Draft:Fant-Karl (2)

• Comment: Another draft at Draft:Fant-Karl ~Liance^talk 22:43, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

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"Fant-Karl" - A Romani/Traveler master fiddler in Norwegian tradition

This is an English version of a Norwegian article about "Fant-Karl".

The identity of master Norwegian fiddler, popularly called "Fant-Karl", also "Karl-Fant", "Ka'l-Fant" ["Vagabond-Karl"] has long been shrouded in mystery. He is remembered as a spreader of waltz-tunes that became popular in the late 18th century and first half of the 19th century. It is likely that the person behind "Fant-Karl" tunes and tales was Carl/Karl Johansen Rosenberg, a Romani/Traveller horse-gelder who lived ca.1775-ca.1855.

The tradition

It is said that "Fant-Karl's" music dazzled fiddlers in rural communities he visited, and that "Fant-Karl" was teacher and mentor for Gudbrandsdal-valley's most famous fiddler "Loms-Jakob"/"Fel-Jakup" Jakob Olsen Hjeltar (Skjåk 1821–1872). Karl played the "old music" of his time, but he brought with him the latest, new "hits" wherever he traveled. Young people gathered eagerly when he and his family arrived to an area - there was dancing and fun! Thus he became a kind of catalyst of modern impulses. Today, the waltz is considered the oldest among Norwegian round dances (so-called "gammeldans" including for ex. waltz, schottish/reinlender, polka, mazurka). Many of the older waltz-tunes in the traditions of the Gudbrandsdalen, Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Valdres and Østerdalen regions have stories or names that link them to "Fant-Karl". A "halling" tune (2/4-time) and several "springleik" tunes (3/4-time) are also linked to him. Norwegian fiddlers who emigrated to the US in the 19th and early 20th centuries took with them tunes in tradition after Karl. Many of these are now called "Gammel Vals" [Old Waltz] and are associated with some fiddler who had the tune in tradition. A few, however, have been passed on with names that can link them to Karl, such as "Fant-Karl Waltz" or "Tater Waltz" ("Tater" is one of the colloquial names for Norwegian Romani/Traveller people)

Which traveling "vagabond" Karl?

Over time, and through generations of fiddlers passing on tunes and tales, "Fant-Karl" became something of a mythical character/figure, his personal identity more unclear. Many Taters/Travellers have had the name Karl/Carl, and several have distinguished themselves as musicians and singers. In the 1960s and 1970s, a perception emerged among many interested/involved in Norwegian folk music that fiddling"Fant-Karl" was identical to "Karl Fredriksen Moe (b. 1823)", a man who once lived in Sleggveien in Røros.

In the 1990s, the Romani people (Tatars/Travellers) of Norway were officially recognized as one of the country's national minorities. In the wake of this new status/acceptance/respect/awareness, the music and identity of legendary "Fant-Karl" became more relevant. Among other things, a letter from 1925 in the archived manuscripts of local historian Ivar Kleiven information about the family of "Fant-Karl": 1) that his real name was Rosenberg and 2) that he was the paternal grandfather of "Karl Fredriksen Moe" in Sleggveien. Contradictions and lack of information surfaced and invited detective work. A deeper look into the identity of "Fant-Karl" and the fiddler's history became relevant.

Karl Johansen Rosenberg (c. 1775 – c. 1855)

Mary Barthelemy embarked on thorough research to learn more about fiddler-Karl-legends and persons who could have been called "Fant-Karl" [Vagabond-Karl]. Sources for waltz-/music-history, Nordic Romani/Traveller history, fiddler-tales and Norwegian rural community-history were examined. All this eventually contributed information that suggested a man named Carl/Karl Johannesen/Johansen Rosenberg as a very likely candidate for the legendary fiddler "Fant-Karl". This man, a traveling horse-gelder, lived from just before 1780 until the years between 1850 and 1857. He was the grandfather of "Karl Fredriksen Moe (b. 1823)" - actually Karl Fredriksen Moe/Moen (1824 Lærdal–1884 Ørland).

A Romani/Traveller musician

We have not yet found reliable information as to when and where this Karl Rosenberg was born, and when and where he died. However, it has been possible to trace Cuursmed and horse doctor Carl Johansen Rosenberg, together with his wife Magdalena Børresdatter (1777 Flesberg–1859 Røros) and family, on travels in Norway (and Sweden) thru more than 60 years. Their story provides a glimpse into the history of the Romani people (Tatars/Travellers) in Norway's history. It also sheds light on their role as cultural mediators in the Nordic region.

Musical lineage

Karl Johansen Rosenberg belonged to an extended family with many musicians and singers.

We find a connection to the famous Swedish accordionist Carl Jularbo (1893-1966). "Calle" Jularbo's grandmother's grandfather, "horse-gelder" Johannes Pettersson (1770–1835) in Norrtäkten in Hedemora, Sweden, was said to have been Rosenberg's half-brother.

Many of Rosenberg's descendants are remembered for their music performance. Like Rosenberg, they have played old tunes, but followed modern trends and provided audiences with results of their creativity and musicality, using accordion, guitar and other instruments, and of course song.

In more recent years a number of performers among his descendants are to be found on recordings of traditional fiddling. Among these are fiddlers Nils Gudbrand Forselius Fredriksen Bakke (Møre /Romsdal 1887-1969) and Hilmar Alexandersen (Steinkjer 1902-1993). Their playing of old Karl-waltzes may the closest we can come to Rosenberg's performance.

Singers Lasse Johansen (b.1950), Laila Yrvum (b.1953) and Hilmar "Bussi" Karlsen Rosenborg (b. ) have inherited songs in family tradition, which they perform along with with self-composed material. The Norwegian rock-icon, Åge Aleksandersen (Namsos b. 1949), known for his breakthrough in dialect rock-n-roll, is a descendent of Rosenberg.

Over the last 200 years, other Travellers in Norwegian folkmusic tradition, some related to Karl, many with the name Fredrik, have made a mark with their fiddling, on both regular violin and the Hardanger fiddle. The Asbjørnsen and Moe folktale about "Little Freddy and his Fiddle" may well have originated in relation to one of these "Fant-Fredriks".

The well known Norwegian song "Per Spellmann", about a fiddler who traded away his only cow to get his fiddle back, is said to refer to Romani fiddler Petter Christian Rasmussen Strømsing (1759-1836) and/or his son Petter Christian Pettersen (1788-1864).

Literature

· Bakke, Eilev O. (1980). «Fel-Jakup». Årbok for Gudbrandsdalen: 159 ff.

· Barthelemy, Mary (juni 2006). En vandring i tradisjon og historie etter spor av en elektriserende taterspellmann (Masters thesis in Tradional Arts). Høgskolen i Telemark (Rauland).

· Barthelemy, Mary (2007). Spellmann på dromen: På sporet av den legendariske «Fant-Karl». Røros: Rørosmuseet. ISBN 9788299759601.

· Barthelemy, Mary (2007). Spellmann på dromen: På sporet av den legendariske «Fant-Karl». Sollia forlag 2017. ISBN 9788290346985

· Barthelemy, Mary (2009). «På sporet av en taterspellmann fra ’ingen stad’». Heimen (1): 19 ff. ISSN 0017-9841. Landslaget for lokalhistorie

· Kjøk, Erling (1995). Ei Spelmannsoge. Otta.

· Kleiven, Ivar (1954). «Ein bygdakunstnar». Årbok for Gudbrandsdalen.

· Kluften, Pål (31. august 1928). «En ærverdig fiolinkasse». Nationen.

· Kluften, Pål (24. januar 1925). «Fant-Karl-Feler - Ole Hjellemo og Gudbrandsdals-musikken». Gudbrandsdølen.

· Lillehammer, Arnvid (2007). «Kari med kjeften, Per hesteskjerar og slektstilhøva deira». Norsk slektshistorisk tidsskrift, bind XLI, hefte 1. Oslo. ISSN 0029-2141.

· Nyhus, Sven (1988). 20 valser etter Karl Fant. Oslo: Musikk-husets forlag A/S.

Recordings

«Fant-Karl» –Spelemannsarven/A Folk Music Legacy, TA48 Ta:lik Records (2009) https://www.talik.no/fant-karl.5135118.html

Additional information

De Reisendes musikk. Oslo: Norsk folkemusikklag. Årsskrift 13, 2000. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Folk_Music_Research_Association

Fant-Karl's fiddle: «DigitaltMuseum: Fela til Fant-Karl». https://digitaltmuseum.no/011022848377/fiolin

Romanifolk – Store norske leksikon http://snl.no/romanifolk

Review 2010: Bok and CD about Fant-Karl | Periodical viser.no https://web.archive.org/web/20160314102206/http://viser.no/blad/2010/fant-karl/

Latjo drom - De reisendes musikk https://latjodrom.glomdalsmuseet.no/musikk/de-reisendes-musikk

Norwegian and Swedish Travellers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_and_Swedish_Travellers·

Names of the Romani people https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_Romani_people

Åge Aleksandersen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%85ge_Aleksandersen

Calle Jularbo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calle_Jularbo

Hilmar Bussi Karlsen Rosenborg, Den magiske reisa. https://bibsok.no/?mode=p&tnr=587584

Norwegian Folktales https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Folktales