Ola Mosafinn (14 July 1828 – 28 December 1912) was a Norwegian

Hardanger fiddle 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 fo ...

player and composer. Mosafinn is regarded among the more important fiddlers in Norway in the late 19th century. Ola Sjursson was born in

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, Opphe ...

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipal ...

County, Norway. He was the youngest of five children born to Sjurd Brynjulvsson Liland (1792–1866) and Ingebjørg Klausdotter Mosafinn (1790–1852). He was raised on the Mosafinn farm from which he took has last name. After graduation in 1843 he was first employed as a school teacher, but was also on demand at weddings and parties. He later went to

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 is l ...

, where he soon came to thrive. In the summer of 1872, crown prince and future King

Oscar II of Sweden Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...

, made a trip to the west coast of Norway and Ola Mosafinn was invited to perform. Later that summer, Mosafinn met famed Norwegian violinist and composer

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 ...

, who gave the fiddler praise. During the summer of 1879, Norwegian composer

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

visited Voss. Grieg sent for Mosafinn who performed at his birthday celebration. He became well known in Norway and made two tours in the United States. In 1890 and 1891, Mosafinn traveled to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

after being invited several times. He played in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and later in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, in addition to some smaller towns. Ola Mosafinn memorial Voss 1927

Only two compositions are known to have been written by Mosafinn, one of which is ''Gjætarlokketonar frå Voss''. In 1887, his portrait was painted by Norwegian artist

Lars Osa Lars Osa (13 August 1860 – 9 February 1958) was a Norwegian artist. He also worked with church decoration and restoration and was a noted fiddle player. Biography Lars Andersen was born in the village of Ulvik in Ulvik municipality in Hordalan ...

. In 1921, a memorial to Ola Mosafinn was erected in

. The monument is made by Norwegian sculptor

Nils Bergslien Nils Nilsen Bergslien (26 February 1853 – 18 December 1928) was a Norwegian illustrator, painter and sculptor. Nils Berglien was inspired from the legends, the history of Norway and the west Norwegian mountain landscape. He was known for his nati ...

. A biography of Mosafinn was written by his former apprentice Arne Bjørndal and published in 1922.

References

Other sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mosafinn, Ola 1828 births 1912 deaths People from Voss Norwegian folk musicians Norwegian fiddlers Male violinists Norwegian composers Norwegian male composers