Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa (3 May 1910 2 February 1990) was a Norwegian

fiddler A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the ...

and traditional

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

ian. He was one of the best known Norwegian performers of folk music in the 1900s.

Personal life

Osa was born in Ulvik,

Hardanger Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and ...

as the son of fiddler and painter Lars Osa and

children's writer Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

Hermine Bernhoft-Osa. He spent his first years in Valle,

Setesdal Setesdal (; older name: Sætersdal) is a valley and a traditional district in Agder County in southern Norway. It consists of the municipalities of Bykle, Valle, Bygland, Iveland, and Evje og Hornnes. The Otra river flows through the ...

, and moved to

Voss Voss () is a municipality and a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages include Bolstadøyri, Borstrondi, Evanger, Kvitheim, Mjølfjell, ...

when he was six years old. He was married to Kersti Alice Grambo from 1937, and to Anne Heggtveit from 1950. He was the father of actress Liv Bernhoft Osa (b. 1957). He died in Voss in 1990.

Career

Osa's father was a skilled

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

Hardingfele A Hardanger fiddle ( no, hardingfele) is a traditional stringed instrument considered to be 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 ...

player, and the boy started to play both instruments. He studied violin with Bjarne Brustad in Oslo, then in Bergen with the academy of Musikselskabet Harmoniens orkester from 1929 to 1930, and in Berlin from 1931 to 1932. He made his début as violinist in 1937. He started playing for the radio (

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the larges ...

) in the 1940s, and recorded more than 350 traditional airs ( no, slått), either on hardingfele or violin, between 1948 and 1978. His airs were often based on the Voss tradition, from elder fiddlers such as

Sjur Helgeland Sjur Larsson Helgeland (19 August 1858 − 12 April 1924) was a Norwegian hardingfele fiddler and composer. Biography He was born at Voss in Hordaland, Norway. His parents were Lars Olsson Hirt (1823-1908) and Brita Helgeland (1820-98). He ...

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 Count ...

or his own father. He often toured in Norway, Europe and the United States, with concerts or

causerie Causerie (from French, "talk, chat") is a literary style of short informal essays mostly unknown in the English-speaking world. A causerie is generally short, light and humorous and is often published as a newspaper column (although it is not defi ...

s. He composed a concert for hardingfele, ''Three fjords'', in cooperation with

Geirr Tveitt Geirr Tveitt (born Nils Tveit; 19 October 1908 – 1 February 1981) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. Tveitt was a central figure of the national movement in Norwegian cultural life during the 1930s. Life Early years Tveitt was born in ...

. In the 1970s he cooperated with the rock group "Saft". He published the textbook ''Hardingfela'' in 1952. He became Horary Citizen of the U.S. state of Washington in 1968. He received the Arts Council Norway Honorary Award in 1976. He also received the

Spellemannprisen Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English, is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians. The award was established by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organizati ...

Honorary Prize.

Selected works

*''Hardingfela'' (1952) textbook *''Spelmannsliv'' (1979) autobiography (with Jostein Mæland)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osa, Sigbjorn Bernhoft 1910 births 1990 deaths People from Ulvik Norwegian fiddlers Male violinists Spellemannprisen winners 20th-century violinists 20th-century Norwegian male musicians