Bjørnson was a friend of Ukraine in his time. In the early 1900s, he strongly asserted the right of Ukrainians to use their native language. He was often published in the magazines "Rutenische Revue" and "Ukrainische Runschau", and he knew several Ukrainian poets, writers, journalists and political activists such as Ivan Franko, Volodymyr Kushnir and Roman Sembratovych. Through these connections, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson developed strong relations with Western Ukraine.
Images of the versatile Bjørnson
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson was also a friend and great admirer of Ole Bull. The musician, inspirer and Norwegian patriot travelled the world during his long career. Bull was caught up in the rising tide of Norwegian romantic nationalism and acclaimed the idea of Norway as a sovereign state, separate from Sweden, an idea which would become reality in 1905. In 1850, he co-founded the first theater in which the actors spoke the Norwegian language, rather than Danish, namely Det Norske Theater in Bergen. In 1857, Bjørnson became artistic director of this theatre in Bergen, which today is still renowned under the name Den Nationale Scene.
Bjørnson had a great interest in music, as well as literature, and he worked to inspire Norwegian musicians to compose Norwegian music. In addition to their friendship, Bull and Bjørnson had in common a strong commitment to freedom for both Norway and for other countries in Europe, including Ukraine. At Ole Bull’s funeral in 1880 Bjørnson gave the following tribute to his good friend: "Ole Bull became the first and foremost moment of celebration in the lives of our people, he gave us self confidence, the greatest which at the time could be given us”.
Bjørnson now translated into Ukrainian
The celebration of Bjørnson and Bull in Ukraine naturally took place in Lviv, the cultural capital of Ukraine and a city to which Bjørnson himself had ties. At the University of Ivan Franko, a large exhibition of posters showing the many different sides of the great Nobel Prize laureate was exhibited in the Ukrainian language.
Linked to the exhibition at the university was a 100-year anniversary seminar, bringing together prominent experts on Bjørnson and Bull from both Ukraine and Norway. The seminar gathered around 150 participants, including several students from the university, and concluded with the presentation of a new book on Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and his most famous works in Ukrainian language. Bjørnson’s original texts were translated from Norwegian into Ukrainian by Natala Ivanychuk, Head of the Nordic Center at the University of Ivan Franko.
Under the heading ‘The Scandinavian Paganini’, the Bjørnson seminar was followed by a musical presentation of the famous violinist Ole Bull and the European premiere of the Ole Bull concert for violin with orchestra, No 2 “Il Fantastico”. The concert at Lviv’s Philharmonic Hall featured the Norwegian violinist Annar Follesø, who had recently recorded the two violin concerts of Ole Bull together with the Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra.
Ole Bull – the Scandinavian Paganini
A great patriot of Norwegian culture in the 1800’s, Ole Bull also played traditional music on the Hardanger fiddle, a Norwegian national folk music instrument. To give a broader presentation of Ole Bull’s legacy, Gunnar Stubseid, Headmaster of the Ole Bull Academy in Norway, performed four traditional pieces Ole Bull is known to have played on this fiddle: Sylkje-Per, Hopparen, Nordfjordingen and So sulla ho mor.
The 200 anniversary celebration of Ole Bull attracted great interest amongst the citizens of Lviv. More than 400 people attended the concert and there were features about the event both in newspapers and on local TV.