You may not have heard of him, but Ole Bull was a major Norwegian composer and violinist
before that young upstart Grieg came along to steal the limelight.
Classical music has always been a chauvinistic affair, in the original sense of the word.
Nationalism has run through the course of the genre, leading to justly celebrated composers
being lauded as their country's own "voice." But there's another kind of chauvinism, too,
one perhaps a bit more unseemly and unnecessary, namely that of audiences who
resolutely refuse to even think of music outside of the compositional mainstreams of the
central European landmass, especially Germany, France, and Russia. The Nordic climes do
get a little respect with people like Grieg and Sibelius, but too few people, even those who
consider themselves well versed in the history of classical music, tend to look outside of the
"usual suspects" and therefore rob themselves of the experience of some ravishingly
beautiful music. This is especially unfortunate in the case of Ole Bull, one of the most
formidable violinists of the 19th century, regarded in his day as an equal of Paganini, who
also just happened to fit the first use of chauvinistic above; Bull was in fact considered the
voice of his nascent country (Norway had not yet broken free of Sweden). If Bull is
remembered more today for his playing than for his writing, this wonderful new release by
Norway's own high definition audio label 2L should help right that wrong and help bring his
music to a wider audience, if not to the unwashed masses as a whole.
Ole Bull (1810-1880)
Though his lack of formal compositional training reveals itself in a certain slipshod
architecture some of the time, Bull's string music falls squarely in the mold of 19th century
Romantic music, with experessive melodies tumbling over each other, and an omnipresent
virtuosity on display in the solo string writing. If it's rarely incredibly innovative, the music on
this 2L release is always competently constructed, often breathtakingly orchestrated, with
good antiphonal energy between brass and strings, and presents an interesting insight into
a developing Nordic consciousness that would soon find full flower in Bull's own relative
through marriage, Edvard Grieg.
This audio Blu-ray has a nice assortment of Concerti and smaller pieces. The disc gets off to
a quiet and sort of achingly nostalgic start with the lyrical first track, "The Herdgirl's Sunday".
The first Concerto presented is Bull's A major piece, which gets out of the gate rather slowly
with an extended Andante Maestoso which has some trouble establishing subjects. Once
the first solo violin cadenza kicks in, with an astounding display of double stops (and even
quadruple stops, necessitating a flat bridge on the violin), everything takes off nicely. The
Concerto's second movement, marked Adagio Sentimentale, has echoes of the Gypsy music
which was becoming so popular with composers (Brahms and Liszt among them) and
audiences alike. A charming 3/4 Rondo Pastorale is up next, again with a surplus of double
stops for the soloist.
Bull's "Concerto Fantastico," much like his A major opus, gets off to a rather martial
beginning with extensive horn calls which soon erupt into furious, Paganini-worthy string
cadenzas. The second movement is again a quieter, minor keyed work that explores a more
lyrical and melodic side of the composer. Another playful Rondo rounds out (no pun
intended) this energetic piece, which is full of folk-like melodies and exuberant dance
motifs.
The rest of the disc is comprised of relatively smaller scale pieces, including "La Verbena de
San Juan," a latin-inflected piece that shows Bull at his most adventurous, orchestration
wise, with music the prefigures both Chabrier's "Espana" and, believe it or not, Rimsky-
Korsakov's "Scheherezade," offering tambourines and castanets jingling and clacking away
and a lovely, floating downward violin melody that is very redolent of the Russian
composer's main theme in his take on the Arab fairy tale. A lovely and convoluted cadenza
plays over repeated chromatic sus-4 chords resolving to the major third and then moving
down a half step, a haunting approach that lends an evocative ethereal air to the
piece.
The disc ends with the beautiful "A Mountain Vision," which couldn't help but remind me of
Hovhaness' "Mysterious Mountain" which came almost a century later. If Bull's approach is a
good deal more rustic, it's no less picturesque, detailing in sonic form the gorgeous peaks
and fjords of Norway's scenery.
The fact is that these smaller pieces of Bull's may show the composer in a better light than
his larger works, which, while containing a lot of very fine ideas, never really meld together
cohesively the way the best classical pieces in the hands of the masters always do. Bull's
orchestrations are often very Brahmsian, with warm, beautifully massed brass punctuating
string interludes. His smaller scale tone poems are delicately wrought gems which exhibit
this orchestral mastery while maintaining a narrower focus which perhaps suits his particular
proclivities best.
Having a video codec and aspect ratio listed here is a bit misleading, as all that's offered image
wise is a reproduction of the insert booklet cover, along with track listings (which you can
toggle through with your remote), and the three audio mixes available (which are accessible
with the color-coded buttons on your remote).
2L never shirks in the audio department, and this release is no exception. Both the DTS-HD MA
5.1 mix (sampling at an average of around 14 Mbps) and the DTS-HD MA 7.1 mix (sampling at
around 10 Mbps) are robust, clear as a bell and beautifully layered among the surround
channels. Soloist Annar Follesų is always front and center and his violin is beautifully
reproduced here, with an absolutely astounding frequency range. In fact some of the high
notes Follesų, which do not sound like partials, are sonically amazing. The overall recording is
very warm, with a beautiful hall ambience culled from the church in which it was recorded.
There's just the right amount of reverb helping to give the orchestral mass a slight hint of
breathing space, and it results in beautifully spacious overall sound. Bull's orchestrations really
come to the forefront in the Spanish "La Verbena," where the additional percussion and violin
pyrotechnics really ring out, which the lossless audio exploits effortlessly. I wasn't overly fond
of the 2.0 fold down, which was much too narrow to capture the thrilling hall ambience and the
full color of the orchestra.
Per 2L's modus operandi, a second SACD is included with the Blu-ray. Also, the Blu-ray
comes equipped with a new technology called "M Shuttle," which allows you to access CD and
MP3 files on the Blu-ray if your Blu-ray player is connected via the internet. You're then
allowed to burn your own copies for use on non-Blu equipment.
Ole Bull's string writing is amazing, and his smaller orchestral pieces are gorgeous and
evocative. If his concerti never rise to true classic level, they have a surplus of ideas and often
very engaging melodies. This Blu-ray is beautifully recorded and hopefully will help introduce
Bull's music to a wider international audience.
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