Arne Bjørndal (11 February 1882 – 11 January 1965) was a Norwegian

hardingfele A hardanger fiddle () is a traditional stringed instrument considered the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than four as on a standard v ...

fiddler, composer and folklorist.

Personal life

Bjørndal was born in

Hosanger Hosanger is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality was located in what is now parts of Alver Municipality and Osterøy Municipality in Ves ...

as the son of Peder Monsen Bjørndal and Kari Knutsdotter Nordås. He was married to Brita Rongved from 1910 to 1924, and to Anna Strømmen from 1929. He died in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

in 1965.

Career

Bjørndal started playing the fiddle as a young boy, and later studied with fiddler

Ola Mosafinn Ola Mosafinn (14 July 1828 – 28 December 1912) was a Norwegian Hardanger fiddle player and composer. Mosafinn is regarded among the more important fiddlers in Norway in the late 19th century. Ola Sjursson was born in Voss in Hordaland Cou ...

, while he learned theory by W. Gomnæs, Borghild Holmsen and J. Thorkildsen. He made his concert debut in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

in February 1908. From 1911 he received a scholarship for collecting traditional music. He wrote down thousands of traditional Norwegian folk melodies, which have later been stored at the

University of Bergen The University of Bergen () is a public university, public research university in Bergen, Norway. As of 2021, the university had over 4,000 employees and 19,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 1946 consolidating several sci ...

. He played in more than six hundred weddings, gave more than 1,000 concerts, and had success in folk music contests. Among his compositions is music to

Torvald Tu Torvald Tu (22 July 1893 – 15 January 1955) was a Norwegian poet, playwright, novelist and writer of humoresques. He was born in Klepp as a son of farmers. His literary debut was the 1914 play ''Storbrekkmyri'', and his first poetry collection ...

's "Kjærlege par", music to

Olav Gullvåg Olav Gullvåg (31 December 1885 – 25 September 1961) was a Norwegian playwright, novelist, poet, and editor. He was born in Trondheim. He worked as editor-in-chief of '' Søndmøre Folkeblad'' from 1911 to 1912, '' Norig'' from 1912 to 1921, and ...

's play ''Storborgbrudlaupet'' (together with

Johan Ludwig Mowinckel Johan Ludwig Mowinckel (22 October 1870 – 30 September 1943) was a Norwegian statesman, shipping magnate and philanthropist. He served as the prime minister of Norway during three separate terms. Biography Johan Ludwig Mowinckel was born in B ...

). He composed several dance melodies, including "På Ulrikkens topp", and the waltz "Sumarkveld til fjells". Among his publications are ''Norske Slåttar'' (from 1907 and onwards), ''Gamle slåttar'', a biography of fiddler

and a book on

Ole Bull Ole Bornemann Bull (; 5 February 181017 August 1880) was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing. Biography Background Bull was ...

. He wrote articles on

Myllarguten Torgeir Augundsson (1801 – 21 November 1872), better known as Myllarguten (meaning ''the Millerboy''), is arguably the most acknowledged Norwegian folk musician to this day, and by far the most legendary. In his own local dialect, his given nam ...

and

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

, and co-wrote the book ''– og fela ho lét'' with Brynjulf Alver, published in 1966, after his death. He was a music critic for the newspaper '' Gula Tidend'' from 1917 to 1940, and chaired the

Norwegian National Association for Traditional Music and Dance Norwegian National Association for Traditional Music and Dance(''Norsk Folkemusikk- og Danselag'') is a nationwide organization that aims to support the folk music and rural dance tradition in Norway. The organization (NFD) was founded in 1987 as ...

from 1923 to 1936. He was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

in 1954. A relief of Bjørndal, made by sculptor

Sofus Madsen Sofus Trygve Madsen (June 11, 1881 – January 19, 1977) was a Norwegians, Norwegian sculptor that has influenced the cityscape of Bergen with a total of 28 major and minor works. He was the son of the teacher and author Theodor Madsen. Life an ...

, was unveiled in 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorndal, Arne 1882 births 1965 deaths People from Lindås Norwegian traditional musicians Norwegian fiddlers Norwegian male violinists Norwegian composers Norwegian male composers Norwegian folklorists Norwegian music critics Composers awarded knighthoods Musicians awarded knighthoods 20th-century violinists 20th-century Norwegian male musicians