Ole Bull Academy

October 22, 2009

It was twilight when we arrived to the airport, and we all were impressed with the lustrous architectural fittings it had. Only by looking at its modern architecture we could easily guess that the airport must have been built recently and though it was situated in the suburbs, there was a train that could take you to the centre of the city in a quite short time. As soon as we landed Mrs. Elen welcomed us warmly, and since that time she accompanied us until the end of our visit. On the way to the place where we all were going to stay, I watched the people and the landscape carefully. First, we got on a trolley car that was passing through narrow streets and tenement houses. Although we expected the weather to be very cold, it was rather autumnal as it was in Warsaw at that time. Instead of low temperatures and lots of snow there were many colorful leaves, falling down on the streets. In the evening we went out with Mrs. Elen for a pizza and this was the first time when we were shocked by the prices in Norway. As we calculated, we spend 100zl for the pizza! It was expensive for us because for the same kind of pizza we would pay much less in Poland. 

The guesthouse where we stayed had wooden stairs- it was amazing! We had lots of fun carrying our suitcases up to the third floor, and we often laughed that this was a good exercise to build our muscles and to strengthen our spirit. For the next couple of days, we would make lots of noise just by running down the stairs to eat breakfast in the dining room. The windows in our rooms were closed with old locks and basically, everything in the house seemed to be old and antique. These details made us feel that the house must have been built many years ago, but we really liked that. Personally, I also liked that we ate most of our meals outside of the house and not in the cafeteria. On the next day, we took a morning walk to a nice restaurant in the city. For breakfast we ate an orange cheese snack that was popular in that part of the city. It tasted a little bit like peanut butter, and it was great for a snack too. Of course, it was not peanut butter, as Mrs. Elen explained to us later. Another thing that I enjoyed was the colorful leaves, whirling with wind and falling down to the ground. I wish they were not cleaned from the streets in Warsaw as they would ornament the landscape of the city.

Finally, we went to the Barratt Due Music Institute, which was situated in a red villa with a soaring roof. I was pleasantly surprised that students as well other people were really friendly. All of us were invited to an interesting though a bit lengthy lecture about Ole Bull. I did not know that Norwegians had so much their traditional music and that they are such good listeners of music. That day we also had a master class with a pianist, professor Jiri Hlinką, and the orchestra rehearsal with a Korean woman. Although it was “The rehearsal day” and we were extremely busy I really enjoyed it.   

October 24, 2009

On the following day we had a rehearsal and then the concert in Music Academy in Oslo. The performers were both Norwegians and Poles, including soloist and chamber players. The audience rewarded us with a warm applause, however we could not stay in Oslo for too long afterwards because we had to catch a train to go to another city, Voss. For about five hours drove 200km for an hour so that we would get to the place at twilight. During the trip, we admired the view by looking through the windows- the train was passing big yards, forests and creeks.   The trip was pleasant but long and when we went to see the Ole Bull Academy we were already very tired.  I will remember that day for a long time, in particular because of the sandwiches. Before the concert we ate sweet chocolate rolls, and after the concert we had some warm calzones with a salad on the train. Surprisingly, the food from the train turned out to be delicious. In the Academy we were offered French bread with ham and cheese, which I loved. We also ate sandwiches which we made ourselves.  By the end of the day we called that day “the Bull day.” Once we got into the Academy we went to one of the bottom floors where people were having a dancing party. It was not an ordinary party but it was the festival of the old Norwegian music, called Osafestialen. All of the dances were accompanied by the music of a fiddle band, and many young and elder people were dancing with joy. The atmosphere was fantastic and we also started to dance to the music. 

October 25, 2009

On Sunday morning we got a chance to explore from inside out an amazing city,  Voss. In front of the house in which we stayed we could see a huge creek, little hills and the mountains covered with snow. The landscape was extraordinary, especially in the morning. The more time you looked at the surroundings the more you liked it. That day we attended a protestant mass in a very old church from the thirteenth or fourteenth century. We thought that singing Norwegian psalms would be a difficult task for us, but in fact it was not. 

The Ole Bull Academy was founded by Sigbjřrn Bernhoft Osa, and the school focused its teaching on older music, in particular on playing the fiddle. (Hardanger Fiddle) Norwegian culture turned out to have quite a lot in common with Polish history and as the director of the Academy told me later, Norwegians were fighting for its independence for a long time. Thus, they put lots of effort to spread and popularize their own culture in the country, which is similar to what happened in Poland. One good example, proving that Norwegians care about their tradition and culture is Osafestiwalen, in which we took part.

First, we went to a chapel where we listened to a young female playing the fiddle violin. She was an alumni from Barratt Due Institute, as I found out later. In the chapel, we heard music of Grieg, Bull, and also some folk Norwegian dances. After that, there was a ceremonial concert in the Academy during which musicians played baroque music on typical baroque instruments such as baroque violin, harpsichord, lyre, flute and viola da gamba. I really liked the attention with which Norwegians were listening to the music. At the end of the festival, we were invited to the final feast and we were treated with traditional meals such as a smoked head of a sheep with puree, homemade beer, and other side dishes. While we were enjoying the local food, musicians provided us with musical background. One of the performers was a famous fiddle player- he was the one who made the home-made beer. Also, there were some students playing an accordion and a man who played lyre. I was asked to play some Polish music on the violin, and thus, I decided to perform “Polish Cappricio” by Grażyna Bacewicz. Now I think I should have played Krakowiak as its rhythms and harmony might better represent Polish culture, nonetheless, the audience was really happy with the piece I chose. 

October 26, 2009

That day, we managed to visit Bergen, a port city. In order to get there we had to take a train and then switch to a bus. We longed for seeing the famous Norwegian fjords as people told us that they were absolutely beautiful. Indeed, they were unique and exceptional. Before we visited Bergen however, we went to see Grieg’s museum. Grieg’s house was situated close to the river and it was truly exquisite. Having seen the surroundings, none of us doubted that it was nature that inspired the composer to write his music. The day was sunny in spite of it usually raining here at this time of the year.  The composer’s house was built on the hill. The house was small and green, and there were many photos and souvenirs inside of it. There was a Steinway piano inside the house and some of us got a chance to play the instrument. Grieg had one more adjacent “composer’s hut house,” made only for one person. It could fit a piano, a table and a sofa and it had a window with the view on the river outside. Next to the house, there was also a decent size concert hall. Thanks to its lawn roof, it does not ruin the charming surrounding area today. 

In Bergen we were offered another traditional Norwegian dish; we enjoyed fish soup and a fish cake in the shape of hearts. We also got a chance to go by a cable railway to the top of the hill and to look at the panoramic view of the city. Many of us took some photos to remember this amazing view. At the end of the day we visited a castle in an old neighborhood where the Germans had lived and then we walked throughout Italian-like narrow streets to finally get on the train. 

October 27, 2009

Because we spent quite a bit of time in Voss, it is impossible for me now to describe everything what we have been doing there. October 27th was the day that we all were about to leave from Voss, but the first person that left the city was only Mrs. Jastrzębska. After her departure the rest of us went to the Ole Bull Academy to listen to the lecture about history and technique of playing fiddle. Some of us got even a chance to play the instrument and I was lucky to be one of those students! By playing both baroque and classical violin we would compare the colors of each one’s sound, and we would listen to the differences in each one’s resonance. I like to play various instruments, so I found this lecture really helpful. I have gotten to know that depending on the tune of the melody, the fiddle has to be tuned in perfect fifths and fourths at the same time. 

October 28, 2009

Today we were sightseeing the opera house with Mrs. Makowska- Ławrynowicz in Oslo. The construction itself did not look promising at first, but shortly after I came closer to the building I appreciated its modern architecture. It was curved and it was made from marble so that it resembled mountains covered with ice. The interior rooms and halls of the opera house were equipped with nice furniture so that guests could relax during intermissions. Moreover, there was a bar where all the guests could order some snacks and drinks. The opera concert hall was stunning, especially because of the gigantic half-oval oak walls that made everyone feel comfortable and safe. Truthfully speaking, I felt as if I was inside of an oak tree, instead of a cold, marble house. The main hall was also made from wood and there were many red armchairs so one could sit down and chat with their friends. What riveted my attention the most was the chandelier which hung from the ceiling. It was a crystalline quality  and I could not pull my eyes away from it.  Having seen the concert hall, we moved around to see the backstage and other smaller stages in the opera house. Interestingly, the whole construction did not seem to be that complex from outside, so it was quite shocking when we saw that it was so huge inside. What I found really amusing were the black restrooms which were in contrast with the white marble walls of the entire opera house. Later that day we also played a concert in the Polish Embassy and even though the concert hall was not full of the people, the audience enjoyed listening to our performance. 

October 29, 2009

The day before our departure from Oslo, we had our last concert in Drobak, Mrs. Elen’s home town. Because the weather was wonderful and because we were about to leave on the next day, I sensed the magic-like atmosphere around me. Despite the fact that most of us were already exhausted from the trip, we wanted to explore as much as we could and yet we expected more attractions to come. 

Later that day we finally had a concert in a beautiful, wooden church in Drobak. When we arrived to the place, the sun shined through the windows and it lit up the atmosphere inside the church. Seeing the sun, each of us felt refreshed after the rainy night. Because we got the keys to the parish church that was located nearby the other church, we would walk back and forth during the break between rehearsals, and we would eat sandwiches. I am not really sure why the sandwiches were so great, but I think it was because of the people that accompanied me on those breaks and also because of the unique atmosphere of that particular place. 

Before the concert we had some free time to calm down by the sea. It was sunset and I felt really excited about everything that had happened so far. I smelled the wind coming from the sea, and I wanted to remember this feeling forever. The concert was supposed to last thirty minutes, but it was a bit longer. Nonetheless, it went great and we all were happy with it. 

October 30, 2009

We took advantage of the leisure time we had that day to see Oslo from inside out.  None of us visited any museums or ancient castles because we wished to explore every day life in the city.  We arranged small groups and each of them mingled in a crowd on Norwegian streets. When the group I was with was going to the famous “Park of Sculptures”, all of a sudden it encountered Mrs. Elen on its way. We were making jokes of that situation, saying that “the world is really small” because you can easily run into your friends everywhere and even in places where you would not expect to meet them. After some time we finally made it to the “Park of Sculptures.” The architecture was symmetric but yet from the main entrance we could easily notice wide stairs and a big obelisk. When I was looking at the sculptures they did not impress me at first, but as soon as I got closer and started to examine them in details I thought there were just fabulous! I was looking at the figures in the stone and I almost could feel them moving. Some of those sculptures illustrated a bunch of people in action while the others embodied only individuals. There were figures of adults and children, dancers and thinkers.  Furthermore, when I looked at faces of those figures, they expressed many different feelings such as happiness, sadness, or anger. Several visitors would point out bigger sculptures and together with my friends I would look around and try to see those figures from the place where we were standing at that moment. I am really glad that we spent some time to see the “Park of Sculptures” – it was worth it. At the end of the day, we went to the main street, called “Johan Karls Gate”. There were many tourists as well many stores with clothes and with other goodies. Before dinner, my friend Asia and I saw the Royal Castle which was situated in the middle of the central park. We strolled around the castle as if it was an ordinary park and no royal family had lived there. Then we went out for dinner, got a taxi, and drove to the airport- this was the end of our visit in Norway.  

All things considered, I think that it was a wonderful week. This trip contributed to our musical education as well as extending our knowledge about life in countries other than Poland. We definitely got to know the lifestyle of Norwegian students, and now we can understand it much better. Before our visit to Norway, we would have thought that Polish people are much different from Norwegians, but in fact it turned out that we all have quite a lot in common. I had heard stories that Norwegians are often miserable because of the climate, but they are not.  They are like us - cheerful and friendly. They like to listen to music and they celebrate their tradition and culture. This was unforgettable adventure for both me and my colleagues, and what I have experienced in Norway I am going to keep deeply in my heart for a long time. There is only one thing that makes me curious.  Namely, I wonder if students from Barratt Due share our sentiments from our visit. I hope that I will be able to come back there and to talk to them in person again.

Ola Kuls