Ole Olsen Project

by Antti Nissilä

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As a composer living in Hammerfest, Northern Norway, I felt I had a kind of a duty to do something with the heritage of Ole Olsen. Hammerfest-born Olsen (1850-1927) was an industrious and a truly skillful composer, acknowledged also internationally in his own time. Even the Berlin Philharmonic dedicated a whole concert evening for his music. The composer from the northernmost town of the world became a national celebrity, and enjoyed the respect and friendship of Edvard Grieg and other great Norwegian artists.

 

Olsen wrote music on a broad spectrum. He composed numerous miniatures for local and occasional needs, but also five operas, concertos, a symphony and other orchestral works. Nowadays we mostly hear some of his military marches and small songs, while his largest and definitely most interesting works are very seldom performed.

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Most of Ole Olsens music has so far been available only as scanned manuscripts. My mission is to transcribe and edit a number of Olsens manuscripts into an up-to-date digital and printable form. I have also begun to adapt and re-orchestrate some of Olsens works for smaller ensembles, with instrumentation more practical for the needs of our time.

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