BULL, OLE BORNEMANN (1810-80). A re markable Norwegian violin virtuoso. Ile was born in Bergen. He showed remarkable musical pre cocity. In the mountains he fiddled away for hours and hours, as his father would not tolerate the instrument in his house. At 18 he appeared at a concert and aroused extraordinary enthusi asm. Ile broke with his parents and went to Cas sel I ls29) to study under Spohr (q.v.), but was so coldly received that he decided to forsake music, and turned to jurisprudence in GU tingen. Soon. however, he returned to Ber gen and practiced assiduously at his instru ment until 1831. Cholera was then raging in Paris, and Bull, who went there to give a concert. had to delay his appearance front month to month. savings were consumed. he fell ill, and thieves stole all his belongings, including his violin. In der:latir he threw himself into the Seine, but was saved, and a wealthy woman. VB. leminot, who took a great interest in him, pro vided him with necessary comfort and a Guarneri Instrument. His (Malt (1833) was a triumph, Paganini being in the audience. A hearing of this master caused Bull to cultivate the Paganini method. His subsequent appearances were equal ly successful, but Italy received him coldly. Only in Florence, when acting as substitute for ltralot. he shared the honors with .1alibran. Similar ,gyrations were accorded him in Naides, where he was ranked with Paganini. With undiminished success he played throughout Cerniany. Russia, England. and Ire land. but in 1839-40 fortune turned against him. Nolique overshadowed him in Paris: bunion and ilermaity were equally unkind. 1/isheart he went into retirement (1840-43), and then proceeded to America. where he won enthu siastic recognition. With the money earned here he returned to Norway, and built a national theatre in Bergen. but soon pinrroled with the authorities and again went to the United States (1852). lie amassed a fortune. bought 125.000
acres of land in Pennsylvania, and founded it Norwegian colony. but was swindled nut of his possessions and money, and in 1860 re crossed the Atlantie. His European tour in 1895-69 brought little money and evokt-d scant enthusiasm. for Europe had adopted new stand ards of violin-playing. Subsequently he estab lished a violin school of his own, and repaired his fortune by several visits to the United States (1868-G9, 1870-79), where he married. Ile bought a house in Cambridge, -Mass., and during the last years of his life spent much of his time there. He died at his summer residence near Bergen, Norway. Bull was a rare phe nomenon in the history of music. His tone was mellow and powerful; in the matter of mere technique he excelled even Paganini. and probably never had his equal; all the difficulties of the violin, double and even quadruple stop ping, were as mere child's play to him. And yet a critic could discern the self - taught mu. sician behind this prodigious technique. As a matter of course, he particularly excelled in compositions putting the player's nimbleness of lingers to a severe test: yet Joachim says 'of him: "No artist in our time has possessed Ole Bull's poetic power: no one has ever surpassed his playing of the adagio." Of all the masters, he preferred to interpret the works of 'Mozart; but his own compositions (chiefly fantasias on national themes, which he invested with a pe culiar fire of his own) best exhibited his mas tery over his instrument, and were the favorites with his audiences. As contributions to the literature of the violin they are of little value; snatches of genuine inspiration occur here and there, but otherwise they are but clever show pieces. Consult: Sara C. Bull, Ole Bull: A Memoir (Boston, 1883) ; and a biography in Norwegian by O. Vik (Bergen, 1890).