Thursday, February 5, 2009

Today in History: Ole Bull

(It was pointed out to me that I had a typo in this post originally--thanks Mr. Anonymous!) Today is the 199th anniversary of the birth of Ole Bull, a Norwegian violinist and arguable Norway's first international star.

The violin virtuoso was born in Bergen and showed musical prowess from a very early age. It's said that at the age of 4 or 5 years old he was able to play all the songs his mother would sing on his violin.

As he grew, so did his talent; eventually playing concerts around the world and playing an important role in the musical development of one Edvard Grieg (their families were close and it was Bull, himself, who convinced Grieg's parents to send Grieg to the Leipzig Conservatory for musical training).

In the midst of all this, Bull even had an impact on the U.S., founding a colony of 4 towns in Pennsylvania that still thrive today. In fact, there is even a statue of the maestro here in Minneapolis in Loring Park.

Happy Birthday, Ole!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe you meant to say this is the 199th anniversary of Ole Bull's birth.

Erik Evans said...

Yup. you sure are right. My mistake!