New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-01-07
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
OLE BULL.


pruJ A Memoir BY SARA c. BULL svo. PIP.
w., AIT. Houghton, Mfnn " CO.
This simple. straightforward. sensible and sy1npa-
the,ic bio raphy of the famous violinist from the
o.n of his widow, is what such domestic memorial
ngbt to be-a sketch of the personal history OF the
man rather than an attempt 10 analVZe inc q'''
ties of his art or to define his place in the history
muSic Although it is entirely free from any uoiio-
crate effort at character-palnting IL anoIo 10
attractive picture of one who had rei''"i AaVio
90 winning admiration and affection. and VINO NUM-
hcred among his friends scores OF 'ne h"S'ii'"
whose regard is Justly looked uoon az stamp oi
I;Ii.r postcrity will not place Ole Bull among
d. rot masters: but there was strong anu
deenlv interesting individuality IN his art, ana he
nossessed moreover, certain. ln0lVluual on"iin
which reminds us of the fascination eAerciseu ny
Mendelssohn and Mozart. Mrs. Bulls memoir us
80 como of the 6ctions which have been current
IN oil the published biographies OF the VioiiiiS''
T. Is NOT true that he killed fellow-s'uuchV l"
dueI II is not true that, despalrng anu ues'i'"0
;n por;s he threw himself into the Seine ana was
6shed ont TO be befriended by r1ch lady' VINO 81"
In him a resemblance to her dead son. Perhaps IL
IN he Thought that the Ole Bull legend has been
hroiAored with some new marvels 10 compensate
G. tho ba,ished illusions. We find 1T difficult 10
beheve as firmly as the artist apparently dld' III
tho noisoning of bis tea by an American uepIol' Vi
the diabocal attempt OF young jesuit 10 hue mn"
30 death or the large collection OF BOWIE Knives
nresented to him by admirng rnflans whonl he h"u
tbrasbed when they tried to kill him. or the mys-
te,ious adventure with VidOcq, who saVeo nun
from starvation by revealing the color desuneu ~
win AT certain hour on certain gaming .a'4o'
t,nt u us be confessed that these stories add TO
the yvacity of the narrative ana they arc ho' '''
possible. ., .oa,o+ of
.. eccentr,c disposition and highly Irregular edu-
cotton HIS temperament was impuIsVe ana AT INC
game time dreamy He was peppery and excessively
amiab e. earnest and very changeaole, arueh' anu
not little sentimental. He had the ace the slhe'
The bearing and the manners OF kindly ana co.IuS
gentleman and among people OF general coi'u'0
and refinement he found his most fervid iriehOS
Int this memoir abounds with anecdotes Oh MS rug
d. not to say rude independence, ana IL was WIN
some reason that Jules Janin called nm NY saw
ace.D With some reason; aud yet no better picture
nf him wase ever painted than Longfellow's famous
sLotob in the "Tales of the Wayside Inn:
Last the Musician as he stood
nlumined by that fire of wood;
Fair-ha red. blue-eyed. his aspect DH'he'
His figure tall and straight and 1.-THE,
And every feature OF his face
Revealing his Norwegian race;
radiance, streaming from within,
Around his eyes and forehead beamed;
The angel with The vlolln
Painted oy Raphael, he seemed
rb;s nature compounded of contradictions never
had a systematic training. AT five years Oh age 'ii1
child YVES teaching himself to play the violin' ana
althouch he had some instruction at intervals AFTER
ward Inv professional but undistugulshed perform
ers he was really his own MASTER HIS pecuiiar
,oethod of holding the instrument resulted rom 'i0
+ho standard technique. He was an early adh'rel
D;i,s comnositions and later he was noted
c. III; love of Mozart; but it does not appear tnat
- % the great composers deeply Influenced the
sa,,olonment OF his talent, that any OF the Ia
mons violiuis had much share In the lorna ION OF
his .tvle He visited Spohr. but was disappointed
=, him and was coldly received. Mrs Bull omlts 10
,anton that Spohr his part, records ID ms auto
n,oo,anhv an unfavorabe opinion OF DE Bun. H-
deed. the old man and the young man were h't .
oIon,a+ed to understand each other. 1t was III the
49, ,,aiast,c natural scenery of Norway, the
,,.hs b,Jlads. folk tales and popular melodies
.iioh haunt the valleys and fords of that romantic
la thar Ole Bull sought his inspiration. All
- thingsD said he, "have made my music:
when the King of Denmark asked him VINO taught
b,,n IN nlav he answered., The mountains Vi Noi
wavu. and we cannot properly value ms PLAYING
,,riess we consider it i'll connection WIN popuidi
and national feeling, and disregard Its relation 10
rura classical art How be acquired what he khe"
Of harmony shall be told in the surprising language
of the biographer:
yvhen restrained by his tutor from playing, Ole
resorted to whistlng and singing ana ne SOON louu
tbat he could do both at the same time In thls
way he studied the laws Of harmony Ere lopg ne
US able TO whistle and eing and accompany MN
seIf on two strings and later he succecded III play
inc on all four strings at once IhSsT SUI -
abled him at length to cODisIe stA std1 viii n he
at the same time, q SUI Va A"@"O S-'
ALWAYS enjoyed. 9, -. .. A.
Al fifteen OF sixteen he thrashed his tutor. al
.igbteen he went to the University OF Chrlstiaha
Ia study for the church, but he spent most OF hi'
time in music and failed in his examination linen
toIIoued time of hardship In Paris, but be got
hearing at last, and became celebrity An adVeh
,uro into Ialy led him to close study of the
-, stvla of singing in which he believed that
- COW, the kew TO the hidden capacities of the gl0;
lin and now first the cultivation of his powers took
= da6nite direction. "FTOm this ardent study
assisted nv eminent teachers of Italian song came
his command of melody, which enabled MIN 10 re-
nrodnce with their true native character the moS'
dobcate and varied notifications of foreign music
that he met with-Italian Spanish, Irish, ARABIAN
Hungarian as well as the National songs OF MS OWL
conntry. But the chief result OF these studies was
that he found himself; he learned to know the ma
tpreand limits Of HIS own talent, aud was able t
&c form 70 his musical feelings" Having deter
mined what he wanted to do, the next thing was t'
perfect his technique with special reference TO ina
object. By the time he was ready to enter upon hI
trne career. both his style and his execution wer'
original II was in Bologna that lie first made
oannine sensation and the person who discovered
him was the prima donna Cobran, the wife OF Ros
sni She heard his violin as she passed the opeI
window of his lodgings, and upon the strength o
her report the unknown young artist was called on
Of he'd the same night and hurried to the theatre t.
replace Malibran in Philharmonic concert, Ii wa
cold. critical, disappointed and aristocratc audi
aoo lint be threw the house into intense excite