Spelemannen Knut Hamre

Fiddler Knut Hamre from Granvin

Fiddler Knut Hamre from Granvin is a bearer of tradition today. (Jan M. Lillebø).

Folk Music and the Hardanger Fiddle

It is the height of summer: A cart from Voss approaches Stalheim Tourist Hotel. On a bench in the cart sit two fellows, different in appearance and size. They are the composer Edvard Grieg and Sjur Helgeland the fiddler. Sjur is sitting with his fiddle in his lap and he has played for long spells on his way up from Vangen. In the village at Stalheim the manager stands and receives his world-famous guest. He asked Edvard Grieg to come to the drawing room this evening ”to listen to our excellent new orchestra” as he said. Politely Grieg refused the invitation: ”I have Sjur with me this evening.” This little anecdote is still a living tradition in the rural districts of Voss. And it is no coincidence. It is in Hordaland County that we find the oldest traces of a folk music stemming from our national instrument, the Hardanger fiddle. And it is still this musical tradition which is characteristic of folk music here.

See also