It’s Norway that comes under the spotlight this week in our Nordic composers survey. Iceland + Sweden and Denmark featured in the first two instalments; Finland will take the finale spot. The seven Norwegian composers in this chapter will be heard in chronological order, with one exception.

Ole Bull (1810–1880) was the first Norwegian musician to put his country on the map. Known as The Nordic Paganini, he was celebrated as one of the world’s great violin virtuosos, playing thousands of concerts in Europe and America over a span of almost half a century. As late as 1879, the year before he died, he was playing to a full house in Vienna’s prestigious Musikverein. Like other virtuoso musicians of the time, it was his own music that he mostly performed, aiming to impress audiences with his dazzling technique. Continue reading and listening at blog.naxos.com