themselves, but said their kids liked it as well. Most of them had never heard of the instrument before, but I suppose you run into that all the time. You really made it a memorable afternoon/evening for us.

Karen was a joy! She answered questions. One fellow went home and got his fiddle and she explained things to him. EVERYONE said she was great! One person asked why she didn't just play for the entire service (Lutheran Church). They would have loved to hear more!

Thank you for giving our audience some of the best music available. You are a gifted fiddler who has amazing crowd rapport.

Karen,
I just wanted to let you know that our Lodge members and guests really enjoyed your performance this past Friday night. In addition, many people took the time to contact me by phone or email this week to say they hoped you could come back again. So....don't forget how nice the weather is in the winter time...and do let us know if you are coming this way again! Again, thanks for sharing your wonderful talent with us.

Karen...I was at Trinity tonight for your program and our table of 8 "SISTERS" thoroughly enjoyed it! THANK you so much for sharing your music, your stories and even your history...family and Norwegian! We loved trying to sing the correct words...and also watching the girls learn to dance. THANKS again!

Thanks for a lovely time
Dear Karen,
We all want to thank you for being there to make Kaia's wedding so much more memorable. The dinner music was such a festive addition to our celebration, and the dancing--these were moments we shall not forget. Thank you for showing us these dances and leading us with your beautifully played hardingfele.
Robert
father of the bride at wedding

MANGE TUSEN TAKK, KAREN!!
The members of the Sons of Norway Lodge and I want to thank you so much for braving the elements and for performing such a wonderful program last night. I listened to the comments from our members during the social time and they were so impressed with you as a performer and as a person. They appreciated you so much for not scurrying off even though the weather warranted that but that you stayed and conversed with everyone for as long as they wanted. That certainly is a plus in your favor. Thank you again so much.

You did a great job on Saturday [at the Lutefisk Dinner]. I just heard parts of it myself, but my feeling was that it worked really well. I have heard several very nice comments about it, and no negative. We don't really have this kind of event in Norway, but a lot of bazaars etc. Your performance and talk are really enjoyable. I'm proud to tell folks back home that we have people in Minnesota like you. Thanks again.

We sat and listened to you on the radio this morning while having our coffee & tea, and really enjoyed it! Your personality really shows through with the music and that's such a delight. You're the first person besides Vidar [Lande]-- the first American -- to make hardingfele music fun!

Question: What do Edvard Grieg, a ram’s horn, and Yankee Doodle have in common? Answer: Each was played on Hardanger fiddle during Karen Solgård’s Hardanger fiddle recital on Sunday, October 3, 2004 in Urness Recital Hall. Solgård’s unique style of performance combining Hardanger Fiddle repertoire with storytelling and audience participation made her recital a childhood-reminiscent “story time” experience suited to all ages. Karen Solgård is replacing Dr. Andrea Een as Hardanger fiddle teacher while Een is on sabbatical for the academic year 2004-2005, thus entitling the recital: “Not Your Usual Faculty Recital!”
Solgård’s performance was geared toward her usual audiences typically lacking exposure to the distinctive instrument, such as children and senior citizen groups. Although most of Solgård’s St. Olaf audience had previously experienced the eight-stringed Hardanger fiddle, a review of Norway’s national instrument was quite beneficial for the audience’s appreciation of Solgård’s music. The curious fiddle is elaborately decorated with a lion head atop the peg box. Four strings under the fingerboard produce a droning sound sympathetic to the upper four strings that can be likened to tempered bagpipes or two fiddles constantly playing a duet.
Without introduction, Solgård energetically kicked off the concert with “Ola Was Tall,” keeping a strong constant beat with her right foot. Solgård performs every piece from memory, in keeping with Norwegian fiddling tradition. The Hardanger fiddle is usually played as dance accompaniment; hence the fiddler memorizes his pieces and keeps a steady, percussive beat with his or her foot, considered as part of a successful performance.
Solgård demonstrated the instrument’s tuning, tones which Edvard Grieg borrowed and placed within “Morning” in his classical Peer Gynt Suite. Solgård performed her adaptation of “Morning” on Hardanger fiddle, a deft combination of her classical knowledge and folk musicianship. Although solo fiddle can hardly rival the original fully orchestrated version, Solgård’s version held its own as a fiddle piece.
How is a cell phone like a Ram’s Horn? Although college students might not identify with isolation on a mountaintop, each student has likely felt isolated at some point, perhaps even amidst crowded Buntrock hallways when midday classes end. Perhaps students then reach for their cell phones, hoping to contact a loved one. Similarly, the ram’s horn functioned as a mode of communication. In Solgård’s opinion, the city cell phone in the city is to a ram’s horn on Norwegian farms as a method of communication for a young maiden upon the mountain to reach her family. Solgård sympathized with such lonely maidens, remembering her childhood on a northwestern Minnesota farm. Karen then sang a vocal refrain of her own composition expressing a girl’s feelings of isolation upon a mountaintop to accompany a fiddle tune.
To further help students understand this foreign music, Solgård played Yankee Doodle on Hardanger fiddle, offering that these fiddle tunes sounded as familiar to fiddlers who were raised with them as Yankee Doodle sounds to Americans. Solgård first played the basic Yankee Doodle melody, then with variations second time around. The third time Solgård elaborated greatly, making the melody barely recognizable yet subtly apparent.
Anyone familiar with Hardanger fiddle at St. Olaf may tend to associate the instrument with Dr. Andrea Een. Solgård’s program included several songs that overlie Een’s usual repertoire, but Solgard played these with variations and a different playing style from Een’s versions. One of the beauties of folk music is the extensive potential for variation upon songs between musicians and regions; differences are not considered “wrong,” but simply variations. Solgård’s variations were exactly that: not erroneous, but well-thought out music differences, particularly in the tunes “Nå er det gjort,” “Bridal March from Seljord,” and “Nøringen.” Undeniably, only a Hardanger fiddle student would notice these details; nevertheless, song details have caused lawsuits between composers in the past and should not be tossed to the breeze.
Solgård’s focus on story telling and audience participation in her performance was enchanting and highly engaging for the audience. Nearly everyone sang along at Solgård’s invitation to become part of her composition “Summer Moonlight Telespringar” to better help the audience understand the form of Hardanger fiddle music. Urness Recital Hall’s intimate acoustics suited the fiddle’s delicate timbre perfectly, warmly encouraging the solo instrument to release its resonant golden tone throughout the hall. With the same warmth and enthusiasm, the audience accepted Solgård and her Hardanger fiddle to St. Olaf, wishing her a positive year in Dr. Een’s stead.

Excerpts from Akron, Ohio Arctic Circle Sons of Norway Lodge Newsletter
Arctic Circle Lodge 5-662
Volume 4 Issue 3
March 2006
Sons Of Norway
www.sofn-arcticcircle.com
Notes From President Joelle McIlroy
• Karen Solgard's Hardanger fiddle concert was certainly a big highlight for the Arctic Circle Lodge. Approximately 100 Sons of Norway members, friends, CVCA staff, students, and parents attended the February 14 concert... Ms. Solgard explained the unique aspects of the Hardanger fiddle and played a variety of selections...
A big thank you to the Sons of Norway officers, as well as to the CVCA students and parents for making the reception a great opportunity to meet and talk with the performer. I especially want to thank Rita Nieman, CVCA staff member, for her guidance in planning the event.
The mission of the Sons of Norway is to promote, preserve and cherish aof Norwegian heritage and culture while growing soundly

Dear Mrs. McIlroy and members of the Sons of Norway, Words will never be enough to express the joy and gratitude that I experienced at the Valentines Day Hardanger Fiddle Concert. Many persons who attended said it was a perfect Valentines Day gift. Karen Torkelson Solgaard was wonderful. She wove together her love for her heritage, the beauty of the music, the land, and the traditions of the people of Norway. She was an incredible teacher and ambassador for Norway.
Tusen Takk to all the Sons of Norway lodge members, for bringing Karen's talent to Northeast Ohio and to the students of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. I also attended the class she taught the next morning, and it was very well done. Thank you for making all this possible.
Blessings to all of you,
Rita