Hardanger fiddle

Unlike the violin, the is a transposing instrument, meaning sheet music for the is written in a key other than the one where the instrument sounds when it plays that music. Specifically, the is a D instrument, meaning that the 's written C corresponds to D on a non-transposing instrument, such as the piano. The notes given below for tunings are therefore relative to the 's written A, not to a concert A. The understrings are tuned to vibrate according to the main tuning. For example, when the main strings are tuned A-D-A-E, the understrings are tuned B-D-E-F-A. The tuning largely depends on the region in which the instrument is being played, or the requirements of a particular tune. In Norway, more than 20 different tunings are recorded. Most hardanger tunes are played in a common tuning (A-D-A-E). The hardanger fiddle can also be played in "low bass", the word "bass" referring to the lowest string, (G-D-A-E), the normal violin tuning. In certain regions, the "Gorrlaus" (F-D-A-E) tuning is sometimes used. Many well-known players (such as Annbjørg Lien) frequently employ E-scale tunings; i.e., instead of A-D-A-E, with tunes being mainly played in a D-scale, the instrument will be tuned to B-E-B-F#, so the tunes are mostly in an E-scale. Going higher still, the player Knut Buen recorded several albums in an F-scale tuning, C-F-C-G. This is possible only on a smaller-bodied instrument (such as a hardanger fiddle), being rarely attempted on a standard full-sized violin. As a substitute, many fiddlers who play standard violins will simply tune their G string to A, using the A-D-A-E tuning, enabling them to play the same style of music. Another tuning is called "troll tuning" (A-E-A-C). Troll tuning is used for the tunes, also called the devil's tunes, as well as the tunes from the Kivlemøyane suite (thus associated with the hulderpeople as well as the devil). In the Valdres district of Norway, using this particular tuning is called "greylighting", a reminder that the fiddler tuned his fiddle like this when the morning was near, and he had played himself through a number of other tunings. Legend has it that the fiddler learned tunes from the devil. This tuning limits the melodic range of the tunes and is therefore sparsely used. ==Technique==

The technique of bowing a also differs from that used with a violin. It's a smoother, bouncier style of bowing, with a lighter touch. The player usually bows on two of the upper strings at a time, and sometimes three. This is made easy by the relative flatness of the bridge, unlike the more curved bridge on a violin. The objective is to create a continuous sound of two (or more due to the sympathetic understrings) pitches. The strings of the fiddle are slimmer than those of the violin, resembling the strings of violins from the baroque period. Many classically trained violinists use a baroque bow when playing the in order to counteract the extra weight that classical violinists naturally place on the string. Here is an example of technique shown by Rose Logan with an instrument held at St Cecilia's Hall. ==The hardanger fiddle and religion==

The has had a long history with the Christian church. Well known early fiddle maker Isak Botnen is said to have learned some of his craft from church lay leader and school master Lars Klark, along with the methods for varnishing from pastor Dedrik Muus. In many folktales, the devil is associated with the ; in fact many good players were said to have been taught to play by the devil, if not by the nix. During religious revivals in the 19th century, many fiddles (regular and hardanger) were destroyed or hidden both by fiddlers and laypeople who thought "that it would be best for the soul that the fiddles be burned", as it was viewed as a "sinful instrument that encouraged wild dances, drinking and fights." This happened in Norway, as well as other parts of Europe, and until the 20th century playing a hardanger fiddle in a church building was forbidden. Some fiddlers, however, played on, in spite of all condemnation, and thus valuable traditions remained intact. The first folk musicians to perform in a church were the fiddlers Johannes Dahle from Tinn, and from Notodden. Dahle performed in the 1920s. Known modern fiddler Annbjørg Lien has played with church organist Iver Kleive, but even she has experienced prejudice before performance from the religious side. Also, the oldest known fiddles still in existence can be heard accompanied by the oldest playable church pipe organ in Norway (originally built for an 18th-century church) on the album "" by Knut Hamre and Benedicte Maurseth. ==Influences==

Edvard Grieg adapted many hardanger folk tunes into his compositions, and composed tunes for the hardanger as part of his score for Ibsen's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. The opening phrase of "Morning" from Grieg's Peer Gynt music is derived from the tuning of the sympathetic strings of the hardanger fiddle: A F E D E F and so on. In recent years, the instrument has gained recognition in the rest of the world. Japan has been one of the countries that has found an interest in the hardingfele and Japanese musicians travel to Norway just to learn to play this instrument. In 1997, the Australian classical composer Liza Lim wrote the piece Philtre for a solo hardanger fiddle, and she also includes the instrument in her work Winding Bodies: 3 Knots (2013–14).{{cite web Another recent work is "mobius II" for hardanger fiddle and electronics by the British composer Rose Dodd (2011, premiered at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival by Britt Pernille Froholm). ==Players==

Notable players include Lillebjørn Nilsen, Knut Buen, Hauk Buen, Olav Jørgen Hegge, Annbjørg Lien, Sigrid Moldestad, Myllarguten (Targjei Augundsson), Lars Fykerud, Lars Jensen, Nils Økland, Tuva Syvertsen, Benedicte Maurseth, Anne Hytta, Gjermund Haugen and fiddler Kathryn Tickell, the Irish fiddlers and , and American players Loretta Kelley, Andrea Een, Dan Trueman and the multi instrumentalist David Lindley. In March 2010, Olav Luksengård Mjelva won the Traditional music/Norwegian folk category (the Norwegian equivalent of the Grammy Awards), for his album . ==Use in film==

The hardanger fiddle was used in the soundtracks of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King composed by Howard Shore, to provide the main voice for the Rohan theme. The use of the hardanger fiddle in this movie, however, is far from traditional: the theme does not use the idiomatic double stops, and the violinist also used vibrato, which is not traditionally used. It was also used by composer John Powell and played by Dermot Crehan in the DreamWorks film How to Train Your Dragon for the main romantic theme. The hardanger fiddle is also featured in the soundtrack of Armageddon (composed by Trevor Rabin), and in Fargo (composed by Carter Burwell). In the latter, the context is a little more traditional—the main theme it plays is an arrangement of a Norwegian folk song entitled "The Lost Sheep". Steven Van Zandt used the hardanger fiddle in the theme song he wrote for the TV series Lilyhammer. In the Japanese animated movie Tales from Earthsea it is played by Rio Yamase. The hardanger fiddle is featured in the soundtrack of the 2017 film Dunkirk, as well as the soundtrack for the 2021 Loki series. ==See also==