The recordings on this page are carefully selected to bring you the finest examples of traditional Hardanger fiddle music available.

To order, go to the main page of the merchandise catalog, then download and print the order form. Include on the form the alphanumeric item number found at the end of each item description, and include your check when mailing to the address on the form. Note the different prices for members and for non-members.

Current prices for the recordings are:
CDs: Members, $17.25; non-members, $18.25
Cassettes: Members, $11.25; non-members, $12.25

AmeriKappleik Live! A Hardanger Fiddle Celebration

AmeriKappleik Live! is a two-CD set of the best of AmeriKappleik. This CD includes performances from Hauk Buen, Leif Rygg, Vidar Lande, Torgeir Straand and others, as well as new compositions for the Hardanger fiddle. This CD can be ordered here using PayPal (credit cards accepted). Price $20 [MU-AK1].

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Nils Borge
Mjukt og fint du (Supple and Fine)

[This title is currently unavailable.] Nils Borge was one of many great fiddlers in the village of Myrkdalen near Voss in Western Norway. This cassette contains 15 tunes, recorded by Borge in 1954 and 1912 (on 78 RPM records), seven of which are transcribed in the accompanying booklet (available separately). Cassette [VSMC1].

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Hallvard & Torleiv Bjørgum
Fire of the Amazons (Skjoldmøyslaget)

You can start to gauge Hallvard Bjørgum's celebrity in Setesdal when you see displays of this recording next to the check-out stands in the grocery stores. This is the most important collection of Setesdal folk music on one CD. Most of the tunes are played by Hallvard Bjørgum, considered by some to be the best living hardingfele player. There are also tracks played by Torleiv, Hallvard's father (1921-1990) and a master in his own right, on the ordinary fiddle in hardingfele style (a specialty in Setesdal), and some jaw harp and stev-singing. Winner of the Spelemannsprisen (Norwegian Grammy award) in 1990. The CD is currently available with liner notes in Norwegian only. CD [SYLVCD4] or cassette [SYLV2].

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Torleiv Bolstad
Feletona oppunde Bitihodn (Fiddle Tones on Bitihodn Mountain)

Bolstad (1915-79) dominated the Valdres fiddle scene. Simply put, if one had to choose a core collection of only five hardingfele recordings, this should be one of them. The album includes many very danceable Valdres springar tunes, plus gamal bonde and lydarlåttar (listening tunes). It is Bolstad's only commercial release. CD [HCD7041].

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Knut Buen
Håvards draum (Håvard's Dream)

Typically polished, and at the same time subtle, performances by Knut Buen of slåttar handed down from Håvard Giboen (1809-1873). The B side contains some particularly spooky pieces in remote tunings. The liner notes are in Norwegian and English. CD [BKCD3].

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Knut Buen
Telemarkspel (Telemark Playing)

[This title is currently unavailable.] Buen conceived this tape as a teach-yourself aid. As such it is best used in conjunction with Loretta Kelley's transcriptions of the pieces (available separately). It contains a selection of springars, gangars, hallings, gamaldans tunes, and listening pieces, ranging from the relatively simple to the exceedingly complicated, in straightforward short performances. The "instructional" aspect consists of Buen reading the title, source, and tuning of each piece before playing it. One minus: Knut has tuned his fiddle down to regular violin range, so students wishing to play along must either follow suit or turn up the speed control on their tape recorder. Cassette [BUEN11].

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Knut and Hauk Buen
Fykerud'n (Fykerud's Tune)

Knut and Hauk take turns performing selections, including romantic listening tunes, springars, and gangars from the repertory of Lars Fykerud (1860-1902), one of Telemark's greatest players. 27 tunes. Time: 75 min. Detailed, informative liner notes in Norwegian and English with photos. CD [BKCD4] or cassette [BKMC54].

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Knut and Hauk Buen
Myllargutens minne (In Memory of Myllarguten)

This CD contains 27 tunes by Myllarguten, in masterful recordings. The performers, Hauk and Knut Buen, are, in the opinion of many, the finest players in the Telemark tradition today. Hauk was the featured master teacher at the 1997 HFAA Workshops. The recording quality is excellent. The CD is not intended to be used for dance; there is no foot-tromping audible. But those who can dance to the rhythm of the fiddle itself will find numerous powerful dance tunes here. There is a short booklet with the CD, in both Norwegian and English, describing Myllarguten's life, his teachers, his connection with the violinist Ole Bull, and the fiddlers who passed his tunes down to the present. CD [BKCD2].

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Knut and Hauk Buen
Spel til dans (Playing for Dancing)

This CD is a compilation of the best of the four-cassette Spel til dans series from Knut and Hauk. This is classic Telemark springar and gangar for dancing, with energetic performances and a steady foot-tapping rhythm. 24 tunes. Time: 74 min. Liner notes in Norwegian, with photos. CD [BKCD10].

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Knut Buen and Leif Rygg
Bjølleslåtten (The Bell Tune)

Leif Rygg, a master of the style of Ola Mosafinn (1828-1912) from Voss, and Knut Buen, Telemark fiddler with a deep love of Ola Mosafinn's music, team up to produce this gem. Leif and Knut each perform ten solo springar and rudl tunes, and they join together with organist Kåre Nordstoga in nine highly successful and sensitive arrangements of Mosafinn tunes. 29 tunes. Time: 66 min. Detailed, informative liner notes in English and Norwegian, with photos. CD [BKCD6] or cassette [BKMC72].

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Sigmund Eikås
Jølstring

[Two cassette copies available; CD version on back order.]  Sigmund Eikås is the star fiddler of the Sunnfjord area of Western Norway and the best player of the Jølster springar. This recording includes 22 springar, rull, and halling tunes, of which ten are played live for dancers. CD [HCD7101] or cassette [HK7101].

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Knut Hamre
Fargespel (Playing in Colors)

Knut Hamre from Hardanger in Western Norway has won the Landskappleik more than any other fiddler in recent times. This CD features 23 of his best springar, rull, and listening tunes. The booklet is in both Norwegian and English. CD [HCD7092] or cassette [HK7092].

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Eivind Mo
Skumringstime med Eivind Mo (Twilight Moments with Eivind Mo)

Mo is one of the most outstanding tradition-bearers of the Telemark style, and a source of highly regarded versions of slåttar. There are some seldom-heard pieces, and some strange tunings, on this tape recorded over a period of forty years. A must-have recording for students interested in deepening their knowledge of the Telemark repertory. Cassette [BUEN2].

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Jens Myro and Øyvind Brabandt
Hallingspringar

The Hallingdal style is fast and intricate, and the dancing passionate and sometimes dangerous. You can hear dancers pounding the floor in these recordings while the performers play three pieces in duet and the others solo. This recording pairs the dean of living Hallingdal players with one of the best of the younger generation. A great dance tape. Cassette [BKMC5].

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Sigbjørn B. Osa

Sigbjørn Osa (1910-1990) was a master of both the violin and the hardingfele. He was charm itself on the stage, and toured widely as " Norway's musical ambassador to the world." The selections on this CD are primarily gamaldans tunes — waltzes, reinlenders, and so on — rather than the older bygdedans music-springar, gangar, etc. But what waltzes! And there are reinlenders, hambos and mazurkas to match. The album also includes his famous Bjølleslåtten ("The Bell Tune"), and Halvorsen's Fanitullen ("The Devil's Tune") for hardingfele and symphony orchestra. About two-thirds of the tunes on this CD feature the hardingfele accompanied by guitar and bass or by a larger ensemble. CD [BKCD1].

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Olav Øyaland
Haugelåt (The Tune from the Mound)

Olav Øyaland is the greatest living master of the Tinn style and the inheritor of the tradition of Knut Dahle via his grandson Johannes. Tinn is tucked in a remote corner of northern Telemark. Olav's playing is filled with haunting, antique scales, intricate ornamentation, and an incisive rhythm that few today come close to matching. 28 tunes. Time: 73 min. CD [BKCD9].

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Leif Rygg
Lengt (Longing)

Leif Rygg, the featured instructor at the 1998 HFAA Workshops, is one of the greatest living players and is a multiple winner of the Landskappleik, the Norwegian national fiddling championship. This recording demonstrates his total mastery of the style of his home area of Voss on the west coast of Norway. He plays a variety of springar, rull, and listening tunes, mostly unaccompanied, where the gorgeous, bell-like sound of his hardingfele can ring out without hindrance. CD[SFCD1].

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Lars Skjervheim
Heimlengt (Longing for Home)

Hardingfele music from the greatest living master of the Voss style. Lars Skjervheim has been the teacher and inspiration for most of the younger fiddlers from his area of Western Norway, including Leif Rygg. Lars is joined on four tunes by Leif and Håkon Høgemo on hardingfele, Olav Steffen Eide on accordion and Hans Christian Holm on bass. 20 tunes. Time: 54 min. Liner notes in Norwegian, with photos. CD [BKCD13].

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Lars Skjervheim et al.
Mellom vener: Slåttar av Lars Skjervheim (Among Friends: Tunes by Lars Skjervheim)

Håkon Høgemo performs compositions by the great Voss fiddler Lars Skjervheim from the booklet Mellom vener, both solo and accompanied. Cassette [SFK108].

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Jens A. Myro
Hallingspel

Jens A. Myro's electrifying dance fiddling is filled with raw energy, and the razor-sharp rhythms are matched by few if any today. This retrospective includes 22 of his best hallingspringar and laus (halling) recordings from a long career as Hallingdal's best dance fiddler. Six of the cuts are recorded while playing live for dancing. CD [HCD7130].

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Knut Buen
Nottespel 2: Fjelltrampen. Knut Buen spelar til dans med Småjondølane og Telemark (Night Music 2: Fjelltrampen. Knut Buen plays for dancing with Småjondølane and Telemark Experience)

Knut Buen displays his total mastery of traditional Telemark-style dance fiddling. Recorded live during dance parties and teaching sessions with Karin Brennesvik's Småjondølane dance troupe and attendees of her Telemark Experience dance week, the recordings capture the excitement of the springar, with sounds of dancers and the stamping of the fiddler's feet. Knut shows his creative and improvisatory powers at full force; six of the 19 telespringar and telegangar cuts are Knut's famous medleys or "mixes" of tunes. Notes in Norwegian and English, 70 min. 23 sec. CD [BKCD20].

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Vidar Lande
Slåttar / Tunes in the Tradition of Eivind D. Aakhus

Vidar Lande, master teacher at the 1999, 2000, and 2003 HFAA Annual Workshops, is not only a superb player and teacher but also possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of the hardingfele tradition. Vidar presents 35 tunes from the repertory of the great Setesdal tradition bearer Eivind Aakhus, about one-third of Aakhus' known repertory, and includes extensive liner notes in English and Norwegian. Includes gamaldans (waltz and reinlender) tunes that Aakhus learned in Minnesota as well as old traditional setesdalgangar tunes, played by Vidar on hardingfele, regular violin, and Setesdal fiddle (a fiddle with sympathetic strings, unique to Setesdal). CD [VLCD0193].

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Vidar Lande
Norafjells: Slåttar / Tunes in the Tradition of Hallvard S. Rysstad

Vidar Lande presents 34 tunes from the repertory of another major Setesdal tradition bearer. On this excellent CD Vidar attempts to present the tunes as closely as possible in the style in which Rysstad originally played them. Like Aakhus, Rysstad also spent time in America and learned many tunes from Sam Sorenson (1870-1947) from Bygland, Minnesota. Rysstad was also greatly influenced by Telemark- and Valdres-style hardingfele technique and introduced many elements from these styles into his playing. Contains a short English summary of the extensive Norwegian text. CD [VLCD0295].

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Håkon Høgemo
Solo

Håkon Høgemo, two-time winner of the Landskappleik and teacher at the 2000 HFAA Workshops, is a thoroughly traditional player with a gorgeous tone and impeccable interpretations of traditional tunes from his home area of Sogn and from Voss and Hardanger to the south. Solo is a technically superb recording, and includes many standards of the Vestlandet repertory, including Hei so dansa jento mi after Sjur Hesjevoll of Jostedal, Vetlebulken after Anders Kjerland, and Havbrusen and Nøringen after Lars Skjervheim. Also included are a few lesser-known tunes from fiddlers such as Anders Nedreli of Jostedal and Sjur Eldegard of Årdal. All of the tunes are performed alone by Høgemo except for two, which feature two hardingfeler playing in harmony. CD [NORD0036].

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